WAVERLY, Iowa—Nineteen starters return for Wartburg, the defending Iowa Conference champions, under 16^th year head coach, Rick Willis, for the 2014 season: ten on offense, seven on defense and both kickers.
 
"It's always exciting to get another year started," he said. "We welcomed 138 guys back to campus on Aug. 16 and feel like we have a great group of guys who are working hard."
 
Offense
Ten starters return and those include: Chris Brinkmeier (Orangeville, Ill.), Casey Krull (Allison), Bjorn Nelson (Maplewood, Minn.) and Chase Wilhelms (Shannon, Ill.). Brinkmeier was named a preseason All-American by d3football.com.
 
Two others that will see playing time on the line are junior Nick Jensen (Orangeville, Ill.) and sophomore Nolan Boyd (New Hampton).
 
Brandon Domeyer (Manchester) returns for his junior season after rushing for 918 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. There is still competition for the second spot and in the mix are Alex DeWald, Jake Haberman (Clarion), Parker Hammel (Dubuque) and Brandon Richardson (Rock Island, Ill.).
 
Junior Logan Schrader (Killdeer, Ill.) returns and will be the main signal caller. He threw for 1,346 yards and 12 touchdowns a year ago. "Last year, he split time with Taylor Jacobsmeier (Wapello) and kind of took over full time in the last quarter of the season," said Willis. "He was playing his best at that point and we're excited about the experience that he brings to our offense.
 
Willis sees Jacobsmeier and junior Zach Hiller (Waseca, Minn.) to provide depth at that position. "Jacobsmeier is back as he had an additional season of eligibility due to an injury his junior year, but is spending the majority of his time working as a wide receiver," he said. "The explosiveness that (Jacobsmeier) brings to our offense is exciting and something we want to try to fully utilize."
 
Senior Donald Miller (Maywood, Ill.) is back after making 45 receptions for 639 yards and nine touchdowns. Other returners include: juniors Robbie Anstoetter (Farley) and Jordan Schmitt (West Union) and Jacobsmeier. Some other guys that could earn statistics at this spot are senior Will Ebert (Polk City) and junior Mitch Frerichs (New Hampton).
 
The tight end position should be a big strength for the offense this year. Senior Jake Holsteen (Mediapolis) and junior Mitch Rahm (Wesley) are on the roster in this position and had 25 receptions between them last season. "Both are very athletic and give us a lot of options in terms of how we use our personnel," said Willis.
 
Defense
The Knights have seven starters back on defense and several others who have had significant roles in the part. In the defensive line and linebacker groups, those include: seniors Andrew Ganshirt (Dubuque), Chase Kleopfer (Cedar Rapids), Drew Kooi (Minooka, Ill.), Miguel Lozan (Peoria, Ill.) and Zach Twedt (Atkins) and juniors Nick Clasen (Maquoketa), Cole Hinders (Dysart), Will Janssen (Mediapolis) and Gunner Tranel (Vinton).
 
In the secondary, three starters return in seniors Spencer Capitani (Northwood) and Skylar Dierikx (Durant) and junior Logan Pitz (Farley). There is a battle for the second starting safety spot between sophomore Sawyer Anderson (New Hampton) and junior Nick Mayberry (Ames). Anderson was transitioned to the defense during spring camp after playing as a receiver last season. Also in the mix at safety is James Garlock (Johnston), a transfer from Iowa Western.
 
Specialists
Michael Bohlke (Manchester) and Grant Zimmerman (Mendota, Ill.) return for their junior seasons at kicker and punter, respectively. Senior Jason Lizalek (Channahon, Ill.) who did some of the team's kickoffs last season, also returns.
 
Schedule
Wartburg's nonconference schedule features two new teams in Augsburg (Sept. 6) and UW-Stout (Sept. 20). "Augsburg is kind of a new, old opponent for us as we played them for six straight years in middle 2000s," stated Willis. The Auggies' quarterback, Ayrton Scott, was named the quarterback of the year in the MIAC conference last season. The Knights own the 4-2 lead in the series from 2004-09..
 
The next week, No. 7 Bethel comes to Waverly which marks the third meeting in two seasons between the teams. Last season, the Orange and Black traveled to Arden Hills, Minn. twice for the regular season and the NCAA Tournament (Sweet Sixteen) game.  The Royals were also picked to win their conference title.
 
The final nonconference opponent will be UW-Stout on Sept. 20. These two teams have never met in school history. "The WIAC is a great football league and anyone you play from there is going to be good," commented Willis.
 
Willis sees a handful of teams that have a chance to win the Iowa Conference title. "A handful of teams in an eight-team conference is a lot," he said. "Some teams lost a lot on one side of the ball but return a lot on the other side, so it'll be interesting to see it all plays out."
 
Wartburg was picked to win the IIAC title in the preseason coaches' poll which is something that Willis always has as a goal for the program each season. "We expect there to be high expectations and are excited about the opportunities," he said. "We also understand the tremendous challenge ahead of us."