Zach Wodka to join big brother at Dartmouth

Zach and Alex Wodka obviously get along pretty well.

After all, Zach is going to join his older brother on the Dartmouth College football team next fall.

Zach Wodka, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound senior center at Buffalo Grove, committed a month ago and was officially accepted by the Ivy League school Wednesday.

Alex played 6 games at guard as a true freshman this season and is projected to start next year.

"He was ecstatic," Zach said of giving Alex the news. "I've got a close relationship with my brother.

"Going to the same college and playing basically next to each other is a great thing."

Wodka had also visited Cornell, Butler and Valparaiso. He canceled other visits to Ivy League schools after visiting Dartmouth.

Going to an Ivy League school was a priority for Wodka. He has a 4.98 grade-point average on a 5.0 scale, scored 31 on the ACT and plans to study business.

The Wodkas figure to have a chance to work together on the field with four senior offensive line starters graduating from a 3-7 team. Dartmouth also has a $20 million athletic facility that just opened.

"(Alex) influenced me because he loves it out there," Zach said. "They've got a great coaching staff, too. The offensive line coach (Cyril Brockmeier) really knows his stuff."

Zach Wodka, who moved from defensive tackle to center this season, knows he could have gone elsewhere to avoid following in his brother's footsteps.

But he hopes they can combine to leave quite an imprint on the Dartmouth program.

"Part of me wanted to be on my own and make things for myself," Zach said. "But the more I checked into the school it sold itself. It was awesome."