Rohr to attend William Penn

OSKALOOSA - There are a number of reasons why Pekin High School's Levi Rohr has chosen William Penn University to continue his athletic and football career.

1. 'The Football Program - I will be reunited with Tony Torres (Washington High School graduate 2018),” Rohr said. 'Tony and I played on the Washington Demons soccer team together. Tony helped me get started with kicking a football.

2. 'The facilities - William Penn has a state of the art field house. And I really like the campus overall.

3. 'The atmosphere - It felt like the people at William Penn are committed and have energy.

4. 'The degree program - William Penn was the only school I looked at that had a degree in Information Technology. Other schools have a computer science degree, which is too broad for my interest.”

Rohr had also considered playing soccer in college and looked at other schools.

'(I considered) Central, Coe, Mount Mercy (to play soccer) and Simpson,” Rohr said. 'I attended a kicking camp with Coach Green from Simpson, and enjoyed learning from him. I also attended a kicking camp at William Penn which was very helpful.”

It was also helpful for the William Penn coaches to learn about the kind of person Rohr is.

'Levi is a fantastic football player and an even better young man and student,” said William Penn assistant coach Aaron Hinnah, who recruited Rohr. 'All of this led to interest on our part. He is a very proper young man who conducts himself in a manner that is much older than what he is. His confidence and professionalism is much beyond his years. This is exactly what we want to see in our Statesman football student-athletes! He is everything we want in a student-athlete. What caught our attention is exactly what will make him a great addition to our program here at William Penn University. We want kids that will make our program overall better in every sense (on the field, in the classroom and in the community.”

Pekin head football coach Bud Blakely saw how much Rohr improved in high school.

'He grew from little football experience to being a darn good football player,” Blakely said. 'Levi is a great teammate as we have had the privilege of having him on our team the past four years.”

Blakely and the Panthers have been the beneficiaries of Rohr's talents.

'Levi has a strong leg and he will need to continue to work on his consistency and accuracy. I think every kicker wants to improve on those two things and Levi is no different.”

The Pekin coach has seen how Rohr has worked to ake himself better.

'I think Levi will do well,” Blakely said. 'He will get coached up and really be able to focus on kicking at William Penn. I will miss his presence and am excited for his future.”

Hinnah said there may be some obstacles that will challenge Rohr.

'Coming from a small school, this sometimes can be a hurdle for incoming freshman being that they are not used to a higher level of competition, such as what Levi will see here at WPU,” Hinnah said. 'But knowing this young man, I know he will overcome and grow as an athlete with us.”

Hinnah mentioned some of Rohr's strengths that led to his high opinion of him.

'I love his versatility and his build,” Hinnah said. 'He is a strong kid, and I know that once he gets into our lifting program, that he will continue to improve on the base that Coach Blakely has already built into Levi. I also love that he is a multisport athlete being a pretty darn good soccer player for Washington.”

Hinnah has had 'a lot of success” recruiting in-state and likes the 'southeast Iowa club” that is forming with recruits like All-State selection Ricky Pforts from Wapello, All-State selection Dawson Baumert from Sigourney-Keota.

'Levi adds another great individual into this,” Hinnah said. 'This continues a trend that was set last year with individuals such as Trey Moore from EBF, and Shrine Bowl selection Colton Horak from WACO coming to play for us as well (both started for us this past season with Horak being all-conference for us at safety). We are building the core of this team with southeast-Iowa raised boys, and the future is extremely bright for us right now. Respect, perseverance, and persistence will allow nothing to set a limit for this young man's future.”

The future is the focus after The Statesmen were 4-6-1 last year and 4-7 the previous year after a 7-4 campaign in 2017.

'We feel our recruiting filled many holes with the loss of our senior class,” William Penn head coach Todd Hafner said. 'We also feel that we have a very good fixture of incoming freshmen, junior college transfers, and a couple transfers from NCAA schools. These players can make a big impact on our team. We are looking forward to having them on campus and putting together a team that everyone will be proud of.”

Hinnah says that feeling of pride is special when he thinks of Rohr's future.

'I see Levi being the type of individual that will one day be a leader within our program,” Hinnah said. 'I've gotten to know Levi's dad a little bit, Kevin, who is a pastor, an educator as well as a coach, and I know what type of qualities Levi's parents have instilled in him. And these are the qualities of a leader within our program. We have had a lot of success recently with southeast Iowa young men deciding to come join our program.”

In that program, Rohr plans to major in Information Technology. Although he is unsure of an exact job title, he is sure of his overall goals.

'I want to be successful at whatever I do,” Rohr said. 'I want to work with computer systems - hardware and software. Someday I would like to raise a family.”