Longoria collects second Academic All-America® award, receives 42nd such honor in school history
SEGUIN, Texas – Texas Lutheran senior defensive end Manny Longoria is the 42nd Academic All-American® in school history after being named Wednesday to the 2019 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® Football Team for NCAA Division III.
Longoria was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Second Team for a second consecutive year.
Longoria is the 15th Academic All-America® honoree for TLU Athletics in the last five years. He joins TLU Men's Soccer student-athlete Mitchell Long as Bulldogs to be named Academic All-Americans® this fall.
An education major with a teaching emphasis in mathematics, Longoria holds a cumulative grade point average of 3.70.
Longoria joins former Bulldog place-kicker Allen Cain as the only Bulldogs to claim an Academic All-America® honor in the same season as receiving a playing All-America award.
Last week, Longoria was named a playing All-American by the American Football Coaches Association.
Cain was a playing All-American and Academic All-American® in back-to-back seasons, 2011 and 2012.
Longoria joins Cain and former linebacker Matt Alves as the only Bulldog football players to have multiple Academic All-America® honors. Alves won consecutive Academic All-America® awards in 2006 and 2007.
This year, Longoria and the TLU defense combined with the TLU offense to produce a team turnover margin per game of plus-1.5. That turnover margin currently ranks sixth in NCAA Division III. The TLU defense also ranks 12th nationally in defensive touchdowns, with four, and ranks 23rd in fumbles recovered, with 12.
Longoria, a three-time All-ASC selection and two-time All-South Region choice, leaves TLU as the program's DIII-era career leader for sacks and tackles for loss. He tallied 24.5 career sacks for 158 yards and 46.5 tackles for loss for 226 yards.
Longoria had four career forced fumbles and three career fumble recoveries. He took two of those fumble recoveries back for touchdowns, including a 39-yard recovery this year in the road win over then-No. 6 Hardin-Simmons.
In a 2019 campaign that saw him face nearly-constant double-teams, Longoria collected six sacks and 12 tackles for loss. He posted a single-season, career-best 43 tackles this season and ended his four-year career with 119 total tackles.
The Bulldog defense this year ranked 24th nationally in sacks, at 3.2 per contest, and 30th in team tackles for loss, at 8.0 per game.
In the 2019 season, Longoria and TLU Football went 8-2 overall and 8-1 in the American Southwest Conference. The Bulldogs finished as the ASC runner-up for the first time in school history.
The Bulldogs were ranked in the Top 25 and in the regional rankings at times during the 2019 season, and TLU played for the conference championship on Nov. 9 at defending national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor.
TLU's eight wins in the ASC are the most by a Bulldog squad in the university's 18 seasons in the ASC (1998-2012, 2017-present). The eight overall wins marked just the eighth time in TLU's 85 football seasons that the Bulldogs have won that many games in a single season.
The Bulldogs were picked fourth in the 2019 ASC Preseason Football Poll. TLU was picked behind UMHB, Hardin-Simmons, and East Texas Baptist.
TLU defeated ETBU on the road on Sept. 21 and then defeated then-No. 6 HSU on the road on Oct. 5. The win over HSU was the second win for TLU all-time at the Cowboys' Shelton Stadium. The wins over ETBU and HSU were part of the Bulldogs' seven-game win streak entering the UMHB game.
The 2019 Academic All-America® Division III Football Teams have 18 repeat performers, including three three-time honorees: defensive lineman Michael Lohmeier (Carnegie Mellon University), wide receiver Samuel Staehling (St. Norbert College), and running back Garrett Wight (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology).
Fourteen others were repeat performers from last year's CoSIDA Academic All-America® teams. Those 14 honorees included: Longoria, kicker Jon Alberts (Central College), defensive back Jacob Burkhead (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), offensive lineman John Cox (Springfield College), linebacker Matt Crawford (Thiel College), defensive lineman Ben Cross (Denison University), offensive lineman Dee Gose (Case Western Reserve University), defensive back Kyle Kelly (Baldwin Wallace University), defensive back Corey Kennedy (Wheaton College), defensive back Parker Mellott (Carnegie Mellon University), wide receiver Kolin Schulte (Wartburg College), offensive lineman Steven Sellers (University of Mary Hardin-Baylor), linebacker Tony Silvanic (St. John Fisher College) and offensive lineman Ryan Sympson (Baldwin Wallace University). Another student-athlete, offensive lineman Frazier Daniel (University of Mount Union), earned the distinction in 2017.
Thirty-five of the 51 members of the 2019 Academic All-America® Division III Football teams have at least a 3.90 GPA, including 22 on the first team, with 16 student-athletes maintaining a perfect 4.00 GPA. The 25 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.96.
The Division III Academic All-America® program is financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 Division III Academic All-America® teams.
