PCM trio makes it official on National Signing Day

MONROE — The Prairie City-Monroe football team won its first district title and playoff game in five seasons in 2016. While talent still exists in the freshmen, sophomore and junior classes, a big part of this year’s success lied with a talented crop of seniors.

Wednesday, on National Signing Day, a trio of those seniors officially announced their future plans by signing college scholarships.

All-state wide receiver Luke Greiner will take his talents to NCAA Division II Upper Iowa University, all-state offensive lineman Ethan Thomas is headed to Grand View University and all-state defensive lineman Clayton Welch will play for Ellsworth Community College.

“These three guys have been program guys for a long time,” PCM football coach Greg Bonnett said. “They have made themselves better but also made guys around them better. We have had a lot of fun a long the way and gotten a lot of productivity from these guys.”

Luke Greiner,

Upper Iowa University

Greiner was one of the top wide receivers in all of Iowa this past season. He led all 11-player classes with 18 receiving touchdowns, ranked first in Class 2A and sixth overall with 1,064 receiving yards and was second in 2A with 54 catches.

That earned him first-team all-state honors by the Iowa Newspaper Association and a lot of looks from colleges at several different levels.

“I think its a good fit for him. He can survive in the town where Upper Iowa is because he’s an outdoors guy,” Bonnett said.

“He likes to hunt and fish, and he’s very focused on football. And he gets to play at a very high level of football. He had lots of options, but I think he’ll make a lot of plays up there.”

Greiner’s top three choices also included Grand View University and Drake University. He liked all three schools but ultimately the only NCAA Division II school in Iowa will get his services.

“They have a lot to offer me,” Greiner said. “It seems like they have a good community for me to develop not only as an athlete and a student but as a person, too. I get to go off to do my own thing in a town that fits the personality that I have.”

Another selling point to Greiner, who was a third-team all-state INA player in 2015 after hauling in 56 catches for 836 yards and 12 touchdowns, was early playing time. Two of the top three receivers on last year’s roster will graduate in the spring.

“Everything they told me is pretty promising as far as early playing time,” said Greiner, who was undecided until just a few days ago. “That is another thing that sealed the deal for me.

“I knew it would come down to the last few weeks. I just took a lot of time to decide.”

Greiner, who was the 2A District 6 offensive MVP in 2016, plans to major in business administration. He wants to follow in his father Chris’ footsteps.

“I plan on framing houses in college and then start my own framing business,” Greiner said. “I will go into the trades field like my dad does.”

Ethan Thomas,

Grand View University

Grand View Offensive Coordinator and former Iowa State Cyclone Austin Flynn asked Bonnett for his honest opinion of Thomas during the recruitment process.

“I told him straight up that he might have the most potential to be a college football player than any player I have ever had,” Bonnett said. “He is a great kid, and his grades are really good.

“That’s exactly what (Flynn) wanted to hear. That sealed the deal.”

What sealed the deal for Thomas about Grand View University was its close proximity to his hometown, and the prestige the football program has around the country.

“The location was a big factor,” Thomas said. “I know a few people who go there, and they haven’t said anything bad about it. And the program is just solid.”

The familiar faces that Thomas, who went to a camp at Grand View this summer and visited campus again in mid-December, is referring to are PCM graduates Logan Gilman and Ashley Van Gorp. Gilman is on the basketball team, while Van Gorp plays for the Viking volleyball squad.

Thomas will play on the offensive line for the Vikings, who won the NAIA Division I national championship in 2013 and have won at least nine games every year since.

The 6-foot-1, 265-pound Thomas earned first-team all-state INA honors as an offensive lineman in 2016 and was a third-teamer in 2015. He will join 31 other recruits, 17 of which of are from the state of Iowa. Other familiar faces joining Thomas are BGM’s Jayce Knight and Roland-Story’s Dylan Rivers.

“Grand View is pretty excited about having him, and I think they should be,” Bonnett said.

Thomas, who is known as “Big E” around the community, picked Grand View over Simpson, Central and Morningside. He is undecided on a major.

Clayton Welch,

Ellsworth Community College

Welch still has hopes and dreams of playing football at the highest level possible. That’s part of the reason he chose the junior college route.

“I relate with the coaches real well, and it allows me to get to the highest level at some point,” Welch said. “I want to see if that’s possible.”

Welch put up the exact same numbers in 2015 that he did in 2016 — 32 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and five sacks. He added two fumble recoveries this past season and the plays he made in the backfield were more impactful on a team that went 8-1 during the regular season.

The only question that remains for Welch is, what position will he play in college?

“They really wanted him,” Bonnett said about Ellsworth and Welch. “I like it because he’s kind of a tweener guy. We are not sure what position he will play so going there will help him figure that out. They have realized that he’s a football player, and they’ll find the right position for him.”

Welch will play either linebacker, defensive end or fullback at the next level. His impact on the Mustangs’ defense in 2016 earned him 2A District 6 defensive MVP honors and third-team all-state defensive line by the INA.

Welch chose Ellsworth Community College over Iowa Western Community College and William Penn University.

The future Panther plans on majoring in criminal justice with the hopes of someday becoming a U.S. Marshall or a police detective.