The Best of the Brightest

SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Susquehanna University senior center Dave Wonderlick (Shenandoah, Pa./Shenandoah Valley H.S.) has been named the Verizon College Division Football Academic All-American of the Year after earning first-team Academic All-American honors for the second consecutive season from the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA).

Wonderlick, a two-time Middle Atlantic Conference second-team All-Star on the offensive line, is a public relations major with a legal studies minor and is the top-ranked student in the Susquehanna senior class with a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average.

He is the second Susquehanna football player to be a two-time first-team College Division Academic All-American, which consists of players from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA Division II. Tackle Gerry Huesken ‘77 was a member of the 1975 and 1976 Academic All-America squads, while linebacker Dan Distasio ‘82 was named to the 1980 team.

“What a tremendous accomplishment for a young man like Dave,” said 11th-year Susquehanna head coach Steve Briggs. “I have been extremely fortunate to have had an opportunity to coach him over the last four years, and I can’t say enough about his work ethic on the field and in the classroom. The honors that he has received over the last two months speak for themselves.”

On December 12, Wonderlick will receive one of 16 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Awards at the Foundation’s 43rd annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City during induction ceremonies for the College Football Hall of Fame class of 2000.

The University Division Academic All-American of the Year was Purdue quarterback Drew Brees, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and a fellow National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete.

The 5-10, 245-pound Wonderlick, a 2000 tri-captain and a three-year letterwinner at Susquehanna, was a repeat selection to the MAC Commonwealth second All-Star team as he helped the Crusaders rank second in the MAC in total offense at 391.4 yards per game, third in passing yards per game at 257.4 and fifth in rushing offense at 134.0 yards per contest.

Earlier this season, the offensive line was recognized by D3football.com as members of its “Team of the Week” after Crusader backs gained positive yards on 36 of 39 running plays and sophomore quarterback Mike Bowman threw for a then career-high 306 yards in a 24-13 win over Dickinson on September 23 in the first game at Susquehanna's new Nicholas A. Lopardo Stadium.

In his first season as a full-time starter in 1999, Wonderlick became one of the top performers on a line which helped Susquehanna finish second in MAC rushing offense (163.5 yards per game), and fifth overall (345.7 yards per game). Wonderlick did not allow a sack in 289 pass plays, giving up just three-and-a-half hurries.

Wonderlick is the top student in the senior class with a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average as a public relations major and a legal studies minor. In addition to his perfect academic record, he’s also a University Scholar, was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta (freshman honor society), is active in the campus chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, and has been a corresponding sports writer for both The Pottsville Republican and the Reading Eagle-Times, near his hometown. He was also one of five students chosen for a Susquehanna All-Star team for College Bowl — “the varsity sports of the mind.”

Additionally, Wonderlick is a four-year recipient of the Ambrose and Ida Fredrickson Foundation Scholarship and was one of the first two recipients of the Gene Urey Scholarship for legal studies.

Wonderlick helped the Crusaders win two consecutive Commonwealth League championships during the 1998 and 1999 seasons, and has helped the Crusaders clinch their 15th consecutive non-losing season this year. He is the son of Len and Louise Wonderlick.

The Verizon Academic All-America Teams are selected by a vote of the 1,800-member CoSIDA. To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00. Sports information directors nominate eligible athletes from their schools who are named to district teams prior to being voted upon the national level. CoSIDA has been selecting Academic All-America Teams since 1952.