Sports

Wettlaufer striving to carve out niche at Bemidji State

By Matthew Semisch

11/04/2014

High school athletes with higher aspirations find that getting looks from college teams requires plenty of hard work. If and when they sign for one, they learn that earning playing time there demands even more effort.

Former Bottineau High three-sport standout Trevor Wettlaufer is finding that out first-hand. Now a redshirt freshman football player at Bemidji State University, he’s doing anything that’s required for him to make an impact for the Beavers.

Wettlaufer played basketball and ran track for the Braves, but he was arguably most prolific for BHS on the football field. Between 2010 and 2012, the running back posted a school record for career rushing yards with 3,376.

In his senior season with the Braves, he ran for a BHS record 1,749 yards. This earned him a 2012 first-team All-Class AA selection.

His exploits with the Braves earned him looks from both BSU and the University of Mary in Bismarck. Bemidji showed the most interest in him, though, and that convinced Wetlauffer to sign with the Beavers.

BSU head coach Jeff Tesch and his coaching staff decided that redshirting Wettlaufer was the best way to go at first. Wettlaufer agreed, and he was given a free year to get the Beavers’ systems down pat before playing for the school over the next four.

Being allowed that first year to get acclimated to life as a collegiate student-athlete, Wettlaufer said, came in handy.

“I didn’t really know what to expect at first.” he said. “My recruiter gave me the basics of what was going on and what we’d be doing in practice, and I kind of had a sense going in of what it would be like, but when I got here, it was something a little different than that.

“I’d kind of underestimated how hard practice was going to be and what the workouts were going to be like. I was pretty committed to working out in high school and thought I’d be good there once I got to college, but I found out pretty soon what a college workout is like, so getting a year to get used to everything helped.”

Wettlaufer had been recruited to BSU to play as a safety. He was later moved to inside linebacker, however, as the Beavers were lacking numbers at that position.

He was used as cover in that role for teammates above him on BSU’s depth chart. Because of that, the Beavers placed him onto their scout practice team.

Each week during the season, the scout team learns opponents’ formational schemes that they see on film. They then use those schemes against first and second-string teammates on the opposite side of the ball in practice.

Wettlaufer did what his coaches asked, but he wasn’t content with just being on the scout team.

He wanted playing time in the Beavers’ games, too, and he was willing to do what he could to get it.

As it turned out, that meant volunteering to play on special teams.“I went to all of our coaches and basically said that, if I’m not going to be able to make a significant impact at inside linebacker right away,” Wettlaufer said, “I’d like to make as much of an impact on special teams as I possibly can.

“They thought that worked for them and they liked where my mind was at, and they put me on special teams apart from extra points and field goal block, and I’m liking my playing time right now.”

Tesch is happy with Wettlaufer, too, and is looking forward to seeing what Wettlaufer can do over the rest of his time with the Beavers.

“I love his football instincts,” Tesch said, “And his work ethic is just something else.

“That’s just down to things like how hard he works, and we look forward to seeing how that and his game progress over the next three and a half years.”