Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Soehner Eyes Second Sport
LONG RECRUITED FOR FOOTBALL, PRAIRIE GROVE SENIOR ALSO SPORTS 90-MPH FASTBALL
Prairie Grove tight end Dylan Soehner has scheduled his first official college visit, but that isn’t the most intriguing news surrounding the 6-foot-7, 270-pounder.
Football isn’t the only sport college coaches are interested in Soehner playing.
“I haven’t played baseball or even thrown (a baseball) since my freshman year,” Soehner said. “I came out and threw bullpen for our new coach, just to get on the team, and a coach from Crowder (College) came to watch me throw.”
“They videoed it and I think I hit 90 (miles per hour). I’ve got a couple of schools talking to me about pitching, so I need to work on that to see where that goes.” No kidding. Tall, right-handed power pitchers are mainstays on every college baseball roster. Moreover, the fact Soehner was able to crack 90 mph despite not picking up a baseball for nearly three years shows scouts that he has a tremendous upside as a pitcher.
But what sport does he like the most?
“Whatever season it is — that’s the way I look at it,” Soehner said with a smile. “I’m probably just going to play one sport (in college), though.”
Because it’s so early into Soehner even considering playing baseball, he wasn’t sure about the process of pursuing two different sports. He even wondered if he could sign with two different colleges, one for football and one for baseball. He quickly learned student-athletes can only sign one valid National Letter of Intent annually because players sign with the institution, not with a specific sports team.
In the meantime, Soehner has scheduled an official visit to Iowa State on Jan. 15.
“We’re planning a couple of more (visits),” Soehner said. “But we haven’t exactly figured out where or when I’ll visit, but I may get to see two or three more.”
Soehner is aware he’s running short on time, at least if he wants to make a decision in time for the week-long national signing period for football, which begins Feb. 1.
One thing is for certain: He won’t have to learn a new position.
“I would like to stay at tight end,” said Soehner, whose favorite NFL player is Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham. “Arkansas State has offered me, too, and they were looking at me maybe playing (offensive) tackle. But all of the other schools that have offered me … they’re all looking at me as a tight end all the way and they all are looking at me to develop early to try to get on the field fast.”
Besides Arkansas State and Iowa State, Soehner also reports scholarship offers from Central Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe, Memphis and Missouri State.
“It’s exciting for him and it’s exciting for us as coaches to have someone looked at like that,” said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. “He gets more mail in my mailbox than I do, so I’m like ’dadgum it, you need to put me on staff to be your manager or something.’”
Soehner, who ran a 4.9 second, 40-yard dash at a Memphis camp, isn’t just brawn. He has brains, too. He sports a 3.75 GPA and a 27 on the ACT. Even though those grades are high enough to qualify for academic scholarships, Soehner isn’t too excited with those numbers.
“There is an issue with one class that is messed up and if I can get rid of that, I think I’ll have like a 3.94 (GPA) or something like that,” Soehner said. “The 27 on the ACT, it was OK, but my brother (Thomas Soehner, who played safety at Arkansas Tech) and I are really competitive and he made a 30, so I was disappointed with a 27.
“I wanted to take it again in October, but I didn’t get signed up in time.”
This past fall, Soehner helped the Tigers to a 13-2 record and reach the Class 4A state title game. He earned a spot on the All-Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette team after leading the team with 39 receptions for 662 yards and 9 touchdowns.