Garrison Solliday jumps on Wisconsin's preferred walk-on offer
Garrison Solliday played out of position for a good chunk of his career at St. Thomas Academy in Minnesota.
But this past fall, the 6-foot, 225-pound senior received more reps at linebacker. That film caught the attention of Wisconsin assistant coach Bob Bostad, who extended a preferred walk-on offer earlier this month.
"Since I was younger I knew I wanted to play college ball," Solliday told BadgerBlitz.com. "I never really knew where I was going to end up, but once I found out that I was on Wisconsin's radar, I had a lot of interest in them.
"My coach, Dan O'Brien, he and Coach Bostad have a really good relationship. He (Bostad) was reaching out to my coach and he said they would be looking for a preferred walk-on spot for me, and I was really excited about that. The opportunity came about and I jumped right on it."
Solliday, who racked up 56 tackles - 16.0 for loss - and seven sacks in just six games this past fall, could play on either side of the ball for the Badgers.
"They've talked about inside linebacker but once I get up there, they'll figure it out," Solliday said. "Maybe it's on the other side of the ball. They also talked about fullback because of the way I hit people. I'm definitely open to doing that because I'm a team player. I'll play any position. I don't have much experience at fullback but I played tailback before.
"They said they really liked my drive and my motor. They like my ability to get to the football and be physical. I've been playing out of position for the last couple of years, but this year my coach let me get some more reps in at linebacker to help with film for colleges. Wisconsin liked what they saw with my movement, my hips and my footwork."
A two-time All-Metro selection in Minnesota, Solliday was considering a handful of other options before accepting Wisconsin's opportunity.
"I was interested in a lot of schools in the Midwest like North Dakota State and Saint Cloud State University, and then Northwestern came on later in the process," Solliday, who scored a 31 on the ACT, said. "I also had some looks from Ivy League schools like Yale and Dartmouth.
"It's just a blessing and takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. I had a lot of stress this year with trying to figure out where I wanted to go to college, along with keeping my grades up and playing sports. I feel like I can finally just focus on one thing. Now that I know what my plan is I can start to focus in on the goals I have coming up at Wisconsin."
Before he arrives in Madison this summer, though, Solliday is hoping to capture a state title on the wrestling mat. He finished third at 220 pounds last winter.
"I hear from coaches all the time that they love wrestlers because they know leverage, they know drive and they know how to get their hips into tackles," Solliday said. "I can notice my leverage advantage because of my experience as a wrestler - taking shots and level changes, stuff like that."
Solliday is the second preferred walk-on in the Badgers' recruiting 2021 class, along with kicker Nate Van Zelst.