Seventeen Owatonna High School student-athletes put pen to paper on last month and officially became future college athletes.

Well, sort of.

In reality, close to half of the athletes who participated in the annual National Signing Day event held at the OHS Small Group Forum didn’t technically sign any sort of officially-binding document. Or at least not as defined by the NCAA.

Instead, the six Owatonna students who will continue their post-high school careers at the NCAA Division III or NJCAA level inked what is referred to as a “non-binding standardized celebratory form” since these levels of the college athletics do not offer any sort of athletic-based compensation, or scholarships.

There were also two individuals who agreed to run track and field at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, and that institution is a member of the NAIA, which does not sponsor a formal National Letter of Intent program like the largest entity, the NCAA. This means any documents they signed on National Signing Day were purely ritualistic, similar to the NCAA D-III form. In both cases, these individuals are not obligated to attend the college or university like those who were awarded athletic scholarships.

As for the nine future NCAA Division I and Division II athletes, you might presume that each signed a formally-binding document since these levels of the college game can, indeed, offer athletic-based aid.

But, alas, it’s not quite that straightforward.

To parse through this sub-set of the overall NLI process, one must first expel another, even larger, assumption — and that is that all athletes that participate at the Division I and Division II level receive athletic-based financial aid.

And once again, it’s not as straightforward as you might presume.

Contrary to what it might suggest, a large portion of “scholarship level” college athletes don’t actually receive an athletic scholarship money at all. This is a little confusing, but an important distinction since according to the National Letter of Intent’s official website, “(the) NLI is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution to enroll at a school in exchange for athletic aid.”

The key part here is “in exchange for athletic aid.” Because despite what most presume, nearly half of Division I student-athletes — and 39% of Division II athletes — do not receive any sort of athletic-based scholarship. These individuals are also “strictly prohibited” from signing a formal NLI agreement as described on the NLI online database.

OWATONNA’S COLLEGE KIDS

From a sheer number’s standpoint, the 17 student-athletes that took part in the Signing Day event is the largest group OHS as seen since at least December of 2013 when I first started covering the Huskies.

Though most had already made their varsity debuts by the time I stepped down as the sports editor at the People’s Press in late-2020, I’ve remained heavily involved with the OHS football program and attempted to stay dialed in to the local sports scene as a whole. I was able to watch, albeit from a much different vantage point, as many of Owatonna’s seniors rose through the ranks and ultimately developed into next level prospects.

The group is as eclectic as it is sizeable. It features two of the most-decorated girls hockey players in the Big Nine Conference over the last half-decade, one of which donned the Owatonna blue for six years (Ezra Oien), and another (Ava Stanchina) that did for just four months after transferring from Northfield.

We have three la crosse players headed to three different colleges, and one of the many track and field athletes headed to La Crosse.

Drew Henson became the third of three males in his immediate family to sign at the scholarship level for football and the second placekicker. The other is his dad, Garrett. who was a punter at D-I New Mexico State.

Speaking of football, the Huskies’ 2022 MVP, Justin Gleason, and 2023 captain, Collin Vick, combined for 84 tackles and three interceptions last season, and neither will continue their gridiron careers in college. Ironically, Owatonna’s lone “skill” position player from the Class of 2023 to sign at the next level, Peter Swehla, finished with as many career catches (two) as Vick’s total number of all-district recognitions.

I know, good stuff. Keep scrolling for more. All 17 are included.

Enjoy.

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AVA STANCHINA I SOCCER

Stachina transferred from Northfield for her senior season and is a 3-0 against the Raiders in soccer and hockey combined. On Jan. 12, she was one of two players that were credited with an assist in the Huskies’ thrilling come-from-behind victory over Northfield at the Four Seasons Center.

COLLEGE CHOICE: North Dakota State

MASCOT: Bison

LEVEL: NCAA Division I

LOCATION: Fargo, N.D.

LEAGUE: Horizon League

EZRA OIEN I HOCKEY

Oien is the first member of her immediate and extended family to play hockey and made her varsity debut as an eighth grader.

COLLEGE CHOICE: University of Vermont

MASCOT: Catamounts

LEVEL: NCAA Division I

LOCATION: Burlington, VT

LEAGUE: Hockey East

CARTER JOHNSON I TRACK & FIELD

Carter’s older brother, Jacob, was one of the state’s top hurdlers in his final two seasons at OHS in 2015 and 2016 and signed with Division I Southern Alabama out of high school.

COLLEGE CHOICE: South Dakota State

LEVEL: NCAA Division I

MASCOT: Jackrabbits

LOCATION: Brookings, S.D.

LEAGUE: Summit League

TREVOR HIATT I TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY

Not to be confused with Carter Johnson’s college destination, Hiatt signed with the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D.  South Dakota STATE (Johnson’s future school) in located in Brookings, which is located about 120 miles north of the USD campus.

COLLEGE CHOICE: University of South Dakota

LEVEL: NCAA Division I

MASCOT: Coyotes

LOCATION: Vermillion, S.D.

LEAGUE: Summit League

CAEL ROBB I WRESTLING

Cael will become the second member of Robb household to take their talents to a powerhouse college wrestling program in the state of Nebraska. His older brother, Peyton, of course, is currently one of the top pound-for-pound wrestlers at the Division I level and a redshirt junior for the No. 8-ranked University of Nebraska. Cael’s destination, Nebraska-Kearney, is ranked No. 3 in Division II and is the D-II National Champions.

COLLEGE CHOICE: University ofNebraska-Kearney

LEVEL: NCAA Division II

MASCOT: Lopers

LOCATION: Kearney, Neb.

