After 5 shaggy years at Northern, football player trims 12 inches of hair for Wigs for Kids
Zach Bohnenkamp had been growing his hair out since he arrived on the Northern State University campus in 2017.
That's had been. Past tense.
Thursday, he had about 12 inches of his hair cut and donated it to the Wigs for Kids program.
A cornerback from Tucson, Ariz., on the Wolves football team, Bohnenkamp said he was inspired to grow and donate his hair for a couple of reasons. Not only did he have teammates who did the same thing when he first got to Northern, but his mother is an oncology nurse in Arizona. As a result, he's seen cancer patients who have lost their hair as the result of treatments.
Bohnenkamp red-shirted his first year at Northern, and there wasn't a football season in 2020 due to COVID-19. That allowed him to play again this fall.
The timing of his haircut on Thursday was intentional. It was just two days before Northern State's Blackout for Cancer football game against Concordia University, St. Paul Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Dacotah Bank Stadium on campus.
Although October generally hits Bohnenkamp hard, this year it's a little more personal. During the summer, he lost his best friend to cancer. Diagnosed in June with leukemia, Bohnenkamp said, 23-year-old Maddie Gabriel died by the end of July.
"She was one of those people you're with and never stop laughing," he said.
Although he grew up in Tucson with his twin brother Mitch, Bohnenkamp said both of his parents, Susie and Jeff Bohnenkamp, are originally from South Dakota, hailing from Groton and Gettysburg, respectively. The couple met in Arizona. But their roots provided a South Dakota connection, and with extended family remaining in the area, Zach Bohenkamp said he's spent lots of time in Aberdeen.
Bohnenkamp will graduate in December with degrees in biology and biochemistry. But, he won't be done with school. He'll be studying for the Medical College Admission Test, which he'll take in spring 2023. Then, he said, he'll be applying for med school.
This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Northern football player Zach Bohnenkamp cuts hair for Wigs for Kids
