Friesen The Latest in a Long Lineage of Wildcats
May 30, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
To understand the path of Kansas State junior defensive end Jace Friesen, to understand why the phrase "I'm living the dream," is meaningful, and to understand exactly why purple and white has churned inside of his being all his life, you might start across the street from Bill Snyder Family Stadium at the hospital where he was born on June 8, 2001.
But the story begins far before then.
You might start with his mother, Julie. She was a four-year letterwinner on the K-State track and field team. She threw the discus and the shot put. She was purple to the core.
But the story also begins before then.
No, to understand how this all started, why the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Friesen, a native of Basehor, Kansas, practically bursts with purple passion while speaking at summer Catbacker events across the state of Kansas, you might start with September 29, 1928.
That's the day that William Daniels, an end, played his very first game as a K-State Wildcat at Memorial Stadium in Manhattan. Daniels is Friesen's great-grandfather. He played in 1928-30 for A.N. "Bo" McMillin. The Wildcats went 3-5 in 1928 and 3-5 in 1929 before going 5-3 in 1930. That season, great-grandpa Daniels and the Wildcats beat Iowa State (13-0), Centre College (27-0) and Nebraska (10-9) in Lincoln to finish with the 17th winning season in the 35-year history of the football program.
Earl H. Meyer, a tackle, came a couple of decades later. Meyer played for K-State in 1951-53 under head coach Bill Meek. Meyer is Friesen's grandfather. Meyer was teammates and friends with halfback Veryl Switzer. They helped K-State to what at the time was its greatest turnaround in program history — coming from the depths of 1951 (0-9) to winning a single game in 1952 (1-9) and making a statement in 1953 (6-3-1). That year, K-State whipped Nebraska 27-0 to spur a four-game winning streak that included victories over Iowa State (20-12), Colorado (28-14) and Wichita (21-0). Two weeks later, K-State beat Kansas 7-0 in Lawrence. The Wildcats tied Arizona 26-26 in Tucson, Arizona, in the final game of the season.
"Just the family lineage," Friesen says, "it's insane."
With William Daniels, Earl Meyer, and Julie Friesen, Jace Friesen is a fourth-generation Wildcat. There is no telling if there has ever been another family athletic heritage quite like this before in the Little Apple.
"It started with my great-grandpa, then my grandpa, who played with Veryl Switzer," he says. "My mom threw the discus and shot put. Then…"
Friesen isn't finished.
"Then my cousin, Jon McGraw came here," he continues. "I have a picture of three-month-old me down on the field in Jon's arms. Then my cousin Tomasi Mariner came here and played football with Collin Klein."
That's right. Jon McGraw, a Third Team All-Big 12 Conference safety, who arrived as a walk-on from Riley, Kansas, and became the first K-State player selected in the 2002 NFL Draft. McGraw appeared in 122 games over a 10-year NFL career that included three years with the New York Jets, two with the Detroit Lions, and the final five with the Kansas City Chiefs. McGraw, a special teams captain, was awarded the Chiefs' Ed Block Courage Award for inspiration, sportsmanship and courage by teammates during his final year in 2011.
"Jon was an extraordinary football player and is an even better man," Friesen says. "To see him work hard as a walk-on and earn a scholarship and have an NFL career is very surreal."
Unbelievable.
"Yeah, it's something that I have to put into perspective daily," Friesen says. "It's very humbling realizing everybody who's come before you and there's a level, an expectation that you're a Wildcat, and there's a way you do things and hold yourself to a certain standard knowing you have family members who've done it in the past and thrived on it on top of that."
William Daniels, Earl Meyer, Jon McGraw, Tomasi Mariner and Friesen have helped K-State football to 98 wins against 57 losses over a combined span of 15 seasons. Nine of those 15 seasons resulted in a winning record. They've beaten Kansas 11 times and beat Nebraska four times (1930, 1953, 1998 and 2000). McGraw, Mariner and Friesen have combined for eight bowl appearances in their nine combined seasons — and that could change if the Wildcats go to another bowl in 2022.
"My mom found video of my grandpa playing in a K-State/KU game in Memorial Stadium," Friesen says. "My grandpa lived in the dungeon dorms down there at Memorial Stadium, where the football players lived. Once, they were at Oklahoma State and they were walking into a restaurant and the owners didn't want Veryl to walk in. The entire team — my grandpa helped spearhead it — decided if Veryl couldn't walk in none of them were walking in.
"They wanted Veryl to walk in the back door, so the entire team walked through the back door in a protest. It was really cool to hear something like that about your grandpa."
Grandpa Meyer served in the military after his K-State career and went back home to help his brother farm in Osage City, Kansas. They farmed there the rest of their lives. Friesen grew up going to the farm. Grandpa Meyer passed away when Friesen was in the second grade. He left Friesen with some parting words that he thinks about each Saturday in the fall.
"He told me and my cousin he's always in our back pocket," Friesen says. "So, whenever I'm out there playing, grandpa is in my back pocket."
How's this for another K-State connection? Julie Friesen taught current K-State offensive lineman Cooper Beebe in middle school. Friesen and Beebe are currently roommates at K-State.
