Charles “Sal” Cianciola was a three-sport star for Lawrence University and had the distinction of being the first Viking to earn All-Midwest Conference football honors four times and was the college’s first two-time All-American.
           
A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Cianciola won 12 letters for the Vikings, four apiece in football, basketball and track and field.
           
As an end in Lawrence’s single-wing offense, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Cianciola was a prolific pass catcher for his era. He finished his career by setting Lawrence records with 105 receptions for 1,842 yards and 24 touchdowns. When he completed his career, he ranked sixth in NCAA history in catches, fifth in receiving yards and fourth in touchdown catches.

Cianciola set the Lawrence career record of 70.8 receiving yards per game and set the season mark of 79.0 receiving yards per contest in 1954. He also set the Lawrence career record of 17.5 yards per catch. Cianciola established the Lawrence record with 14 catches in a 1953 game against Ripon College and posted a 12-catch game the same season against Cornell College.
           
It would take more than two decades for any of Cianciola’s records to be broken. He was inducted into the Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1996.
           
Cianciola was at Lawrence during a small window in the 1950s when freshmen were eligible to compete in varsity sports. Cianciola made the most of that opportunity as he was a first-team All-Midwest Conference selection during his rookie season of 1951. He would be a first-team all-conference selection four times. Cianciola also earned Associated Press second-team All-America honors in 1953 and followed that up by being a Williamson Football Ratings first-team All-American and an Associated Press second-team All-American in 1954.
           
Cianciola also was a standout guard on the Lawrence basketball team. Playing for coach Forrest “Frosty” Sprowl, Cianciola helped the Vikings to a 40-33 record over his four seasons. He earned second-team all-conference honors for the 1954-55 season.
           
A sprinter for the Lawrence track team, Cianciola collected a Midwest Conference title as part of the mile relay team in 1954. He teamed with Dwight Peterson, Dan Capelle and Gary Winske for a Lawrence record time of 3:26.8, and that also broke the Ingalls Field record in Ripon, Wisconsin.