Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta senior football player Tristan Raths signed with Valley City State University to play football in the fall of 2021.
“(VCSU) started recruiting me during the summer,” said Raths, who signed with VCSU as a linebacker. “I only did one college visit because I wanted to go somewhere where I would be a person and not just a number on the field.”
Raths was involved in all three phases of the game for the MACA Tigers. He punted on special teams, lead blocker as fullback on offense and linebacker on defense where he finished with 56 tackles, second-most on the team.
Being recruited in the pandemic-era of 2020 was very different than what a typical senior recruit would go through in a pre-pandemic year.
“I went on three socially distanced visits,” Raths said, including a game day visit. “On gameday visits, we couldn’t go onto the field and meet the players or very many of the coaches.”
He was sold on VCSU from the start and ultimately chose to become a Viking over other potentials because it reminded him of home.
“They have a lot of the same values that we have at Morris,” Raths said. “All of the coaches are amazing people and just the overall feel of the campus felt like home.”