Beau Zimmerman, a senior at Cannon Falls, has committed to play baseball at the Division II level at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota. Signed on Thursday, March 17th, Zimmerman will be continuing his education and furthering his skills in baseball at DCTC. 

For the Cannon Falls baseball team, Zimmerman has been an essential player. He is a very versatile player for the Bombers and has played in the outfield, throughout the infield, and has pitched. He is also an aggressive hitter and a smart base runner. But, before moving on to DCTC, he will be playing his last season for the Bombers baseball team this spring along with 6 other seniors: Matthew Geise, Bailey Schact, Preston Carlise, Will Johnson, Jonny Munson, and Trenton Smith. Last year, the baseball team lost the section championship to the Belle Plaine Tigers in Gaylord, Minnesota. The team’s goal is to potentially make it farther than they did the previous year. 

Zimmerman claims he chose to continue playing baseball at DCTC because of the program. “I like the baseball program because I heard it was a really good program from my coach and my peers. They were also very welcoming when I first visited,” Zimmerman confirms. “But, I picked DCTC in general because it’s close to home and they are a Division II college,” he said. On the DCTC baseball team, Zimmerman shared he will be playing somewhere in the infield. “Although I haven’t decided exactly where yet, I’m most likely going to be either pitching or playing this base,” he said.

While at DCTC, Zimmerman will be studying to someday have a career in Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). As a technical school, DCTC was a simple choice for Zimmerman because he can get his education and start working in as little as two years. However, any schooling can take longer as a student athlete. 

With a good baseball program at the Division II level and good schooling for his future career, Dakota County Technical College was an easy decision for Zimmerman. Overall, he is very excited for what the future holds.

A Cannon Falls High School senior, Colton Loeschke, has committed to play Division III football at Gustavus Adolphus College this coming fall. Gustavus is a private college located in St. Peter, Minnesota–a little more than an hour drive from Cannon Falls. 

Loeschke helped the Bomber Football Team in becoming Section Champions in 2019, District Champions in 2019, 2020, and 2021. He was also an MSHSL State Football Participant in 2019. Along with team accomplishments during his football career, Loeschke was also awarded individual honors such as being named All-District Honorable Mention in 2020 and Academic All-State and All-District in 2021. Loeschke had the privilege of being a captain this year, where he helped set examples for the underclassmen and continued to be a leader. 

Loeschke declares he chose Gustavus because the coaches had reached out to him, in hopes that he would play football for them. He mentioned that they also “seemed interested in him as a player and as a student.” Gustavus also has his intended major, exercise physiology, and the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). In the future, he would like to enroll in graduate school for occupational therapy and someday work with veterans. 

Loeschke has been enlisted in the National Guard since May 7, 2021, which has been over a year now. During his time at Gustavus, he plans to attend ROTC classes and training exercises. This summer towards the end of June, Loeschke will leave for basic training. As soon as he gets back, which will be around the middle of August, he will go straight to Gustavus. 

The football season at Gustavus will start on August 16 and that is when he will start training as a linebacker for the Gustie team. In high school, Loeschke was a running back and a rover, which is a hybrid safety/linebacker position.

Loeschke says that he will miss a few friends in Cannon Falls, but he is honestly ready for a fresh start. He is very excited to meet new people and start the next chapter of his life.  

On March 21st, 2022, senior Noah Blanchard committed publicly in the Cannon Falls High School auditorium to Western Technical College on Senior Student-Athlete Signing Day. Blanchard played as a shooting guard and will continue his position as a shooting guard for the Western Cavaliers basketball team. He said he knew at the start of his high school career that he wanted to play ball at the next level. Unfortunately during his senior season, he obtained a foot injury that made him second guess his future. Ultimately, he knew this once-in-a-lifetime window of opportunity couldn’t be passed up. 

Noah Blanchard chose to take the exceptional opportunity and attend to Western Technical College because, “it checked all the boxes of what I was looking for in a school.” Blanchard said he will enjoy the distance away from home, but will also stay in close comfort to his friends and family. He also stated that Western will provide him with a platform that will allow him to contribute to the basketball team from the start of the season. 

Blanchard’s current plan is to major in Business Administration. He says this career path seems to be perfect since he has always been interested in all aspects of business. Blanchard says “this major of business will be applicable to any path I decide to go down.” He believes that business is one of the most versatile degrees to obtain. 

Blanchard says his experience with the team has been positive. He has a strong connection with the coach and is confident in his team’s future relationship. Blanchard explained he is excited he will be join by an old high school teammate at Western Tech. Danny Safe, a 2021 Cannon Falls graduate, will be playing with him. 

As Blanchard soaks up the rest of his senior year, he says it’s a bittersweet feeling not coming back to Cannon Falls in the fall. However, he’s incredibly excited to take the next step in his life as well as in his basketball career. The Cannon Falls students, staff, and community wish the best for Noah Blanchard as he continues his education and basketball career.