JAMESTOWN — It is never too early to start talking about next football season. The University of Jamestown football team officially signed 34 new Jimmies for the 2026 season.
UJ bolstered its trenches by bringing in 14 interior linemen, seven on the offensive and seven on the defensive line. The lines were a point of emphasis for UJ head coach Brian Mistro.
“We realized last year in the NSIC that if you can’t win up front, you don’t really have a shot,” Mistro said. “We needed to beef up the O-line and D-line wise, and I think we hit the nail on the head with that in this class.”
Among the new linemen is Gus Werremeyer, who played for Fargo Davies High School where he led the Eagles to the 2025 NDHSAA Division 3A State Championship. Werremeyer was also named the 2025 NDHSCA Division 3A Football Senior Athlete of the Year.
Werremeyer, who signed as a defensive lineman, played both on the offensive and defensive lines for Fargo Davies, where his father, Wayne, a UJ alum, is the head coach.
Eighteen of the 34 recruits are defensive-focused players. That includes the aforementioned D-linemen, four linebackers and seven defensive backs.
“We got exposed in certain areas last year defensively,” Mistro said. “That had something to do with playing in the next level up and some of the athleticism there, so we wanted to put attention on that.”
Jimmies head coach Brian Mistro looks to upgrading the defense with latest recruiting class.
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
On the offensive side, the Jimmies brought in two running backs, four wide receivers and two quarterbacks.
One of those quarterbacks, Matthew Dosch from Red River High School in Grand Forks, committed to UJ to play football and baseball. And if the name sounds familiar, his father is former UJ head coach and current associate coach Tom Dosch.
The Dakotas are well represented in this recruiting class as the Jimmies brought in nine players from North Dakota and three from South Dakota. Bringing in North Dakota talent is not easy for Mistro as UJ is competing with many local colleges for players from the Great Plains.
“There are 10 football-playing colleges near us geographically that we battle for players in North Dakota,” Mistro said. “When you recruit North Dakota, you have to be on top of your game.”
An untapped pipeline coach Mistro has been building over the years is Arizona’s high school talent. Last season, 25 players on the Jimmie roster played high school football in Arizona. Mistro, a native of Gilbert, Arizona, added five more players in the 2026 recruiting class from the Grand Canyon State to play for UJ.
“They have to go somewhere, Mistro said. “They have limited college programs in Arizona, and there are some Division I and II talent players that can fall to us. We’re going to have 25-30 Arizona players on our team every year.
All of these football players not only needed to be talented but also had to fit into the culture that Mistro has been building at UJ.
“I refuse to sacrifice our standards, our expectations for what a kid needs to be as a Jimmie for just having a good player,” Mistro said. “We do so much vetting that by the time a kid commits, we know everything about them, and we’ll know if they’re a good fit or not.”
Full list of signed recruits:
FIRST NAMELAST NAMEPOSITIONHIGH SCHOOLHOMETOWNDeaconMaishDLRiver Valley High SchoolBullhead, AZJaceLangleyDLCentennial High SchoolGlendale, AZDonnellBridgesCBMarana High SchoolMarana, AZBrysonRaspberrySAFWilliams Field High SchoolMesa, AZMemphisBarberOLCrismon High SchoolQueen Creek, AZColeGholarCBAmerican Canyon High SchoolAmerican Canyon, CAJeremiahMcCartySAFBeaumont High SchoolBeaumont, CAKonleyCovaOLBWheatland Union High SchoolWheatland, CAJadynIrvingSAFCherry Creek High SchoolCentennial, COJorenFloresILBPueblo West High SchoolPueblo West, COJaronYagerWRLakeland High SchoolHayden Lake, IDJoeJacksonOLApple Valley High SchoolApple Valley, MNAbramBruggemanRBThomas Jefferson Senior High SchoolBloomington, MNCharlieBeckerSAFNorthfield High SchoolDundas, MNJabariStraderWREdina High SchoolEdina, MNCarterMayerILBLakeville South High SchoolElko New Market, MNGusKnowltonDLCambridge-Isanti High SchoolIsanti, MNEmilioRosario-MatiasRBStillwater Area Senior HsLake Elmo, MNDarionGrahamWRLakeville South High SchoolLakeville, MNIsaacBachmeierWRCentury High SchoolBismarck, NDCarterMichlitschOLSaint Mary’s Central High SchoolBismarck, NDBlakeMcCarthyOLFargo Davies High SchoolFargo, NDGusWerremeyerDLFargo Davies High SchoolFargo, NDMatthewDoschQBRed River High SchoolGrand Forks, NDBrennenGableDLWest Fargo Sheyenne High SchlHorace, NDTylerEvansOLNorthwood Public SchoolNorthwood, NDMatthewBryantDLVelva High SchoolVelva, NDLukeAndersonDLWahpeton Senior High SchoolWahpeton, NDTateGadboisWRSioux Falls Christian SchoolsHartford, SDBraylenBowsherSAFMilbank High SchoolMilbank, SDJacksonCoauetteOLBSpearfish High SchoolSpearfish, SDZachJohnsonOLLutheran South AcademyHouston, TXNashLeingangOLKlein Cain High SchoolSpring, TXBaylenErdmannQBAuburn High SchoolAuburn, WA
Paul Garcia II is a sports reporter for The Jamestown Sun. Paul is an Air Force veteran where he was stationed at Minot Air Force Base. After finishing his contract with the Air Force, Paul obtained a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Studies at University California of San Diego, and a Master’s in Sports Journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University.