Staehling Makes History With Third First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-America Selection

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, December 11, 2019 | Football
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College senior wide receiver Samuel Staehling made history on the gridiron during his four years with the Green Knights, and has now made history off it.

Staehling is the first student-athlete in St. Norbert history to earn three first-team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) NCAA Division III Academic All-America selections in the same sport, after being named to the squad for the third consecutive year to the CoSIDA Division III Football Academic All-America Team today.

Staehling is just the seventh football player at a current NCAA Division III school to be named a first-team Academic All-American three times since CoSIDA started naming a College Division team (non-Division I schools) in 1970. He is the first Division III football player to earn three first-team Academic All-America accolades since CoSIDA began naming separate teams for all NCAA divisions in 2011.

"Samuel has been the epitome of the true student-athlete, and we are exceptionally thrilled for his successes on and off the gridiron," St. Norbert athletics director Tim Bald said. "As prolific an athlete as he has been, he has surpassed that by his performance in the classroom. We are proud to have had Samuel as a Green Knight and as a member of the overall campus community."

A Plymouth, Wis., native, Staehling owns a 3.98 grade point average with a major in biology/pre-medicine. Staehling is the second St. Norbert athlete to earn three first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. He joins Andrew Winters, who earned two first-team honors in men's soccer (2005 and 2006) and one in men's tennis (2007) as St. Norbert's three-time first-team Academic All-Americans.

Staehling ended the nine-game 2019 season with 46 receptions for 1,028 yards, an average of 22.3 yards per catch, and had 11 receiving touchdowns en route to being named Midwest Conference Offensive Skill Player of the Year. He was named a second-team All-West Region performer by D3football.com.

A three-time first-team All-MWC selection, Staehling is the St. Norbert career leader in receiving touchdowns with 42, is second with 3,112 career receiving yards and is third in career receptions with 147.

A Dean's List student and Academic All-Midwest Conference honoree, Staehling earned the MWC Elite 20 Award for football in 2017 and 2018. Staehling plans on attending medical school following graduation from St. Norbert.

Seven St. Norbert football players have accounted for 12 CoSIDA first-team Academic All-America honors since 1986. In addition to Staehling's three honors, they include: Matt Lang (1986 and 1987), Karl Zacharias (1986 and 1987), Mike Whitehouse (1988 and 1989), Mike Krueger (1999), Dan Sjoquist (2011) and Kyle Rademaker (2018).

Since the inception of the CoSIDA Academic All-America program in 1952, 55 St. Norbert College student-athletes have been selected for 78 awards. St. Norbert has 26 overall first-team Academic All-Americans, with those 26 totaling 37 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.