Paa could

sign with

UNI early

for golf

NEW ULM -- For New Ulm High's Amanda Paa and Pete Zangl, this year will be special as they begin their status as Division One student-athletes.

Paa, the daughter of Randy and Kim Paa and a senior at New Ulm High School, said late Thursday night that she is "almost sure" that she will sign a Division I letter of intent, accepting a golf scholarship from Northern Iowa.

She said she will sign during the early signing period from Nov. 14-21.

"I will be taking a recruiting trip this weekend to Southern Illinois, but I am pretty sure that I will be going to Northern Iowa," she said. Paa had also had interest shown by Iowa, Minnesota, Wichita State, Sam Houston (Texas) State and Illinois State.

"I went and visited (Northern Iowa) and I thought that if offered me just about everything that I needed," said Paa. "The scholarship was good and I liked the school a lot. It offered me just about everything that I needed. It was Disivion I and I felt that I could play there. They say that when you visit a place, you know that it is right for you, that was my feeling on (Northern Iowa)."

Paa, who will major in management, said other colleges, including Southern Illinois and Minnesota "were not close to Northern Iowa" in her selection. "I would like to get into the PGA school, but that is something that I would do after I get my degree."

ZANGL TO BE FIRST: Pete Zangl, the son of Julie and Chuck Zangl, is making history this year at Purdue.

The red-shirt freshman in the first New Ulm High wrestler to get a Division I wrestling scholarship.And he is excited about his debut, which will begin next week in Maryland.

"I am ready to go," he said. "I will probably wrestle at 141 (pounds) but I have not made that decision whether to go 133 or 141."

With the Eagles, Zangl compiled a 131-18 record. As a junior, Zangl was 34-5 and was a state finalist; as a senior, Zangl was a state placewinner with a 37-4 mark.

His 131 career wins is a school record.

Zangl said the biggest adjustment he had to make going from high school to Division I wrestling was the commitment. "There are constant workouts all the time," he said. "We work out twice a day, going to classes, going to study tables and then workouts and weight training. There is not a lot of free time. It gets to be long. I remember last year I started the day at 7:30 a.m. with class and then have to weight lift between classes, go to practice at 3:30 before going to study tables for two hours. I'd get back home at around 10 p.m.

"It is so much more intense than high school. Our strength coach (Jim Lathrop) is always pushing us."

Boilermaker assistant wrestling coach Scott Hinkel said Zangl "is one of our hardest workers. Right now, he is deciding where to wrestle but today (Thursday) he said that he will probably wrestle at 141 pounds this year. He has gotten so strong. He has less than 10 percent body fat and is weighing 145 pounds, so he is right in the middle."

Hinkel said Zangl, a physical education major, "came from a good wrestling program and one of his coaches (Dan Kurth) exposed him to a lot of different camps. The intensity and the length of the season is hard, but Pete adjusted to that real well. I consider him a very mentally tough wrestler.

"The workouts that Zangl goes through each practice are tough. In his workout group, he has an Indiana state champion, a Pennsylvania state champ and a high school All-American."

Hinkel said he was impressed with a lot of things about Zangl when he was recruiting him.

"I have known Pete or been around him for quite a few summers (and what impressed me) was his work ethic," Hinkel said. "He was always willing to stay after camps and wrestle with me. I think that he would have kept wrestling until I said to take a break. In addition to his work ethic, he did pretty well in a tough wrestling state. Plus, he is very coachable."

Henkel said that becoming a Division I student-athlete in wrestling is tough. "When you look at the numbers in D-I or even more so when you go Big Ten, you are looking at the top caliber of kids.

"We see Pete having a lot of matches this year. One of the big things for him is that we have to find a weight for him -- either weight is wide open. At 141 (pounds) we have two wrestlers in there that are kids that he was wrestled against and done well. At 133, that is open if he can get his weight down without losing his strength. I would expect him to have a lot of varsity matches and very well could be wrestling in the Big Ten and the national tournaments for us. If that is the case, he has made a commitment to stay here next summer. What we tell our guys that if they make it to the Big Ten tournament, there is no reason that they cannot be All-American. The Big Ten places over 50 percent of their kids."

"I am confident in myself," said Zangl. " I had some back problems last year and I as still getting that fixed. Right now, we wrestle six times a week and then we lift three times a week. It is tough."

Zangl said he has a good working relationship with Hinkel that helped make the adjustment to Division I wrestling easier. "He is a great guy. I met him when I was in eighth grade. He is one of the most intense guys in the wrestling room. He always is pushing us."

Beside getting his degree from Purdue, Zangl also has set other goals for himself. "I hope that other wrestlers at New Ulm see what hard work can do. Go for the gold. I want to come out of Purdue as an All-American. That is what I am looking at. I have another four years here yet and that is my goal."

KAISERHOFF MANAGERS: Her is an updated list of managers of the New Ulm Kaiserhoff baseball team. Ray Conroy (1969); Jim Sydow (1970); Wenzel Weisner, Jr. (1971); Glenn Plagge (1972); Dick LaPatka (1973-74); Ken Brueske (1875-81 (part of 1984); Tim Steinbach (1982-83); Lefty Lindmeyer (1984-part); Jerry Pagel (1985-88); Tom Steinbach (1989-93; 1998-2000); Bryce Boelter (1994-95); Paul Ellwein (1996-97); Brady Ranweiler (2001-present).Also, Larry Jensen of Kaiserhoff was also selected to the 1980 All-Tournament Team.

NEW ULMITES IN MARATHONS: Two former Minnesota Valley Lutheran athletes ran in marathons recently. Naci Melzer ran in the Chicago Marathon while Blair Schaper ran in the Milwaukee Marathon.