Bucholz & Thompson Lead All-MIAC Parade

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/20/18)---Concordia defensive standouts Jesse Bucholz and Andrew Thompson led a group of eight Cobber players to receive MIAC postseason honors. Bucholz and Thompson were the lone Concordia players named to the MIAC All-Conference Team First Team as voted on by the conference coaches.

Dane Ringquist, Dan Johnson and Rylie Sheridan earned MIAC All-Conference Second Team honors while Brandon Bundgaard, Noah Welsh and Sam Michel were placed on the All-Conference Honorable Mention Team. Michael Heitzman was chosen by Concordia as the team's representative on the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

The group of postseason honorees helped the Cobbers to a 5-5 overall record and a 4-4 mark in MIAC play. It is the 12th straight season that Concordia has posted at least a .500 record in both overall and league games.

Bucholz earns his first-ever MIAC All-Conference honor. He anchored the Cobber defensive line from the nose guard position. Bucholz finished the year with 33 total tackles in conference play and 38 tackles in all games. Both numbers are single season career highs. His top game of the season came at Gustavus when he finished with 12.0 tackles.

Thompson earns back-to-back All-MIAC honors after finishing third in the conference in total tackles. The middle linebacker ended the year with 90 totals tackles and had 74 tackles against MIAC teams which are also single-season career highs. Thompson had double-digit tackle totals in four conference games and had his best game against the Gusties when he came away with 18 tackles.

Ringquist caps his college career by earning his first All-Conference award. He led the Cobbers with 725 rushing yards on 118 carries in all games and had 95 rushes and 589 yards in league play. Ringquist scored six times in the MIAC including a 72-yard TD run against Augsburg. He had a pair of 100-yard rushing games on the year. He gained 128 against the Auggies and put up 120 vs. St. John's. He was one of only two players to rush for over 100 yards against the MIAC champion Johnnies this season.

Johnson had a breakout season in 2018. He stepped into the regular rotation at linebacker at the start of the year and proceeded to finish third on the team in tackles in conference play. He had 41 tackles in the eight MIAC games and had a team-best 6.0 tackles for a loss. Johnson was named the MIAC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 5 after having 3.0 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery against St. Olaf.

Sheridan was one of the most dangerous return men in the MIAC and earned All-Conference Second Team Specialist honors. It is his first All-Conference honor. Sheridan led the MIAC in kick return average as he brought back 14 kickoffs and had a 30.4-yard return average. He was the only return specialist to run a kickoff back for a TD in league play. Sheridan put up the second longest return in school history when he returned a kickoff 95 yards for a TD against St. Olaf.  

Concordia 2018 All-MIAC Award Winners
All-MIAC First Team
Defense
Jesse Bucholz (DL), Andrew Thompson (LB)

All-MIAC Second Team
Offense
Dane Ringquist (FB)
Defense
Dan Johnson (LB)
Specialists
Rylie Sheridan (RET)

All-MIAC Honorable Mention
Brandon Bundgaard (OL), Noah Welsh (DL), Sam Michel (LB)