In-state lineman Tanor Bortolini nets his first Power 5 offer

After he picked up his first two scholarships earlier this winter from North Dakota and Illinois State, Tanor Bortolini earned his first Power 5 offer on Wednesday.

Syracuse, led by assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh, targeted the 6-foot-5, 255-pound lineman from Kewaunee High School in Wisconsin.

"Well, Coach Cavanaugh actually called my head coach, Randy Charles, and I ended up finding out from him," Bortolini told BadgerBlitz.com. "It was surreal feeling - I was so excited to hear that and just extremely thankful that they believed in me and my abilities.

"It was a lot of positive feedback. They like my athleticism and the things that I can do on the field. They said they really liked my film and that I could develop into a really good offensive lineman."

Bortolini, who was the offensive and defensive lineman of the year in the Packerland Conference as a junior, could play on either side of the ball at the next level.

"A majority of the schools involved are looking at me as an offensive lineman," Bortolini said. "But there are some expressing interest as a defensive lineman, too, and with the Illinois State offer I can go either way.

"My future position doesn’t really matter to me. I just love playing football."

Outside of the schools that have offered, Bortolini, who also competes in basketball and track at Kewaunee, is hearing from a handful of other programs.

"Iowa, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, South Dakota State, North Dakota State and South Dakota are also involved," Bortolini said. "I’m going down to Iowa on Sunday and waiting to hear more from Nebraska. I also have South Dakota State and North Dakota State coming up and then I'll probably plan more from there."

The in-state Badgers have yet to show much interest at this point.

"It’s been pretty quiet with Wisconsin," Bortolini said.

UW currently has six commitments in the 2020 class.