Staehling, Rademaker Selected First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-Americans

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, December 12, 2018 | Football
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College has earned two first-team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) NCAA Division III Football Academic All-America selections in the same season for the first time in 31 years.

Junior wide receiver Samuel Staehling and senior offensive lineman Kyle Rademaker earned spots on the 25-man squad. Staehling is a repeat first-team Academic All-America honoree, while this is Rademaker's first such award.

Staehling, a Plymouth native, holds a perfect 4.00 grade point average with a major in biology/pre-medicine. Staehling finished the 2018 season with 29 receptions for 469 yards, an average of 16.2 yards per catch. He scored seven touchdowns, with six receiving. He has 101 career receptions for 2,084 yards with 31 receiving touchdowns - the second-best mark in St. Norbert history. A Dean's List student and Academic All-Midwest Conference honoree, Staehling was a first-team All-Midwest Conference choice and earned the MWC Elite 20 Award for football in 2017 and 2018.

Rademaker, an Eden Prairie, Minn., native, holds a 3.93 grade point averages with majors in mathematics and economics. Anchoring the St. Norbert offensive line at left tackle, Rademaker was charged with just one quarterback sack allowed and was selected the Midwest Conference offensive line most valuable player this past season. A Dean's List student and Academic All-Midwest Conference recipient, Rademaker was a first-team All-MWC choice in 2017 and 2018. Rademaker is a team captain and currently serves on the St. Norbert Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Rademaker is the tenth St. Norbert football player to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America mention. Including Staehling's honor the last two seasons, Rademaker is the seventh first-team Academic All-America football honoree, joining Matt Lang (1986 and 1987), Karl Zacharias (1986 and 1987), Mike Whitehouse (1988 and 1989), Mike Krueger (1999) and Dan Sjoquist (2011).

St. Norbert finished 10-2 this season and advanced to the second round of the 32-team NCAA Division III Playoffs. The Green Knights captured their 17th Midwest Conference championship in 34 years with a 10-7 win over Monmouth College in the MWC Championship Game on Nov. 10.

Since the inception of the CoSIDA Academic All-America program in 1952, 54 St. Norbert College student-athletes have been selected for 74 awards. St. Norbert has 25 overall first-team Academic All-Americans, with those 25 totaling 35 first-team awards.

To be eligible for national or regional selection, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director. The Academic All-America team is selected after All-District teams are picked from eight geographic regions nationally.