FAMILY MAN
Underneath free-spirit exterior of Bison OL Mauch is brother committed to his siblings
The Forum Mooreton, N.D.
The excitement in the eyes of 8-year-old
Walker Mauch was equaled only by the bright sunshine on a perfect August morning in southeastern North Dakota. His older brother, Cody Mauch, just pulled up to the family farm in his red pickup.
They fake hit each other, like brothers do. Not only is the North Dakota State standout left tackle Walker’s idol, but he’s one of eight children of Joe and Stacey Mauch, ranging from Walker to Carter, the oldest at 25 years old.
As hard as Cody has worked himself from a 210pound tight end who was an unheralded walk-on from Hankinson (N.D.) High School to a potential NFL draft pick on the offensive line, he makes a point to work on maintaining relationships with his siblings.
On the field, on game days when it’s time to lock into an opponent, Cody prefers not to listen to music. He shuts everything out, takes a quiet approach and usually begins thinking about the first 12 plays of the game. He thinks about third-down pass protections.
It’s go time and the inner intensity is at peak levels.
Everywhere else, especially at the farm, he’s as laid back as he appears and his brothers and sisters are a priority.
“One of the things that makes me tick is trying to be
a good role model for guys like him,” said Cody, looking at Walker, who was wearing a T-shirt with an image of Cody wearing a cowboy hat.
“I have six younger siblings and four of them are 11 and younger. I try to get home when I can to hang out with them, just try to keep in contact with them as much as I can with FaceTime and calls.”
He got home often this summer, part of a schedule like other former NDSU offensive lineman from a farm. The alarm rang at 5 a.m. and it was off to the Sanford Health Athletic Complex for weight training.
Once completed, he and fellow offensive lineman Grey Zabel hopped in a vehicle and drove the almost 50 minutes to the Mauch farm for work. Around 3, it was back on the road to NDSU for running workouts.
Rinse and repeat. From the Mauch farmstead of 5,500 acres just south of Mooreton, N.D., it’s a gravel road for a
couple of sections, a couple more miles on County Road 1, a short jaunt on State Highway 13 and the rest on Interstate 29. In terms of fields of corn and soybeans in multitude shades of green, it’s America the beautiful. It’s currently a fourthgeneration farm, getting started by a Mauch around the 1900s. From Joe’s shop, there are five farms within two miles all worked by a Mauch relative.
“Nothing better,” said Cody, looking at the landscape. “People talk about driving on the interstate through North Dakota and it’s so boring and plain. I don’t know, there’s corn to look at, it’s not the worst thing.”
Cody and Zabel mainly got in trucks and hauled whatever needed to be transported, like hay bales or wheat. Last year, former defensive tackle Costner Ching helped on the farm. The summer before that it was Ching and former quarterback Zeb Noland.
One of the truck cabs is yellow with a Bison logo. The family probably puts 25,000 to 30,000 miles on their trucks every year.
It’s not lost on Joe Mauch the work habits of his kids. There are only two options for the Mauch kids: work on the farm or work somewhere else.
“You’re going to do something,” Joe said. “It’s instilling that work ethic in them.”
On this day, fresh from a lesson two weeks prior, daughter Kya was holding a torch and welding near a flatbed truck. She’s 18 years old. Taking a break to talk about Cody was a welcomed few minutes.
“It’s just nice he still makes the time to come home even though he’s super busy,” Kya said. “I remember him when he was small and playing high school football. It’s hard to look at him now and see how much he’s grown and what he’s doing now. … It’s nice to see him interact with the younger kids, he’s always having fun. They always love to see him come home.”
Kya is a middle child. After Carter and Cody, it’s Jasmin, 20, Kya, 11-year-old twins Damon and Ireland, Destiny, 9, and Walker.
It’s a relationship Zabel saw firsthand this summer. For starters, he saw a farming community take ownership in Cody — and the Bison team in general. On one occasion, Cody and Zabel made a truck haul to Cargill when a worker came out and shook Zabel’s hand.
On the farm, he saw the
interaction between Cody and his siblings.
“Yeah, he connects with them really well,” Zabel said. “He’s a really good family guy and makes sure everyone kind of feels together. It doesn’t matter what age they are, they’re always having fun together.”
There’s a definite style to Cody Mauch. He developed a flair for mimicking a referee’s arm signal when the Bison picked up a first down. That probably won’t change this year.
“I don’t think I’ll do anything crazy this year, but it’s fun, people enjoy it, so why not continue it?” Cody said.
He’s part of a Bison position group that is expected to be a strength of the team. NDSU returns nine of its top 10 in the two-deep chart, only losing NFL draft pick Cordell Volson.
NFL attention and obligations have occupied a lot of time. Certainly, Cody isn’t going through it alone, saying he and his dad have talked more than they ever have this summer.
“Kind of venting to my roommate and talking through everything,” Cody said. “It’s nice to have people to talk to and sort through stuff and discuss it with them. It’s been a pretty cool process and pretty easy having good people in my corner.”
If that happens, staying in touch with the family will take on a greater distance. It’s a good bet he’ll find a way.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at jkolpack@forumcomm.com. Twitter @KolpackInForum
BISON GAME DAY NORTH DAKOTA STATE VS. DRAKE INFORUM.COM THE FORUM | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2022 | SPORTS | AA3
David Samson / The Forum
Cody Mauch relishes being a role model for his siblings, including his younger brother Walker.
AA4 | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2022 | THE FORUM INFORUM.COM
