Solon's Koehn to walk on at Iowa

Marshall Koehn could have delayed his decision for awhile, but what was the point?"My parents, my dad and Coach (Kevin) Miller have been talking about recruiting a lot recently," the Solon senior said. "I just felt it was time to make my decision ... I've grown up watching the Iowa Hawkeyes."So he'll be one, joining the football program as a preferred walk-on kicker. Koehn made 49 of 56 extra points and 13 of 18 field goals for the Class 3A champion Spartans this past fall.The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder's long was 48 yards. He regularly reached the end zone with his kickoffs."His best football is definitely still ahead of him," said Solon Coach Kevin Miller, pointing out Koehn played offense and defense this season. "Because he'll be able to concentrate solely on kicking."Koehn said he also had walk-on offers from Northern Iowa and Iowa State. All-state in soccer and baseball, Koehn will be giving up those two sports for his dream of playing Division I football.Considering Mike Meyer won the kicking job this season as a walk-on freshman, he feels he'll be given every opportunity with the Hawkeyes."It's definitely open competition (for kicker) at Iowa," Koehn said. "It doesn't matter if you're a walk-on freshman or a senior. You're going to have the same opportunity to win the job."