With games canceled, we're going to spend the next few months profiling our senior student-athletes who have finished their athletic careers at Martin Luther College. 

Next up in the series is Nate Holz, who competed on the MLC football team from 2016-19.

Major: Biblical Languages, Classical (Pastor Track)
High School: Luther Prep
 

What is your favorite moment/game from being an MLC athlete?
It's hard to beat winning our first conference championship, but I think my favorite moment was my junior year when we beat St. Scholastica at home. That was when we realized we were the real deal and had a serious shot at winning the conference.  


What was your best game/event as an MLC athlete (if different from favorite moment)?
Every time we went on a long overnight road trip, down to Iowa or Missouri or Illinois, and came away with the win (6 times in the last 2 years) was an awesome team experience. My favorite might have been our Iowa Wesleyan game my junior year. We were coming off the high of beating Scholastica the week before and we played horribly on a rainy day in Iowa. The game was crazy for me personally; my buddy Jake Schmidt got hurt, so I had to move from DT out to his spot at DE. We were down 21-7 with 7 minutes to play when we finally got going, scoring 3 TDs in 5 minutes to go up 28-21, and our last TD was the WR pass from Josh Schroeder to Josh Arndt. Watching that play from the sidelines was one of the most exciting moments of my career. Then the defense had to close the game out, and Wesleyan was down to their last play. I got beat off the line and got pancaked, but got up and actually was able to get the sack to end the game. It was the most stressful game of my MLC career, but also one of my favorites. 


Can you describe a time when one of your teammates did something on the field/court that made you in awe or inspired you in some way?
This one's easy. Jacob Schmidt's work ethic amazed me constantly. He and I played the same positions for 8 years, so we were always practicing and working out together. Jake never took a day off and he put in more work in the offseason than anyone else. Since we played the same positions, seeing how hard Jake worked always kept me motivated to keep pace with him. He never missed a game until junior year when he hurt his knee, and then he came back too soon and tried to play hurt, which really hurt his production. But then he came back healthy senior year after outworking everyone for another offseason and dominated opposing lineman, and I was so happy to see him get recognized for it by being named first team All-UMAC. I can say without a doubt that I was a much better player because I constantly had Jake's work ethic and competitive nature pushing me to be better. 

What is the funniest thing that happened while competing at MLC?
There was so much funny stuff in practice on a daily basis. Jacob Schmidt would say something dumb and Coach Stein or Coach Olson would make fun of him. Every day, the D-line would hit the sled, and whoever was up for the rep would just get absolutely roasted by everyone else who was standing in line. It was all in good fun and could get pretty hilarious. I know Coach Pearson and Coach Muhlenbach got a kick out of it. The time that Ian tried to pick off a pass and ended up decking Coach Olson was also hilarious, and even better to watch on film. 

For four years in practice, whenever the defense would get a turnover, the player who got the ball would punt it as far as they could, and when Joe Herrewig would do it, he would showboat and taunt the offense as much as he could to try to get a reaction out of Coach Stein. That was always really funny. 

Every single day in the warm up lines, guys would joke with each other and say things to tease or imitate the coaches. Herrewig and Keith Brassow were the best at that, and those ten minutes before practice gave us a lot of laughs over the years. 

For the defense, most of our laughs came in the film room when Coach would pause the film or run a play back a few times to point out something ridiculous that one of us did. Coach Olson can be pretty funny in teasing someone for screwing up on a play. Believe it or not, that's a pretty effective coaching tool as well. 


Who is the best athlete you ever competed against in the UMAC? Why?
Well this one's easy too. Nicholas Morrow. Freshman year I played O-line and Morrow played safety for Greenville. He was so good that Greenville would play with 6 or 7 guys on one half of the field, and they'd put Morrow on the other side with 3 or 4 other guys. TJ Babinec looked like he was going to score a long TD for us before Morrow ran him down from the complete opposite side of the field. One play, Morrow blitzed my gap and I did the only thing I could do—tried to cut block him. It somehow worked, and he just laughed and shook his head, knowing that my block should not have worked. Now, he's a starting linebacker for the Raiders in the NFL. 

The best player I went against, but not a UMAC player, was Ben Bartch for St.  John's, who's probably going to get drafted in the third round of the NFL draft next month. Usually, no matter how good someone is, his opponent can still win the occasional play. I didn't even get close to winning a rep against Bartch. 


Is there a moment where something clicked for you where you thought "I've got this now" as far as being a college athlete?
It's a feeling I started to get a few games into junior year, but by senior year it was really there. I knew I had put in the work for three years, so when we played our first UMAC game of senior year against Greenville, I kind of just had this feeling of 'no one in this conference can beat me.' Whether it was true or not, it's nice to be able to have that confidence—it's a huge part of having success on the field. I practiced for 2 years against the best O-line in the UMAC, so when it came to playing other teams' linemen, they didn't present much of a challenge compared to what I had seen in practice against Big O and Carrington and Derek. I'm guessing other guys know the feeling I'm talking about. We had put in the work in the offseason and in practice, so we knew we could dominate on Saturdays. 


What do you think you will miss most about being an MLC athlete? 
Almost everything. Playing football for MLC was one of the greatest experiences of my life. The brotherhood we had on the MLC football team was so special, and it was a huge part of our success. When August rolls around, it's going to be weird not going out to practice to put in work with the guys. I was so incredibly blessed to be a part of MLC football for 4 years. 


Do you have a favorite road trip from your athletic career you could share?
Road trips were the best. They were the times that really built that brotherhood. Winning on the road is hard, but the 8 and 10 hour trips with hotel stays were the hardest, so those wins were extra sweet.