LEAGUE: MIAA

ANNIKA MORAN I LACROSSE

Quincy University competes in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the women’s lacrosse team has been an officially sanctioned member of the NCAA since 2020.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Quincy University (Ill.)

LEVEL: NCAA Division II

MASCOT: Hawks

LOCATION: Quincy, Ill

LEAGUE: GLVC

OWEN KORBEL I TRACK & FIELD

Outside of Minnesota State-Mankato, Minnesota State-Moorhead is the only men’s track and field program in the NSIC to win the conference’s outdoor championship in the last 16 years. Ironically, MSU-Moorhead captured 18 men’s outdoor team titles in the 21 seasons between 1972 and 1992 with MSU-Mankato — know as Mankato State at that era — claiming the three other championships in the span (1979, 1980, 1981).

COLLEGE CHOICE: Minnesota State-Moorhead

LEVEL: NCAA Division II

MASCOT: Dragons

LOCATION: Moorhead

LEAGUE: NSIC

DREW HENSON I FOOTBALL

With Drew heading to Minnesota Duluth and his older brother, Sam, already one of the top kickers in Division II at Concordia University in St. Paul, 28.5% of the teams in the 7-member NSIC North Division will have a kicker on their roster from the Henson family beginning next fall. It should also be noted that their father, Garrett, was a Division I punter at the New Mexico State University from 1989 to 1991 and earned all-conference honors in the Big West in his final year.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Minnesota-Duluth

LEVEL: NCAA Division II

MASCOT: Bulldogs

LOCATION: Duluth

LEAGUE: NSIC

LAUREN BANGS I VOLLEYBALL

Bangs will join a Cobbers volleyball program helmed by Faith Radermacher. As a player at Division I University of North Dakota, Radermacher and was named the Big Sky Tournament Most Valuable Player in her junior and senior seasons while guiding the team to consecutive appearances in the National Tournament.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Concordia College-Moorhead

LEVEL: NCAA Division III

MASCOT: Cobbers

LOCATION: Moorhead

LEAGUE: MIAC

KIARA GENTZ I TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY

The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse stands out amongst the vast majority of fellow NCAA Division III institutions. First, it boasts an enrollment of roughly 10,000 undergraduate students, which is about 7,300 more than the average D-III school (2,615). Secondly, it is one of just 83 D-III colleges and universities that are not privately funded.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Wisconsin-La Crosse

LEVEL: NCAA Division III

MASCOT: Eagles

LOCATION: La Crosse, Wis.

LEAGUE: WIAC

KAELYN FREAR-BOERNER I LACROSSE

Frear-Boerner was Owatonna’s goalie this past season and recorded her first career shutout against Austin on Nov. 16, 2022. She was also a forward on the Huskies’ back-to-back conference championship teams from the past two seasons.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Minnesota-Morris

LEVEL: NCAA Division III

MASCOT: Cougars

LOCATION: Morris

LEAGUE: UMAC

COLLIN VICK I BASKETBALL

Owatonna started playing basketball roughly 90 years ago and is the only Big Nine Conference team in the last six decades to win multiple state championships. The program has also produced the one of the league’s three all-time Mr. Basketball winners in Chad Kolander and recently graduated two of its top three all-time leading scorers (Evan Dushek and Brayden Williams). Collin Vick, though, became the first player in the history of the program to record a triple-double when he scored 15 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out 10 assists against Red Wing on Jan. 24.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Wisconsin-Stout

LEVEL: NCAA Division III

MASCOT: Blue Devils

LOCATION: Menomonie, Wis.

LEAGUE: WIAC

PETER SWEHLA I FOOTBALL

On June 11, Crown College was the first college football program to officially extend an offer for Swehla to join its football program next fall.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Crown College

LEVEL: NCAA Division III

MASCOT: Polars

LOCATION: St. Bonifacius

LEAGUE: UMAC

TEAGUN AHRENS I BASEBALL

Ahrens is a left-handed hitting first baseman and joins an RCTC program that has won 57 games over the last two seasons, which includes a program-record 31 victories in 2023.

COLLEGE CHOICE: RCTC

LEVEL: NJCAADivision III

MASCOT: Yellowjackets

LOCATION: Rochester

LEAGUE: MCAC

JUSTIN GLEASON I TRACK & FIELD

Justin’s dad, Joey, won the won 1995 MSHSL Class A Long Jump state championship nearly 17 years to the day that Justin claimed the 2022 Class AAA title in the same event.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Northwestern College

LEVEL: NAIA

MASCOT: Raiders

LOCATION: Orange City, Iowa

LEAGUE: GPAC

LAUREN WAYPA I TRACK & FIELD

Lauren is the daughter of long-time Owatonna High School boys soccer coach, Bob Waypa, and was named one of the Huskies’ track and field captains for the upcoming seasons. She is one of the team’s top sprinters and contributes on multiple field events as well (jumps).

COLLEGE CHOICE: Northwestern College

LEVEL: NAIA

MASCOT: Raiders

LOCATION: Orange City, Iowa

LEAGUE: GPAC

TAYLOR BUSHO I CLAY TARGET

Most Upper Iowa University teams compete at the Division II level, but shooting sports are affiliated with the National Collegiate Shooting Sports Athletic Association and is one of only a few co-ed sports in all of college athletics. Though not an official member of the NCAA, the NCSSAA uses its Divisional structure (D-I, D-II, D-III) when categorizing and releasing its team and national rankings.

COLLEGE CHOICE: Upper Iowa University

MASCOT: Peacocks

LOCATION: Orange City, Iowa

LEAGUE: NCSSAA