Hard Work in the Classroom Pays Off

SELINSGROVE, Pa. - Susquehanna University senior Dave Wonderlick was awarded one of 58 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships of $5000 for the fall sports season, the NCAA announced Thursday.

Wonderlick (Shenandoah, Pa./Shenandoah Valley H.S.), a 5-10, 245-pound center on the Crusader football team, was the Verizon Academic All-American of the Year in College Division Football and was one of 16 senior football players in the United States honored as a National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete. He was honored at the College Football Hall of Fame induction dinner in Manhattan on December 12 and received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Of the 58 fall sports scholarships, 26 were awarded to Division I student-athletes, 10 to student-athletes in Division II and 22 to student-athletes in Division III.

To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall grade-point average of 3.000 (on a 4.000 scale) or its equivalent and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete was nominated. The student-athlete must have behaved, both on and off the field, in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics. The student-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.

Wonderlick is the third Susquehanna football player to earn an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, joining Gerry Huesken '77 and Dan Distasio '82 as recipients of the award. He is the first Susquehanna athlete to receive a Postgraduate Scholarship since Tres Wolf in men's basketball in 1994.

On the field, Wonderlick was a MAC Commonwealth League second-team All-Star for the second straight year in 2000 and was named a 2000 first-team Lutheran College All-American. He allowed just one sack in 358 pass plays last season and was part of an offensive line that 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.

Wonderlick is a public relations major and a legal studies minor with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and is the son of Len and Louise Wonderlick of Shenandoah. He will graduate summa cum laude from Susquehanna on May 13 and plans to attend law school in the fall.