Knigga Twins Celebrate College Commitments with Signing Day Ceremony

It was a family affair on Wednesday at LHS.

Noah Knigga (left) and Natalie Knigga (right) sign their letters of intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level. Photos by Travis Thayer, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - It was a special moment on Wednesday afternoon at Lawrenceburg High School. 

Family, friends, and coaches gathered as twins, Natalie and Noah Knigga, ceremonially signed their letters of intent to play college sports. 

Natalie is heading to Saint Mary of the Woods College to play volleyball, while Noah will play Division I football at Eastern Michigan University. 

On Monday's edition of Crunch Time, Natalie talked about her recruitment and what she liked about Saint Mary of the Woods College. 

“As soon as I stepped on campus, I immediately fell in love with it, and it really felt like home,” said Natalie. “I liked how small it was and that you can get to places within 10 minutes. I really like the coaches there and they made it a really easy decision.”  

Earlier this season, Natalie became the second Tiger in program history to record 1,000 career kills. She also in the top five in program history with 203 career aces. Over her four-year high school career, Knigga's stat line is as follows: 1,043 kills, 203 aces, 111 blocks, 1,292 digs, 1,586 assists

Noah made his verbal commitment to Eastern Michigan in June. Signing his letter of intent on Wednesday was a dream come true. 

"It feels amazing. It's a dream I've had since coming into high school freshman year. I wrote out a list of goals and that was one of them, so that's a big accomplishment," said Noah. 

Noah was sought after by several D-1 schools. He tells Eagle Country 99.3 that the best part of his recruitment was all the relationships he built with coaches and players. 

He is among 18 players that signed today to play at EMU. Standing 6'2", 208-pounds, Noah is the 49th ranked prospect in the state of Indiana, according to 247Sports. 

This fall, Knigga led the Tigers with 111 tackles, including 25 for a loss. While the 2024 All-State Teams have not yet been announced, Knigga should get heavy consideration for the honor. He was a Junior All-State honoree in 2023 despite missing half the season with an injury. 

Knigga is the third Tiger in recent memory to commit to a D-1 football program, following in the footsteps of Ashton Craig and Dahya Patel. Craig was slated to be Notre Dame's starting center this season prior to a season-ending injury. Patel, a redshirt sophomore and walk-on at Ball State, just scored his first career touchdown last Friday. 

Quotes from Mom and Dad

Staci Knigga

On Natalie and Noah's commitments:

"No matter what your kids are doing, for us they are going to go on and play collegiately, but you just want what them to be happy and I think they both have found good things."

Ryan Knigga

On Natalie and Noah's commitments:

"I'm very proud. It's kind of weird when you're a dad and mom and your kids are involved in athletics and I'm sure, like most parents and kids, they set the dream of being a collegiate athlete. With Stacy and myself, we lived that dream as well, so we kind of understand what it takes, and I think probably both of our kids are better than both of us."

On Tigers football having a recent string of D-1 athletes:

"They have to put in the work, they have to buy into the process and these guys have all did that. You have to have some talent along the way to make that happen, but we're very fortunate to have the kids that we have. We've had some guys go to all different levels, and it's a small percentage that gets to play at any level, so when you can do that as a program and as a school that says great things about your school."