Liedtke’s camp tour nets D-I ride

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Mike Liedtke had the necessary size and an impressive résumé, but felt he was getting overlooked by college coaches.

So the Woodstock two-way starter made a tour of one-day football camps at NCAA Division I schools in June. Liedtke hit seven camps at six schools for lifting, running, jumping and working out.

The college coaches took notice of the 6-foot-4, 242-pound senior’s speed (4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash), strength
(14 repetitions at 225 pounds in the bench press) and leaping ability (31 inches vertical).

Liedtke accepted a full scholarship offer from D-I Football Bowl Subdivision Western Michigan last week and will enroll at the Kalamazoo school in January. Liedtke will fulfill his graduation requirements at Woodstock in the first semester.

“The recruiting process was tough on me,” said Liedtke, who will start at defensive end and tight end for the third season. “Once my name got out there [after the camps], I got a lot of
e-mails. Western Michigan made the first full offer, and I sat on it for three or four weeks.”

With one week remaining before practice started this Wednesday, Liedtke called Western coach Bill Cubit and said he would join the Broncos.

Liedtke attended camps at Northwestern (twice), Illinois, Illinois State, Ohio State, South Dakota and Western Michigan.

Liedtke said Illinois and Northwestern showed interest, but they wanted to see action from his senior season. Ball State saw him at one of the camps and also made an offer.

“I didn’t want to wait until into my senior year,” Liedtke said.

By not take study halls through high school, Liedtke was able to finish his graduation requirements early. He started thinking about enrolling in college next spring to get an early jump on football, wherever that would be.

“Western Michigan asked if I could come early,” Liedtke said. “The coaches said if I could do that, I could get game time my freshman year. By the time the normal freshmen come in, I’ll be so far ahead of them.”

Ambrose to Quincy: Crystal Lake South pitcher Tim Ambrose will attend Quincy University and play baseball for the Hawks. South outfielder Gavin Meyer signed with the D-II school earlier this year.

Ambrose will be a walk-on with Quincy. He was 5-3 with a 3.34 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 562⁄3 innings this season. He had three complete games and one shutout.

As a junior, Ambrose threw a complete game to beat Jacobs in the Class 4A Dundee-Crown Regional championship. He was 10-5 in his career as a varsity pitcher.

• Joe Stevenson covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached at 815-526-4513. He also can be reached by fax at 815-459-5640 or by e-mail at jstevenson@nwherald.com.