2016 Valley Football All-Academic Team

ST. LOUIS -- Thirty-three student-athletes, including 12 who earned first-team honors, highlight the 2016 all-Missouri Valley Football Conference all-academic team, announced by the league office today.

Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale). Student-athletes must have reached sophomore academic and athletic standing at their institutions (freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution. League sports information directors voted on the team by designating 11 players for first-team honors and 11 players for second-team honors.

FIRST TEAM
Student-Athlete, School	Yr.	GPA	Major	Hometown/High School
QB Taryn Christion, SDSU	So.	3.87	Exercise Science	Sioux Falls (S.D.) Roosevelt High
LB Dylan Cole, Missouri State	Sr.	3.67	Marketing Sales Management	Rogersville (Mo.) Logan-Rogersville
OL Jacob Judd, Western Illinois	Jr.	3.89	Law Enforcement/Justice Admin.	Clinton (Iowa) High
	Gr.	4.00
DB Nick Mears, S. Dakota St.	Sr.	4.00	Economics	Milbank (S.D.) High
DE Greg Menard, N. Dakota St.	Jr.	3.82	Civil Engineering	Lakeville (Minn.) Lakeville North
RB Chase Morlock, NDSU	Sr.	3.81	Exercise Science	Moorhead (Minn.) High
OL Robert Rathje, UNI	Sr.	3.72	Movement & Exercise Science	Van Horne (Iowa) Benton Community
WR Billy Reed, Southern Illinois	Sr.	3.72	Finance	Lockport (Ill.) Lockport Township
DL Karter Schult, UNI	Sr.	3.87	Movement & Exercise Science	Tripoli (Iowa) High
QB Easton Stick, N. Dakota St.	So.	3.90	Sport Management	Omaha (Neb.) Creighton Prep
LB Brett Taylor, Western Illinois	Jr.	3.69	Recreation, Park and Tourism Admin.	Macomb (Ill.) High
WR Jake Wieneke, S. Dakota St.	Jr.	3.60	Physical Educ./Teacher Educ.	Maple Grove (Minn.) High

SECOND TEAM
P/PK Miles Bergner, S. Dakota	Sr.	3.53	Theatre Design/Technology	Longmont (Colo.) High
LB Jesse Bobbit, SDSU	Sr.	3.80	Physical Educ./Teacher Educ.	Palatine (Ill.) High
DL Shayne Gottlob, S. Dakota St.	Sr.	3.92	Business Economics	Salem (S.D.) McCook Central High
SS Robbie Grimsley, NDSU	So.	3.58	Exercise Science	Hutchinson (Minn.) High
QB Isaac Harker, Indiana State	So.	3.70	Economics	Lebanon (Ind.) High
FB Kane Louscher, SDSU	Jr.	3.84	Psychology/Biology	Mason City (Iowa) Newman Catholic
RB Brady Megarelli, SDSU	Jr.	3.52	Exercise Science	Prescott (Ariz.) High
PK Luke Otto, Western Illinois	Jr.	4.00	Economics	Normal (Ill.) University High
OL Mark Spelman, Illinois State	Sr.	3.70	Accounting	Brookfield (Wis.) Marquette Univ. High
LB Jameer Thurman, Indiana St.	Sr.	3.59	Civil Engineering Technology	Bellwood (Ill.) Proviso West High
OL James Torgerson, W. Illinois	Jr.	3.91	Economics / Finance	Springfield (Ill.) High

HONORABLE MENTION
Indiana State: LS Joshua Appel (3.50 GPA Finance); WR Robert Tonyan Jr. (3.22 GPA Physical Education) | Missouri State: LB Jared Beshore (3.86 GPA Physical Education); TE Erik Furmanek (3.64 GPA Logistics & Supply Chain Management) | UNI: LB Jared Farley (3.32 GPA Business Administration); OL Cal Twait (3.78 GPA Physical Education) | Western Illinois: LB Riggs Baxter (3.87 GPA Engineering Technology); P/K Nathan Knuffman (3.63 GPA Exercise Science) | Youngstown State: LB Armond Dellovade (3.49 GPA Business Management); QB Hunter Wells (3.63 GPA Business).

Conference Members