Here is the article on Tanners signing.
Fritschle to kick at ISU
Hatchets at the next level
By Todd Lancaster
Washington Times-Herald The Washington Times-Herald Tue Feb 08, 2011,
07:55 AM EST
WASHINGTON — For those who thought Washington Hatchet Tanner Fritschle
was the best high school kicker they had ever seen — then they can
just keep on watching.
And they won’t have far to travel to watch either.
On Monday, Fritschle officially signed his letter of intent to play
football at Indiana State University.
Fritschle, widely regarded as one of the five best high school kickers
in the nation, will be taking his talented leg to Terre Haute to play
for coach Trent Miles.
Fritschle was a big part of a resurgent Hatchet program under coach
Kelly Brashear and now has an opportunity to do the same thing for
Miles.
“He was the best high school kicker I have ever seen — by far,” said
WHS coach Brashear.
Fritschle said that several programs were in the running, but
ultimately it came down to Indiana State and Southern Illinois.
“They (ISU) treated me like a person and I really liked the way they
treated the players,” said Fritschle. “They wanted to build a program
on people, not just athletes.”
Last season ISU went 6-5 under Miles and he became the first Sycamore
head coach to earn the Missouri Valley Conference’s Coach of the Year
award in the league’s 26-year history.
“I really like the progress they have made in the last three years,”
said Fritschle. “It is not just short-term progress. They have made
leaps and bounds and it is going to continue. In that time, they went
from one win to six and from eight seniors to 20.”
At Washington, Fritschle rewrote the Hatchet kicking record book this season.
Most impressive were his kickoffs, as he had 69 touchbacks out of 84
kickoffs. His kickoffs totaled 4,949 yards (58.9 yards per kick),
4,392 of which were net yards.
He also had four field goals and was second in scoring with 65 points.
He set records for extra points in a game, season and career, along
with a 46-yard field goal at Mount Carmel (Ill.).
Fritschle performed triple duty at different points in the season,
also handling the punting chores (20 punts, averaging 35 yards a
punt), as well as helping out in the defensive backfield as a cover
corner.
Fritschle said he hopes to kickoff, punt and kick extra points at ISU.
“Right now I’m planning on doing all three. Kickoffs are what I do
best, but I have been really proud of the work I’ve done on field
goals lately too.”
“He is such a deserving young man,” said Brashear. “He and his family
have worked very hard to put him in this position.
“Tanner is a real testament to what happens with hard work. I hope the
kids coming up through the program realize how hard he worked to get
here. He did everything he could, between his work here, the Kohl’s
kicking camps and all the other camps and clinics he has been to.”
Brashear feels Fritschle’s athleticism and soccer background have
helped him as a kicker.
“He could do so many things with his quickness and athleticism. He ran
punt fakes and got us several first downs that way. He was probably
our best cover cornerback, but unfortunately he had a shoulder injury
that limited his time back there.”
Full schoarships are rare for a kicker, as only 30 have been handed
out this season, with Fritschle’s being one.
At ISU, he will join former Hatchet teammate Ben Obaseki, a sophomore
who finished in a tie for second in the league's voting for Defensive
Player of the Year. Obaseki finished the year with 70 total tackles.