TBT’s Sarginson signs, Diehl lands preferred walk-on

Posted Mar 29, 2010 by Bill Ward

Updated Mar 29, 2010 at 09:18 AM

A pair of Tampa Bay Tech lineman have made their college choices, bringing the Titans’ number of players from the 2009 class who will play at the next level to an impressive mark of 10.

Ian Sarginson, a two-year starter at center who earned second team all-state honors in Class 5A last season, has signed with NAIA program Quincy University in Illinois. Dalton Diehl, a tackle, has accepted preferred walk-on status at Western Kentucky University, the same school Titans star safety Jerome Speights signed with earlier this year.

The 6-foot-2, 270-pound Sarginson is one of several Tampa Bay-area players to wind up at Quincy, whose football program has established scholarship funding directed to specifically recruit athletes from Florida. A total of 32 Floridians can be found on the current Quincy roster.

“Ian is a solid football player and I think he’s going to be a steal for that football program,” said TBT coach C.C. Culpepper. “He’s good enough right now to come in play for them and could wind up being a four-year starter.”

Culpepper said he is particularly proud of his program’s ability to send players to college, no matter what the division of play.

“It’s all about the education they are going to receive and as a coaching staff, seeing kids move on to do that makes us feel good about what we’re doing,” Culpepper said.