Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157
GRINNELL, Iowa – The Midwest Conference (MWC) has announced the 2016 All-Conference Football Team on Wednesday.
Monmouth College ran away with the major awards after completing an undefeated regular season and winning the MWC Championship. Fighting Scot head coach Chad Braun was named the league’s Coach of the Year. Last season, Braun was named the South Division Coach of the Year. Monmouth dominated in league action, leading the conference in scoring (52 points per game), scoring defense (7.4 points per game), total offense (504.9 yards per game) and total defense (181.9).
Tanner Matlick, the Offensive Skill Player of the Year, directed the Fighting Scots potent attack from the quarterback position. Matlick threw for 22 touchdowns to just three interceptions in eight conference games and was by far the league’s most efficient passer with a rating of 214.7 and leads the nation in that category. Currently, the senior is second in the country in completion percentage (73.1), and leads Division III in yards per pass attempt at 11.16.
Protecting Matlick and plowing the way for All-MWC First Team running back DeAndre Wright was Kolton Koch, who was named the Offensive Lineman of the Year. For the year, Koch and the rest of the Monmouth offensive front have allowed just nine sacks and produce 256.5 rushing yards per game in league action.
Defensively, Monmouth also totes the Skill Player of the Year Matt Barnes and Lineman of the Year Thomas Lesniewski. Barnes, who was also the Elite 20 Award winner for the second straight season, had 75 total tackles, 45 solos, 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. For the season, Barnes has 108 stops, which is second to Grinnell College’s Ryan Slager.
Lesniewski seemingly lived in the opponent’s backfield, racking up 12 tackles for loss in six conference games and producing eight sacks. Over the course of the season, Lesniewski made 14.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks, which puts him nationally at 14
th and 17
th in those categories, respectively.
St. Norbert College wide receiver Samuel Staehling was named the league’s Newcomer of the Year after the freshman had 29 catches for 672 yards and nine touchdowns in eight conference games.
The complete 2016 All-MWC Football Team is listed below.
| Coach of the Year |
|
|
|
| Chad Braun |
|
|
Monmouth |
| Defensive Skill Player of the Year |
|
|
|
| Matt Barnes |
Sr. |
LB |
Monmouth |
| Defensive Lineman of the Year |
|
|
|
| Thomas Lesniewski |
So. |
DL |
Monmouth |
| Offensive Skill Player of the Year |
|
|
|
| Tanner Matlick |
Sr. |
QB |
Monmouth |
| Offensive Lineman of the Year |
|
|
|
| Kolton Koch |
Sr. |
OL |
Monmouth |
| Newcomer of the Year |
|
|
|
| Samuel Staehling |
Fr. |
WR |
St. Norbert |
| Elite 20 Award Winner |
|
|
|
| Matt Barnes |
Sr. |
LB |
Monmouth |
| First Team Offense |
|
|
|
| Kyle Nance |
Sr. |
OL |
Illinois College |
