Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
HILBERT, Wisconsin – The Midwest Conference (MWC) announced its Performers of the Week award recipients for games played October 5-11, 2026, on Monday.
MWC sports information directors nominate student-athletes for the Performer of the Week honor by sport and vote as a committee to select the winners.
For the fall season, Performers of the Week will be recognized every week on Monday (football, soccer) and Tuesday (cross country, women’s tennis, volleyball) once their seasons have been triggered (three MWC institutions competing) and will conclude the week prior to the sport-specific Conference tournament/championship.
The Performer of the Week award winners are as follows:
Football Offensive Performer of the Week
Dom Esposito, Lake Forest College
Esposito caught eight passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns and added an 8-yard run in Lake Forest's 45-14 victory at Ripon on Saturday. The senior wideout reached the end zone on plays of 54, 26, and 35 yards and now leads the nation with 837 receiving yards and a dozen touchdown catches on the year.
Football Defensive Performer of the Week
Jamal Thompson, Cornell College
Thompson accumulated a career-high 19 tackles in a road loss to MWC unbeaten Chicago. The senior linebacker was three tackles shy of the single-game school record. Thompson ranks No. 4 nationally in tackles per game (12.0).
Football Special Teams Performer of the Week
Hudson Schambach, Lake Forest College
Schambach connected on a 49-yard field goal to start the scoring in Lake Forest's 45-14 victory at Ripon on Saturday. In addition to making the second-longest field goal in program history, the junior split the uprights on all six of his extra point attempts and became the first to do so 100 times in his Forester career, despite playing in just his 16th game.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Performer of the Week
Ervin Rosas, Beloit College
Rosas delivered one of the most dominant individual performances of the season on Saturday, scoring four goals in just 60 minutes of action in the Buccaneers’ 8-2 victory over Monmouth. He took 10 shots with eight of those coming on goal.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Performer of the Week
Beacan Mottl, Grinnell College
Mottl and his teammates were impressive on the defensive end last week, helping the Pioneers post their first shutout against Lake Forest in a decade. Grinnell beat the Foresters 1-0 and also toppled Beloit College 4-1 earlier in the week. The win over Lake Forest snapped Grinnell’s eight-match winless streak against the hosts.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Performer of the Week
Analeis Ming, Knox College
Ming scored two goals throughout the week – one in each of Knox's wins – and also picked up an assist. She claimed the game-winning goal at Illinois College on Saturday to help the Prairie Fire go 2-0 on the week.
Women’s Soccer Defensive Performer of the Week
Rylie Bucklin, Luther College
Bucklin produced two clean sheets last week in a tie at Lawrence and a win at Ripon. Bucklin now has five shutouts on the season.