Andersen named newest sheriff's deputy

A Dike native who excelled in sports at Aplington-Parkersburg High School and spent the last five years of his career at the State Training School in Eldora began work as a Grundy County sheriff’s deputy last Monday.
           
Zach Andersen, now 31 and residing in Dike with his wife Heather and their young daughter, grew up there and attended school at D-NH until junior high before he transferred to A-P, where his father had been a star athlete. Andersen starred in multiple sports for the Falcons, most notably wrestling, and went on to compete collegiately at Morningside College in Sioux City, earning a degree in communications.
           
After a stint coaching wrestling at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls and starting as a youth services worker at the State Training School, Andersen and his wife moved back to Dike, and recommendations from several friends and colleagues pushed him toward becoming a police officer.
           
“I don’t know what it was, but I started looking into law enforcement. And the more people I talked to, they’re like ‘oh yeah, you need to do that, you’d be great,’ or ‘oh, I could see you doing that,’” he said. “Not one person told me ‘don’t do that’ or ‘that’s a bad idea’… I kind of think the world needs good police officers.” 
 
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