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Home > Bison Media Zone > Delayed by a year, Hunter Zenzen ready to make his Bison debut this fall
Podcast: Bison Media Zone
Episode:

Delayed by a year, Hunter Zenzen ready to make his Bison debut this fall
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2024-04-08 19:41:23
Description: FARGO Sixteen months after transferring to North Dakota State, Hunter Zenzen is still waiting to make his Bison debut.

He’s convinced that the wait will be worth it come August for Bison football fans.



“I'll be honest, I was a little rusty right away. Things are going well for me now. I'm kind of getting back into it.”



Zenzen is back on the field after missing all of 2023 with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot. He was injured during the second week of fall camp and had to sit and watch the entire season from the sidelines.



“I've never had an injury like that before. Right away, it took kind of a mental toll on me. And I think just having the guys around me kind of pick me up. That was huge for me. And I learned so much just through a simple injury, and I think it taught me a lot more about life than it did football.”



Zenzen said early on last fall he felt sorry for himself. He had transferred to NDSU after three years at Iowa State, where he didn’t play as much as he hoped to with the Cyclones.



The Bison were one of the original finalists for the Mr. Football finalist out of Barnesville in 2019, and kept those ties to the family, when they recruited Hunter’s younger brother Kaden to NDSU.



Zenzen inserted himself into the defensive line meetings on the sidelines during games to make sure he kept himself involved.




“ I was talking to Coach (Nick) Goeser on the sideline. As much as he needed my perspective, I was there.”



Zenzen is part of a defensive line that has a mix of youth and experience heading into 2024. The Mostaert twins, Jaxon Duttenhefer and Kody Huisman return on the interior, while first-team All-Valley selection Dylan Hendricks is back on the outside, along with Kole Menz and Loshiaka Roques.



There are some young players that Zenzen is excited to see get some more reps, from Kelton McCaslin to Toby Anene.




“I think we have a really solid d-line this year. Guys that are perfecting their craft.”



Zenzen nearly made his return to the field late last season. He was warming up prior to NDSU’s first round playoff game against Drake right after Thanksgiving. He said he was close, but not really that close to being back on the field.



“I think in my mind, I really wanted to yes, for sure. But there were a lot of precautionary things from the staff and that were just ‘no, we don't need anything dumb happening.’”



Zenzen says despite his lack of time on the field he considers himself a leader, entering his fourth year of college. With the extra COVID season and a medical redshirt year, he has two years of eligibility to play with NDSU.



He’s also undergone a physical change. Zenzen was recruited to Iowa State to be a linebacker. When he transferred to NDSU, he was moved to d-end, which meant a big body change.



“I was stacking weight as much as I could, and a lot of that wasn't really good body weight. And so when I got here, I really worked hard with Coach (Jim) Kramer kind of getting that body fat down and more of a lean to a 245, as opposed to a thick 245.



It’s something I really worked on and I feel really good now.”



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