Salem High School graduates David Manges (left) and Mikey Eckman will be teammates again at the Penn-Ohio Stateline Classic on Thursday before teaming up at Baldwin Wallace University. (Salem News/Michael Burich)

SALEM — A small slice of the future of the Baldwin Wallace University football program will be on display in the 46th annual Penn-Ohio Stateline Classic set for Thursday at Salem’s Sebo Stadium.

A total of six players on the Ohio roster will continue their academic and athletic careers at Baldwin Wallace in the fall.

Those include Salem High School graduates, friends and line mates David Manges and Mikey Eckman.

“We’re going to go play (at Baldwin Wallace),” Eckman said. “We’re really good friends. We went to camps all last summer and worked out with each other through the summer. We’ve been right by each other’s side. Ever since we were little we were putting in the work and doing things to get better. It’s really exciting to play with him one more time.”

Manges, a Div. IV All-Ohio honorable mention, also played in the Div. IV-VII North-South All-Star Classic on April 26. He started and played the whole game in a 13-7 North win.

“I was the smallest dude there,” said the 6-foot-3, 265-pound Manges. “Everyone was doing Div. I except for me. It was a pretty boring game, but we did win. We had some great guys. The tackles were 6-7 and 6-9. They were going to Toledo and Miami.”

Eckman has been impressed with Manges throughout his career.

“He’s a great leader,” Eckman said. “He’s physical, he’s strongand he just knows what to do. If you don’t know what you’re doing, he’s a great guy to go to, even outside of football. If you need a guy to talk to, Dave is the guy to go to.”

Manges will major in nursing in college. In fact, he’s already got a head start as he is working for Visiting Angels this summer.

“I just have a joy for it,” Manges said. “I loved nursing ever since my mom started doing it.”

Manges said he is looking forward to going out a winner since his senior season was a disappointing 3-7 with four losses by seven points or less in the last seven games.

“It was a rough season,” Manges said. “A couple games went to overtime. This is a good way to come back and maybe go over .500 to end my high school career.”

Eckman feels the same way.

“Games either went into overtime or we lost on the last couple of snaps,” Eckman said. “We feel like we could have done better to improve our record. It’s frustrating for me because it’s something that I will hang on to for a little while.”

Game notes

• The other Baldwin Wallace recruits on team Ohio include Edison’s Cole Pittman, West Branch’s Jack Flickinger, South Range’s Tristan Toy and West Branch’s Boston Mulinix.