| Martin Shine |
Sr. |
OL |
Lake Forest |
| Andrew Johnson |
Jr. |
OL |
Lake Forest |
| Zach Gullerud |
Sr. |
OL |
Macalester |
| Kolton Koch |
Sr. |
OL |
Monmouth |
| Devon Brooks |
Jr. |
OL |
Monmouth |
| Evan Broyles |
Sr. |
OL |
St. Norbert |
| Bobby Jaacks |
Sr. |
OL |
St. Norbert |
| Mason Dixon |
Sr. |
RB |
Beloit |
| Joey Valdvia |
Sr. |
RB |
Lake Forest |
| DeAndre Wright |
So. |
RB |
Monmouth |
| Mike Nolden |
Sr. |
WR |
Beloit |
| Austin Ellsworth |
Sr. |
WR |
Illinois College |
| Alex Pasiewicz |
Sr. |
WR |
Lake Forest |
| Brock Thoms |
Sr. |
WR |
Monmouth |
| Charlie Zilaitis |
Sr. |
TE |
Cornell |
| Tanner Matlick |
Sr. |
QB |
Monmouth |
| First Team Defense |
|
|
|
| Nick Egersdorf |
Sr. |
DL |
Macalester |
| Thomas Lesniewski |
So. |
DL |
Monmouth |
| Logan Gigl |
Sr. |
DL |
Monmouth |
| Ben Ketchum |
Sr. |
DL |
Monmouth |
| Brandon Bartel |
Jr. |
DL |
Ripon |
| Matt Graef |
Jr. |
LB |
Illinois College |
| Ryan Torrance |
Jr. |
LB |
Illinois College |
| Jake Gostisha |
Jr. |
LB |
Lawrence |
| Phil Wettersten |
Jr. |
LB |
Macalester |
| Matt Barnes |
Sr. |
LB |
Monmouth |
| Matt Barrett |
So. |
LB |
St. Norbert |
| Austin Ellsworth |
Sr. |
DB |
Illinois College |
| R.J. Pompey |
Jr. |
DB |
Lake Forest |
| Micam Smith |
Jr. |
DB |
Monmouth |
| Ryan Grandlic |
Sr. |
DB |
St. Norbert |
| Tyler Jensen |
Jr. |
DB |
St. Norbert |
| First Team Special Teams |
|
|
|
| Spenser Thompson-Meyers |
So. |
K |
St. Norbert |
| Gabe Noyce |
Sr. |
P |
Cornell |
| Alex Pasiewicz |
Sr. |
Ret. |
Lake Forest |
| R.J. Pompey |
Jr. |
ST |
Lake Forest |
| Second Team Offense |
|
|
|
| Jake Karlicek |
So. |
OL |
Beloit |
| Jack Donahue |
Sr. |
OL |
Knox |
| Jackson Straughan |
Sr. |
OL |
Lawrence |
| C.J. Van Petten |
Sr. |
OL |
Monmouth |
| Derrick Romano |
Sr. |
OL |
Monmouth |
| Lucas Kilian |
Sr. |
OL |
Ripon |
| Jacob Bernholtz |
Sr. |
RB |
Grinnell |
| Jason Barbour |
So. |
RB |
Illinois College |
| Elijah Fort |
Jr. |
RB |
St. Norbert |
| Garrett Eichhorn |
Sr. |
WR |
Macalester |
| Alec Beatty |
So. |
WR |
Macalester |
| Yansay Williams |
So. |
WR |
Monmouth |
| Samuel Staehling |
Fr. |
WR |
St. Norbert |
| Charlie Quinn |
Sr. |
TE/FB |
Lake Forest |
| Danny May |
Sr. |
QB |
Beloit |
| Second Team Defense |
|
|
|
| Riley Pearson |
Sr. |
DL |
Beloit |
| Andrew Joseph |
Sr. |
DL |
Cornell |
| Brendan Power |
Sr. |
DL |
Lake Forest |
| Lamar Watson |
Fr. |
DL |
Monmouth |
| Stu Kwaterski |
Jr. |
DL |
St. Norbert |
| Ryan Slager |
So. |
LB |
Grinnell |
| Glen Hartford |
Sr. |
LB |
Macalester |
| Kyle Schultz |
So. |
LB |
Monmouth |
| Carlos Lemus |
Sr. |
DB |
Illinois College |
| Chase Slagboom |
Jr. |
DB |
Lake Forest |
| Terrell Myers, Jr. |
Fr. |
DB |
Lawrence |
| Jack Schultenover |
Jr. |
DB |
Macalester |
| Nyle Stevens |
Sr. |
DB |
Monmouth |
| Second Team Special Teams |
|
|
|
| Kam Sallee |
Sr. |
K |
Beloit |
| Kam Sallee |
Sr. |
P |
Beloit |
| Dalton James |
So. |
RS |
Knox |
| Joe Rotherham |
Sr. |
ST |
St. Norbert |