"I've grown up with Cooper and everyone over there," Friesen says. "It's crazy how it all comes together."
Friesen was a standout in high school. An all-state selection, Friesen played both offensive line and defensive line at 220 pounds his senior year. At one point, he played every spot along the offensive line. He also played tight end a little bit. He was a four-year letterwinner because he long-snapped his freshman year. He helped Basehor-Linwood to a 30-5 record and a pair of league championships over his final three seasons. He had 150 tackles and 14 sacks during his junior and senior seasons. He was selected to play in the Shine Bowl. He earned the Dylan Meier Get Busy Livin' Award in 2018 after organizing a swab drive to find matches for 6-year-old Weston, who was battling Leukemia.
"I go back and see him whenever I can," he says. "(His family) has done a lot for me and I can't thank them enough, and I can't thank the Meier family enough for what they've done for me."
Friesen had a few Division II scholarship offers, and some FCS offers out of high school. Then Kansas and K-State showed some interest. Conversations with KU stalled, and Bill Snyder retired, appearing to leave Friesen in limbo. But Friesen continued expressing his interest to join K-State in e-mails to Taylor Braet, K-State's longtime recruiting coordinator who remained on Chris Klieman's staff.
"I came to K-State as a walk-on," Friesen says. "I was originally coming in as a long snapper, then (former defensive end) Reggie Walker rolled his ankle right before fall camp, so I became a defensive end, and that got my foot in the door. I thought I'd come in and long snap, and maybe play a little bit of defensive end, and ended up playing some defensive end right off the bat. God works in mysterious ways."
This past season, Friesen played in four games on both special teams and as a reserve defensive end. He recorded two tackles — one against Nevada and TCU — and recorded half a sack against the Wolf Pack. He earned 2021 First Team Academic All-Big 12 honors.
Things didn't go as planned this spring, however. K-State suffered an abundance of absences along its defensive line during its 15 spring practices — a majority of the absences due to offseason surgeries. Friesen made it through three spring practices, then he joined the list of the injured players.
"I had an aching injury and made it through three practices," he says. "I found out I essentially had a stress fracture in my pelvis, so I had to sit out the rest of spring ball."
Friesen, who is on pace to graduate in communications with a minor in leadership next spring, is eager for next fall.
For him, taking the field as a Wildcat is a part of a longtime family tradition.
"It's surreal to have that very long family lineage of Wildcats in my family," he says. "That's why it's a surreal feeling to be able to put on my jersey. People talk about family. This means even more when you talk about family.
"It's something that's very amazing. That's the best word to use. It's amazing to say I'm a part of a lineage that's been so great in different eras."
To understand the path of Kansas State junior defensive end Jace Friesen, to understand why the phrase "I'm living the dream," is meaningful, and to understand exactly why purple and white has churned inside of his being all his life, you might start across the street from Bill Snyder Family Stadium at the hospital where he was born on June 8, 2001.
But the story begins far before then.
You might start with his mother, Julie. She was a four-year letterwinner on the K-State track and field team. She threw the discus and the shot put. She was purple to the core.
But the story also begins before then.
No, to understand how this all started, why the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Friesen, a native of Basehor, Kansas, practically bursts with purple passion while speaking at summer Catbacker events across the state of Kansas, you might start with September 29, 1928.
That's the day that William Daniels, an end, played his very first game as a K-State Wildcat at Memorial Stadium in Manhattan. Daniels is Friesen's great-grandfather. He played in 1928-30 for A.N. "Bo" McMillin. The Wildcats went 3-5 in 1928 and 3-5 in 1929 before going 5-3 in 1930. That season, great-grandpa Daniels and the Wildcats beat Iowa State (13-0), Centre College (27-0) and Nebraska (10-9) in Lincoln to finish with the 17th winning season in the 35-year history of the football program.
Earl H. Meyer, a tackle, came a couple of decades later. Meyer played for K-State in 1951-53 under head coach Bill Meek. Meyer is Friesen's grandfather. Meyer was teammates and friends with halfback Veryl Switzer. They helped K-State to what at the time was its greatest turnaround in program history — coming from the depths of 1951 (0-9) to winning a single game in 1952 (1-9) and making a statement in 1953 (6-3-1). That year, K-State whipped Nebraska 27-0 to spur a four-game winning streak that included victories over Iowa State (20-12), Colorado (28-14) and Wichita (21-0). Two weeks later, K-State beat Kansas 7-0 in Lawrence. The Wildcats tied Arizona 26-26 in Tucson, Arizona, in the final game of the season.
"Just the family lineage," Friesen says, "it's insane."
With William Daniels, Earl Meyer, and Julie Friesen, Jace Friesen is a fourth-generation Wildcat. There is no telling if there has ever been another family athletic heritage quite like this before in the Little Apple.
"It started with my great-grandpa, then my grandpa, who played with Veryl Switzer," he says. "My mom threw the discus and shot put. Then…"
Friesen isn't finished.
"Then my cousin, Jon McGraw came here," he continues. "I have a picture of three-month-old me down on the field in Jon's arms. Then my cousin Tomasi Mariner came here and played football with Collin Klein."
