Brandenburg Earns CoSIDA 1st Team Academic All-American Honor

AUSTIN, Texas | Four talented student-athletes on the field and in the classroom – University of Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, Colorado School of Mines quarterback John Matocha, Ripon College running back Cormac Madigan and Morningside University running back Ryan Cole – highlight the 2022 Academic All-America® football teams selected by the College Sports Communicators.

Levis (Division I), Matocha (Division II), Madigan (Division III) and Cole (NAIA) have been named the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year award winner for their respective divisions.

Division I

Levis led Kentucky to a 7-5 record and a bowl game – the TransPerfect Music City Bowl against Iowa Dec. 31 - this fall. He has completed 65.4 percent (185-of-283) of his passes for 2,406 yards and 19 touchdowns in 11 games. The native of Madison, Connecticut, has three 300-yard passing games this season and directed the Wildcats to wins over two nationally ranked opponents. He graduated magna cum laude from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business in May 2021 after just three years with a degree in finance and recently earned his master’s degree in finance from UK’s prestigious Gatton School of Business and Economics on Dec. 12.

Twenty-one of the 51 members of the Academic All-America® Division I football teams boast a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The 26 members on the first team have an average GPA of 3.88, with both teams holding a collective average GPA of 3.86.

Thirteen student-athletes are repeat selections on the Academic All-America® Division I football teams: Paxton Brooks (University of Tennessee), Anders Carlson (Auburn University), Jake Chisholm (University of Dayton), Patrick Fields (Stanford University), Nick Figueroa (University of Southern California), Dalton Godfrey (University of South Dakota), Ryan Greenhagen (Fordham University), Robby Hauck (University of Montana), Juwuan Jones (Western Kentucky University), Austin Stidham (Troy University), Justin Szuba (Monmouth University), Austin Williams (Mississippi State University) and Reece Winkelman (South Dakota State University).

Division II

The 2022 recipient of the Harlon Hill Trophy as Division II’s player of the year, Matocha was also named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a two-time RMAC Offensive Academic Player of the Year. He led the Orediggers to a 13-3 record and a runner-up finish, while passing for 4,778 yards and a national-best 52 touchdowns this fall. The native of Magnolia, Texas, also rushed for 443 yards and five scores. Matocha accounted for 23 total touchdowns in five postseason games and led Division II in passing yards, passing touchdowns, passing efficiency (178.8) and points responsible for (342).

Eight members of the Academic All-America® Division II football teams boast a perfect 4.0 GPA in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The 26 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.85, with the entire 50-man team holding a collective average GPA of 3.84.

Ten other student-athletes join Matocha as repeat selections on the Academic All-America® Division II football teams: Noel Brouse (California (Pa.); Andrew Cantrell (Tusculum University); Cooper Carroll (Harding University); Zach Howard (Northwest Missouri State University); T.J. Liggett (Augustana University); John Merica (Concord University); Nathan Moore (Notre Dame College); Gavin Posey (Ashland University); Dagan Rienks (Colorado Mesa University); and Eli Weber (Augustana University).

The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist College Sports Communicators with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-23 Division II Academic All-America® program.

Division III

Madigan totaled 1,491 all-purpose yards, which led the Midwest Conference, and 14 touchdowns in 10 games played as Ripon recorded its first one-loss season since 2000. He also led the MWC with 1,150 rushing yards and ranked second in rushing yards per game (115.0) and yards per carry (6.4). A native of Rosendale, Wis., Madigan was also Ripon's second-leading receiver with 341 yards on 28 catches out of the backfield. He was named the Wisconsin Private College Football Player of the Year by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, the MWC’s Offensive Skill MVP and earned the league’s Elite 20 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest combined achievement in academics and athletics, this fall.

Ten selections on the Academic All-America® Division III football teams boast a perfect 4.0 GPA in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The 25 honorees on the first team have an average GPA of 3.91, with the entire 50-man team combining for a collective 3.88 GPA.

A total of 16 student-athletes, including 11 on the first team, are repeat selections on the Academic All-America® Division III football teams: Ross Andersson (Johns Hopkins University); Lake Barrett (The College of Wooster); Alex Bongers (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse); Paul Calvetti (MIT); Nicholas D’Ambrose (University of Chicago); Alan Gorny (Johns Hopkins); Cody Harral (Hardin-Simmons University); Jeff Herbers (Central College); Alex Keith (Washington & Jefferson College); Sante Parker Jr. (University of Mary Hardin-Baylor); Luke Schuermann (Johns Hopkins); Bricker Thiel (John Carroll University); Emmett Turner (Johns Hopkins); Giovanni Weeks (Wheaton College (Ill.); JR Woods (Johns Hopkins); and Michael Wozniak (Saint John’s University (Minn.).

The Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist College Sports Communicators with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-23 Division II Academic All-America® program.

NAIA

Cole helped lead Morningside, the defending NAIA national champions, to an 11-1 record and the NAIA quarterfinals this fall. He led the NAIA with 25 rushing touchdowns and gained 1,359 yards, with an average of 6.0 yards per attempt, on the ground. The St. Ansgar, Iowa, native also caught nine passes for 172 yards and a touchdown.

Two members of the 26-man Academic All-America® NAIA football teams - Eli Cross (Lindsey Wilson College) and Caelan Merryman (Arizona Christian University) - boast a perfect 4.0 GPA in their undergraduate or graduate work. The NAIA honorees combined for a 3.87 GPA.

Seven other student-athletes join Cross as repeat selections on the Academic All-America® NAIA football teams: Joseph Gressette (Lindsey Wilson College), Alex Huisman (Dordt University), Brendan Lamb (Taylor University), Chase Lipsys (Midland University), Kole Murlin (Siena Heights University), Jaden Snyder (Northwestern College) and Noah Van’t Hof (Northwestern College).

The NAIA Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NAIA national governance structure to assist College Sports Communicators with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-23 Division II Academic All-America® program.

For more information regarding the Academic All-America® program, visit https://academicallamerica. com/.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Michael MacEachern, Young Harris College | Academic All-America ® Co-Director for Publicity

mfmaceachern@yhc.edu | (706) 379-5106

Ryan Klinkner, Saint John’s University (Minn.) | Academic All-America® Coordinator of Publicity

rklinkner@csbsju.edu | (320) 363-3127

FIRST TEAM

Name                                                    School                                                                        Yr.      GPA              Major

QB         Stuart Ross                             Saint Xavier University (Ill.)                                     Jr.       3.81              Business Administration

RB         Ryan Cole                                Morningside University                                            So.      3.94              Business Administration

RB         Brendan Lamb (1)                  Taylor University                                                       Jr.       3.97              Management / Marketing

WR        Hutson Hohlbein                   Taylor University                                                       Jr.       3.98              Political Science / Philosophy / Economics

WR        Brock Richardson                  College of Idaho                                                       Jr.       3.93              Biomedical Sciences

TE         Ben Hruby                               College of Idaho                                                       Sr.       3.88              Business Administration

OL         Eli Cross (1, &, #)                   Lindsey Wilson College                                           Gr.      3.98/4.00              MBA (G)

OL         Joseph Gressette (1, &, #)    Lindsey Wilson College                                           Gr.      3.91/3.88              Counseling & Human Development

OL         Alex Huisman (1, &, #)          Dordt University                                                        Sr.       3.85              Biology / Chemistry

OL         Caelan Merryman                  Arizona Christian University                                    Sr.       4.00              Political Science

OL         Colton Takis                          Keiser University                                                       Gr.      3.83              Business Administration (UG) / MBA (G)

K           Chance Gagnon                     Keiser University                                                       So.      3.60              Business Administration - Finance

K           John Mears                             University of Montana Western                               Jr.       3.87              Physical Education & Health K-12

DL         Flinders Cameron                  Sterling College                                                         So.      3.98              Sport Management

DL         Chase Lipsys (1)                    Midland University                                                   Sr.       3.83              Management / Digital Marketing

DL         Myles Simon                          University of the Cumberlands                                Sr.       3.89              Accounting / Business Administration

DL         Colton Vander Berg               Dordt University                                                        Sr.       3.50              Biology

LB         Parker Fryar                            Northwestern College                                              Jr.       3.98              Biology / Pre-Medicine

LB         Blake Kight                              Missouri Baptist University                                     Sr.       3.84              Marketing

LB         Kole Murlin (&)                       Siena Heights University                                          Sr.       3.87              Education

DB         Koby Brandenburg                 Hastings College                                                      Sr.       3.96              Exercise Science

DB         Jaden Snyder (&)                   Northwestern College                                              Sr.       3.96              Exercise Science

DB         Abraham Stoesz                    Dordt University                                                        Jr.       3.89              Engineering

DB         Noah Van't Hof (&)                Northwestern College                                              Sr.       3.73              Business-Finance

P           Casey Rauch                          Concordia University Ann Arbor                              So.      3.64              Nursing

ST         Andrew Rathman                   Peru State College                                                   Sr.       3.89              Mgmt. / Criminal Justice / Computer Mgmt. Information

                                                                                                                                                                            Systems

Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Ryan Cole, Morningside University

(1) – Academic All-America® first-team selection in 2021

(&) – Academic All-America® first-team selection in 2020

(#) – Academic All-America® first-team selection in 2019