Sunnyside wide receiver/defensive back Ikaika Piña announced via Twitter on Monday that he has committed to Nebraska Wesleyan, an NCAA Division III program in Lincoln, Neb.
Piña is the 41st local Class of 2021 standout to make a commitment or sign with a college.
Extremely grateful for this opportunity ‼️ 100% Committed @CoachCrume @NWUFootball @GlennPosey87 @SSBDFootball @Sunnyside_Track @AllSportsTucson @JavierJMorales @AZPreps365Andy pic.twitter.com/zsEZpldvVT
— Ikaika Piña (@IkaikaPina) April 19, 2021
A total of 81 prospect from the class have been offered scholarships, five of whom played for Glenn Posey at Sunnyside. They include Piña, wide receiver Anthony Galvez (committed to Simpson), linebacker Andrew Gonzalez (Muskingum), wide receiver/safety Dominic Murrieta and wide receiver Ruben Peralta.
“I chose NWU because from the start Coach (Kevin) Crume wasn’t really worried about football,” Piña mentioned. “He was more in what I wanted to do as a career and cared more about me as a student rather than just a football player. Everything he talked about was school and life first then came football.
“And I’ve always lived by a saying from former coaches and it’s ‘Family, School, Football’ in that order of importance.”
Piña also cited that Nebraska Wesleyan is known for Academic All-Americans and all the students at the school engage internships for job placement.
“Wherever my journey takes me to after college or which ever state, I know that NWU will give me the opportunity to succeed in anywhere I go,” he said. “I wasn’t just making this decision for football, but for my life after football, my career.”
Piña will study architecture and engineering at Nebraska Wesleyan.
Here is the list of the 41 local Class of 2021 prospects to make a commitment or sign with a college:
A total of 41 players have committed or signed:
- Former Salpointe OT Jonah Miller on May 18 to Oregon. He signed on Dec. 16.
- CDO RB Stevie Rocker on July 16 to Arizona. He signed on Dec. 16.
- Ironwood Ridge QB Chase Cassel on Sept. 23 to St. Norbert. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Nogales LB Rene R. Urias Jr. on Oct. 1 to Grinnell, He signed on Feb. 13.
- Cienega QB Ryan Swoger on Oct. 23 to South Dakota State. He signed on Dec. 16.
- Walden Grove LB Sebastian Adamski on Nov. 16 to Drake. He signed on Dec. 16.
- Cienega C Andrew Husfelt on Nov. 19 to Washburn. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Ironwood Ridge FS Dylan Cook on Nov. 24 to Morehead State
- Walden Grove WR Alex Culbertson on Nov. 24 to Simpson
- Catalina Foothills TE Garrick Krautz on Dec. 9 to Morehead State.
- Cienega SS Sebastian Felix on Dec. 16 to Drake. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Cienega LB Isaiah Webb on Dec. 18 to Western New Mexico. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Cienega DT Hunter Schlagel on Dec. 18 to Western New Mexico. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Buena OT Dominic Avant on Jan. 19 to Sioux Falls. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Pusch Ridge RB/DB Evan Lovett on Jan. 19 to Minot (N.D.) State. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Cienega WR/DB Charles Hamm III on Jan. 19 to Jamestown. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Buena RB Isaac Benoit on Jan. 20 to Sioux Falls. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Salpointe TE Fernando Torres on Jan. 22 to St. Olaf.
- Cienega RB Gabe Levy on Jan. 23 to Mary. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Nogales WR Ricky Hanlan on Jan. 27 to Western New Mexico. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Cienega LB Josiah Flores on Feb. 2 to Fort Lewis. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Cienega S/RB C.J. Flores on Feb. 3 to NAU. He signed on Feb. 3.
- Empire ATH Yani Brown on Feb. 3 to Arizona Christian.
- Tucson WR/S Daniel Becerra on Feb. 3 to Chadron (Neb.) State.
- Sahuaro WR/S Damon Robledo on Feb. 3 to Concordia (Chicago). He signed on Feb. 3.
- Desert View LB Anton Jamero on Feb. 4 to Ripon.
- Rincon/University WR/S Steven Geiger on Feb. 4 to Lawrence. He signed on Feb. 4.
- Walden Grove RB Stephen Brower Jr. on Feb. 5 to Simpson. He signed on Feb. 18.
- Desert View RB Jacob Ramirez on Feb. 11 to to Lyon.
- Salpointe RB David Cordero on Feb. 15 to Ottawa.
- CDO CB Raife Anthony on Feb. 16 to Aurora.
- Sunnyside WR Anthony Galvez on Feb. 17 to Simpson.
- Salpointe DE Brees McCraren on Feb. 25 to Fort Lewis.
- Cienega WR Caleb Kidney on Feb. 25 to Western New Mexico
- Marana LB Mateo Campos on March 1 to Carroll.
- Pusch Ridge WR/S Kannon Jewel on March 7 to Randolph-Macon.
- Tucson RB/LB Martin Barreras on March 16 to Chadron (Neb.) State
- Tucson DE Troy Mann on March 26 to Concordia (Minn.)
- Sunnyside LB/RB Andrew Gonzalez on April 5 to Muskingum College
- CDO QB Montana Neustadter on April 12 to Adams State
- Sunnyside DB/WR Ikaika Piña on April 19 to Nebraska Wesleyan
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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