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Wirt County’s Aaron Peterman off to Marietta College

Photo by Jay W. Bennett Wirt County’s Aaron Peterman, pictured here making a tackle on Gilmer County’s Joey Frame, earned second-team Class A all-state honors as a senior for the Tigers. Peterman will continue his football career at Marietta College for Pioneer head coach Andy Waddle.

ELIZABETH — Marietta College head football coach Andy Waddle has a new “buck” on the team.

Aaron Peterman, a senior at Wirt County High School, recently made his intentions known he will continue his career on the gridiron for the Division III Pioneers.

“They are going to play me at outside linebacker and defensive end, like a hybrid-type deal,” said Peterman, who lost his junior season due to a torn ACL.

Coach Waddle believes the near 6-foot-4, 210-pounder “has a great frame to work with” and added “a buck, they are just a hybrid guy, a linebacker or defensive end.

“I think he’s a smart player. He’s an athlete who does a lot of different things at the high-school level. We’re excited to see his transition to the next level. He’s got a bright future.”

Following a sophomore campaign in which Peterman had double-digit sack totals, he was primed for a big junior season before tearing up his knee in the last scrimmage of the fall.

Despite missing a full year, Peterman came back to start as the Tigers’ center and middle linebacker, earning Class A second-team all-state honors on the offensive line.

“He’s put in a lot of work since his injury,” admitted Tiger head coach Isac Osborne. “He had a phenomenal senior season. He deserves a lot of things that are coming his way. We’re extremely excited, happy and proud of him.”

Expected to major in land and energy management, Peterman finished his last grading period with a 3.9 GPA.

“It was hard watching all my other buddies out there playing,” admitted Peterman, who also considered Glenville State. “I love the sport of football and it just got taken away from me all of a sudden.

“It humbled me a little bit and makes me more thankful for football. Marietta is close to home and close to my family and I like their program. I like where they are headed and I hope I can help with that.”

Peterman has been working hard in the offseason and said he’s already added a solid five-plus pounds of muscle.

“I’m mainly just filling out my frame now,” he said. “In college, everybody is good and everybody was a star player from the team they came from.”

The Tigers bounced back this past season with a 5-5 record and Peterman noted of his final go-around wearing the orange and black “I think I’ll remember that my senior group, we were really trying to turn the program around.”

Of course, being a student-athlete in college will be a change for the soon-to-be ex-Tiger, but he added “I keep academics first, you know. There’s a very slim chance I’m going to ever make it out of college football.”

Even after the ACL tear, Peterman kept his spirits up and his eye on hopefully getting a chance to play somewhere on the next level.

“That’s why I worked really hard and I worked through the season and the winter the year I tore my ACL,” he said. “It’s always been my dream since I was a little kid to play college football.”

Peterman said his knee is doing just fine and that he “can’t tell any difference anymore. The doctor told me I didn’t have to wear the brace, but I’m probably going to wear it for safety precautions. I don’t really want to tear it again and lose another year.”

When asked what moment if any he fondly recalls from his prep career, the Tiger responded, “my senior night was probably my most memorable one because I think I had like 13 tackles, a couple sacks and I recovered a fumble.

“Teays Valley was on the 5 getting ready to score and their halfback fumbled it and I ran it back 95 yards for a touchdown.”

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