Full Release with Full Bios on Upper Iowa's National Signing Day Class of 2015

Fayette, Iowa (Feb. 4, 2015) – The Upper Iowa University football team and coaching staff led by Head Coach Tom Shea announced its class of recruits for the 2015 season today.  The class includes commitments from twenty-three student-athletes to attend Upper Iowa and compete for the 2015 Peacock football team.  The group includes student-athletes that signed National Letters of Intent or acceptance letters to Upper Iowa and also includes four student-athletes that began class at UIU in January.
 
Included in this class of recruits are five wide receivers, four defensive backs, three running backs, three defensive lineman, three offensive linemen, two quarterbacks, two linebackers and one athlete.
 
Fifteen of the signees are from Iowa, while four others hail from two neighboring states; three from Wisconsin and one from Minnesota.  Of the final four, three come from California and one is from Nevada.
 
2015 Upper Iowa Football Commitments
 

Running Backs (3) Ryan Parmely 6-1 220 Delhi, Iowa (Maquoketa Valley HS) Keagan Pinter 5-10 180 Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Prairie HS) Brandan Geiger 5-10 175 Vinton, Iowa (Vinton-Shellsburg HS) Quarterbacks (2) Dimitri Morales * 6-2 205 Pasadena, Calif. (Chaffey College) Brent Lammers 6-0 190 Manchester, Iowa (West Delaware HS) Offensive Linemen (3) Brian Steffensmeier * 6-4 280 Dyersville, Iowa (Ellsworth Community College) Quentin Brandt 6-2 265 Waverly, Iowa (Waverly-Shell Rock HS) Fabian Leos y Baca 6-0 275 Las Vegas, Nev. (Victor Valley College) Wide Receivers (5) Skyler Lehman 6-3 200 Clintonville, Wis. (Clintonville HS) Brandyn Tulloch 5-8 170 Cottage Grove, Minn. (Park HS) Damon DeGraw 5-11 165 Oelwein, Iowa (Oelwein HS) Montel Austin * 5-8 170 Milwaukee, Wis. (Chattahoochee HS) Jalen Amis 6-0 190 San Bernadino, Calif. (Butte Community College) Defensive Backs (4) Marcus McCoy * 5-10 185 Sacramento, Calif. (College of the Siskiyous) Tanner Thompson 5-10 175 Forrest City, Iowa (Forrest City HS) Isaac Barrett 5-11 195 Denver, Iowa (Denver HS) Nic Patterson 6-3 190 Kaukauna, Wis. (Kaukauna HS) Defensive Linemen (3) Jojo Simpson 6-0 250 Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Prairie HS) Tryston Brown 6-4 235 Independence, Iowa (Independence HS) Brett Bowers 6-2 235 Independence, Iowa (Independence HS) Linebackers (2) Josh Mackey 6-1 210 Elgin, Iowa (North Fayette Valley HS) Beau Sorenson 6-1 180 Forest City, Iowa (Forest City HS) Athlete (1) Jordan Rommes 6-0 195 Calmar, Iowa (South Winneshiek HS) * Dimitri Morales, Brian Steffensmeier, Montel Austin and Marcus McCoy began classes at Upper Iowa in Jan. 2015.

The Peacocks finished their 2014 season with a 6-5 overall record and a 2-5 mark in the NSIC South Division. Upper Iowa's 4-0 record against the NSIC North Division, which included a win on the road at St. Cloud State University, propelled the team to a second straight winning season for the first time since 1963 and 1964 when the team won 6 and 8 games in consecutive years.  The half dozen victories also included a Homecoming Weekend victory over Augustana College as the team pushed their record to 5-0.  A loss to Winona State University at home came in between a pair of three-point losses on the road to Southwest Minnesota State University and Concordia University, St. Paul in overtime.  UIU earned their sixth win of the season in an impressive victory over Wayne State College on senior day putting 59 points on the scoreboard at Harms-Eischeid Stadium.  The Peacocks closed out their season with losses on the road to the nationally-ranked University of Sioux Falls (#17) and Minnesota State University, Mankato (#1).
 
The six victories this season mark the 17th time a football team at UIU has reached the 6-win mark in the program's 120-year football history. The Peacocks, who have only had five winning seasons prior to 2013 since 1966's 8-2 campaign, wrapped up just their 36th winning season in their history.
 
The NSIC coaches named a program-record 10 Peacocks to the All-NSIC South Division Team with six players named to the first team, two to the Second Team and two more to the Honorable Mention list.  Six of the Peacocks were on offense, while four were off the defensive side of the ball; seven seniors and three juniors earned recognition.  Seniors Casey Beck (LT), Derek Giesking (WR), Lucas Hefty, and Chris Smith join juniors Jevell Rollins (NG) and Alex Wahl (LB) on the All-NSIC South Division First Team, while junior Tyler Fisher (LB) and senior Chayz Holt (CB) line up on the All-NSIC South Division Second Team. Seniors Cole Jaeschke (QB) and Javon Moore (CB) were among the 25 players named All-NSIC South Division Honorable Mention.
 
Major Records Broken – Cole Jaeschke owns many records at Upper Iowa, but most importantly in the categories of career passing yards (11,714 yards), career total offense (12,174 yards), and career passing touchdowns (85).  The Moorland, Iowa native also now holds the all-time records in the history of the Northern Sun Conference for career passing yards and career total offense… Derek Giesking set the new bar for career receptions at Upper Iowa with 208 and a single-season record for receptions with 93… Shay Gutman finished his career with 196 receptions (second all-time) and 2,826 receiving yards, the most all-time receiving yards in Upper Iowa history.  Both are in the top four all-time among NSIC receivers in total receptions… Chris Smith closed out his historical career with 4,347 rushing yards including 1,144 this season and a program-best 45 rushing touchdowns in his four years.  This season, Smith rushed for 19 scores, the second highest mark all-time at Upper Iowa behind Warren Pierce's 20 in 1966… Lucas Hefty, one of the best tight ends to play in the Northern Sun, ended his four years in Peacock blue with 176 receptions, 2,213 yards and 23 touchdowns… Tim Rueb converted 40 of his 43 extra point attempts this season and added 7 field goals in 12 tries for 59 points.  The 40 made extra points is an Upper Iowa all-time high passing the old mark of 33 by Randy Welcher in 1966 and Larry Nemmers in 1964.  His 7 field goals are the third-most all-time in a season for the Peacocks.  As a team, the Peacock offense broke the season scoring mark of 338 set by the 1966 team with 365 points this year.  Thirteen different players put points on the board throughout UIU's eleven games.  The team's 49 touchdowns this season come up just one shy of 1966's record of 50, but the offense did set a new high mark for passing yards in a season with 3,354, which broke 2012's total of 3,149 yards.