Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1090072
167 W ith or without shoulder-length locks of hair, Landan and Levi Paulsen are easy identifiable around the University of Iowa campus. It helps when the hulking twin brothers from Moville, Iowa, are a combined 610 pounds and contribute to the success of one of the best offensive lines in college football. e Paulsens made off-the-field news Feb. 1-2 when they agreed to cut their long hair and trim their bushy beards for a $15,000 pledge to the UI Dance Marathon. e two earned $15,950 for the 24-hour dance event that raises money for children with pediatric cancer (in all, Dance Marathon collected $2.96 million). "We planned on cutting our hair aer our football careers were over, so we could lose our identity and people wouldn't be like, 'Hey, there are the Paulsen twins,'" Landan said Feb. 13 at a University of Iowa Athletics Department all-staff meeting in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. ey happily met the barber's shears a year earlier than expected. Because of the Paulsens, financial offerings for Dance Marathon poured in locally and from as far away as New York, Hawaii, and Norway. Receiving the shave at 4 a.m., on Feb. 2 is one of the easiest things the Paulsens have done. While growing up in a town of 1,200, they earned a reputation as hard workers and two boys willing to tackle any odd job. at included snow removal in winter and custom square hay-baling all over Woodbury County in summer. "We got calls all the time," Landan said. "'Come move this, come do that, hey will you come chip this ice out of the bottom of my driveway?'" It helped them understand that achievement without hard work is impossible. "It shaped us for who we are today," Levi said. "We grew up working on a cattle ranch. Our boss had about 350 head of cattle and he rotationally grazed them from paddock to paddock. When we weren't doing that, we were doing about every other manual labor job that you could ever imagine." Plus, they were in the band. Landan, the older of the two, was an all-state tuba player. Levi also made honor band playing the euphonium. Band is what initially brought them to Kinnick Stadium. eir older sister was a member of the Hawkeye Marching Band and the Paulsens traveled to Iowa City to watch her participate in a halime routine. "at first time that we went and watched our sister, we weren't watching the football game, we were watching our sister perform at halime," Levi said. "Kinnick was absolutely unbelievable. "My sister would come back to Moville and she would talk to us about Iowa and how great it is. We didn't really understand. We got here and it was a perfect fit for us." Landan and Levi graduated from Woodbury Central High School in 2015. ey participated in football, wrestling, track, and baseball. "We liked to be involved, we liked to work," Landan said. e move from Woodbury Central to the University of Iowa was exactly what the Paulsens craved. ey wanted to meet, learn about, and (especially) talk to as many of the UI students as possible. "Coming to Iowa, this is like the great melting pot of the Midwest," Levi said. "is was like, 'Wow, what a chance to experience a bunch of diversity.'"