That's right. Jon McGraw, a Third Team All-Big 12 Conference safety, who arrived as a walk-on from Riley, Kansas, and became the first K-State player selected in the 2002 NFL Draft. McGraw appeared in 122 games over a 10-year NFL career that included three years with the New York Jets, two with the Detroit Lions, and the final five with the Kansas City Chiefs. McGraw, a special teams captain, was awarded the Chiefs' Ed Block Courage Award for inspiration, sportsmanship and courage by teammates during his final year in 2011.
"Jon was an extraordinary football player and is an even better man," Friesen says. "To see him work hard as a walk-on and earn a scholarship and have an NFL career is very surreal."
Unbelievable.
"Yeah, it's something that I have to put into perspective daily," Friesen says. "It's very humbling realizing everybody who's come before you and there's a level, an expectation that you're a Wildcat, and there's a way you do things and hold yourself to a certain standard knowing you have family members who've done it in the past and thrived on it on top of that."
William Daniels, Earl Meyer, Jon McGraw, Tomasi Mariner and Friesen have helped K-State football to 98 wins against 57 losses over a combined span of 15 seasons. Nine of those 15 seasons resulted in a winning record. They've beaten Kansas 11 times and beat Nebraska four times (1930, 1953, 1998 and 2000). McGraw, Mariner and Friesen have combined for eight bowl appearances in their nine combined seasons — and that could change if the Wildcats go to another bowl in 2022.
"My mom found video of my grandpa playing in a K-State/KU game in Memorial Stadium," Friesen says. "My grandpa lived in the dungeon dorms down there at Memorial Stadium, where the football players lived. Once, they were at Oklahoma State and they were walking into a restaurant and the owners didn't want Veryl to walk in. The entire team — my grandpa helped spearhead it — decided if Veryl couldn't walk in none of them were walking in.
"They wanted Veryl to walk in the back door, so the entire team walked through the back door in a protest. It was really cool to hear something like that about your grandpa."
Grandpa Meyer served in the military after his K-State career and went back home to help his brother farm in Osage City, Kansas. They farmed there the rest of their lives. Friesen grew up going to the farm. Grandpa Meyer passed away when Friesen was in the second grade. He left Friesen with some parting words that he thinks about each Saturday in the fall.
"He told me and my cousin he's always in our back pocket," Friesen says. "So, whenever I'm out there playing, grandpa is in my back pocket."
How's this for another K-State connection? Julie Friesen taught current K-State offensive lineman Cooper Beebe in middle school. Friesen and Beebe are currently roommates at K-State.
"I've grown up with Cooper and everyone over there," Friesen says. "It's crazy how it all comes together."
Friesen was a standout in high school. An all-state selection, Friesen played both offensive line and defensive line at 220 pounds his senior year. At one point, he played every spot along the offensive line. He also played tight end a little bit. He was a four-year letterwinner because he long-snapped his freshman year. He helped Basehor-Linwood to a 30-5 record and a pair of league championships over his final three seasons. He had 150 tackles and 14 sacks during his junior and senior seasons. He was selected to play in the Shine Bowl. He earned the Dylan Meier Get Busy Livin' Award in 2018 after organizing a swab drive to find matches for 6-year-old Weston, who was battling Leukemia.
"I go back and see him whenever I can," he says. "(His family) has done a lot for me and I can't thank them enough, and I can't thank the Meier family enough for what they've done for me."
Friesen had a few Division II scholarship offers, and some FCS offers out of high school. Then Kansas and K-State showed some interest. Conversations with KU stalled, and Bill Snyder retired, appearing to leave Friesen in limbo. But Friesen continued expressing his interest to join K-State in e-mails to Taylor Braet, K-State's longtime recruiting coordinator who remained on Chris Klieman's staff.
"I came to K-State as a walk-on," Friesen says. "I was originally coming in as a long snapper, then (former defensive end) Reggie Walker rolled his ankle right before fall camp, so I became a defensive end, and that got my foot in the door. I thought I'd come in and long snap, and maybe play a little bit of defensive end, and ended up playing some defensive end right off the bat. God works in mysterious ways."
This past season, Friesen played in four games on both special teams and as a reserve defensive end. He recorded two tackles — one against Nevada and TCU — and recorded half a sack against the Wolf Pack. He earned 2021 First Team Academic All-Big 12 honors.
Things didn't go as planned this spring, however. K-State suffered an abundance of absences along its defensive line during its 15 spring practices — a majority of the absences due to offseason surgeries. Friesen made it through three spring practices, then he joined the list of the injured players.
"I had an aching injury and made it through three practices," he says. "I found out I essentially had a stress fracture in my pelvis, so I had to sit out the rest of spring ball."
Friesen, who is on pace to graduate in communications with a minor in leadership next spring, is eager for next fall.
For him, taking the field as a Wildcat is a part of a longtime family tradition.
"It's surreal to have that very long family lineage of Wildcats in my family," he says. "That's why it's a surreal feeling to be able to put on my jersey. People talk about family. This means even more when you talk about family.
"It's something that's very amazing. That's the best word to use. It's amazing to say I'm a part of a lineage that's been so great in different eras."
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