TLU's complete multi-year Academic All-America® awards list includes:
Three-time Academic All-American Natalie Wood (women's cc/track and field, 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07),
Two-time selection Amber Lowe (women's cc/track & field, 2007-08 and 2008-09),
Two-time selection David Stahl (men's soccer, 2002-03 and 2003-04),
Two-time selection Tommy Stolhandske (men's basketball, 2003-04 and 2004-05),
Two-time selection Matt Alves (football, 2006-07 and 2007-08),
Two-time selection Allen Cain (football, 2011-12 and 2012-13),
Two-time selection Ashley Meadows (women's cc/track and field, 2012-13 and 2013-14),
Two-time selection Taylor Grissom (softball, 2014-15 and 2015-16),
Two-time selection Sofia Vega (at-large, 2014-15 and 2015-16),
Two-time selection Amanda Lochte (softball, 2015-16 and 2016-17),
Two-time selection Riley Schaefer (baseball, 2016-17 and 2017-18), and
Two-time selection Manny Longoria (football, 2018-19 and 2019-20).
The single-year Academic All-America® award winners for TLU include:
Chantel Mize (women's basketball, 1999-00),
Amy Behlen (softball, 2002-03),
Tracy Heathcock (women's volleyball, 2003-04),
Angela Bagwell (women's volleyball, 2004-05),
Abby Cochran (women's golf, 2005-06),
Dana Robbins (women's cc/track & field, 2007-08),
Ryan Nokelby (baseball, 2009-10),
Ashley Jacobsen (softball, 2013-14),
Derek Kanas (baseball, 2013-14),
Jacquelyn Brown (softball, 2014-15),
Nicole Snow (softball, 2015-16),
Tyler Howlett (football, 2016-17),
Kristen Lye (women's basketball, 2016-17),
Dylan Drgac (baseball, 2017-18),
Marquis Brown (men's cc/track and field, 2017-18), and
Kelly Jurden (softball, 2018-19), and
Pos. Name School Yr. GPA Major
QB Gavin Zimbelman Aurora University Jr. 3.92 Business Administration / Sport Management
RB Josh Harris Pacific University Jr. 3.80 Physics
RB Garrett Wight (4) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Sr. 3.95 Mechanical Engineering
WR Kolin Schulte (2) Wartburg College Sr. 3.87 Biochemistry
WR Samuel Staehling (3) St. Norbert College Sr. 3.98 Biology
TE Blake Roy University of Redlands Sr. 3.70 Business Administration
OL John Cox (1) Springfield College Sr. 3.99 Physical Therapy
OL Dee Gose (2) Case Western Reserve University Jr. 4.00 Accounting & Finance
OL Tyler Howerton Hampden-Sydney College Jr. 4.00 Physics
OL Matthew Saager University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Sr. 3.97 Accounting
OL Steven Sellers (2) University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Jr. 4.00 Management
K Jon Alberts (1) Central College Sr. 3.92 Business Management / Philosophy
ST Will Hurley Washington University in St. Louis Jr. 3.97 Mechanical Engineering
DL Skyler Cloward Southern Virginia University Sr. 3.99 Family & Child Development
DL Ben Cross (1) Denison University Sr. 3.92 Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE)
DL Michael Lohmeier (4) Carnegie Mellon University Sr. 4.00 Business
DL Conor Manning Washington & Jefferson College Sr. 3.98 Accounting
LB Matt Anderson University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Sr. 4.00 Biology
LB Travis Johnston Case Western Reserve University Jr. 4.00 Business Management
LB Ben Wong North Central College Jr. 4.00 Neuroscience
DB Jacob Burkhead (2) University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Jr. 4.00 Political Science
DB Jacob Frey University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Sr. 3.99 Accounting & Finance
DB Corey Kennedy (1) Wheaton College (Illinois) Sr. 3.97 Business / Economics
DB Parker Mellott (2) Carnegie Mellon University Sr. 4.00 Business Administration
P Andrew Griese MIT Sr. 4.00 Mechanical Engineering
SECOND TEAM
Pos. Name School Yr. GPA Major
QB Wyatt Smith Linfield College Jr. 3.64 Finance
RB John Fisher Washington University in St. Louis Sr. 3.97 Finance & Accounting
RB Alex Minton Denison University Sr. 3.35 Biology
WR Cody Gustafson Grove City College Jr. 3.88 Mathematics
WR Brice Panning Gustavus Adolphus College Sr. 3.70 Exercise Physiology
TE Salvatore Pagano Moravian College Sr. 4.00 Health Sciences
OL Frazier Daniel (5) University of Mount Union Sr. 3.85 Accounting
OL Ethan Hale Ohio Northern University Sr. 3.97 Criminal Justice
OL Elijah Rice St. Thomas (Minn.) Sr. 3.89 Accounting / Financial Management
OL Andrew Schimanski Western Connecticut State University Jr. 4.00 Political Science
OL Ryan Sympson (1) Baldwin Wallace University Sr. 3.87 Biology / Pre-Med
K Rhett Andersen Hampden-Sydney College Jr. 3.97 Economics
ST Andrew Rakers University of Wisconsin-Platteville Sr. 3.92 Environmental Engineering
DL Lou Duh Worcester Polytechnic Institute Jr. 3.92 Mechanical Engineering
DL Ben James Christopher Newport University Sr. 3.82 Psychology
DL Andrew Lease Case Western Reserve University Sr. 3.87 Accounting & Finance
DL James Lewis Endicott College Sr. 3.86 Nursing
DL Manny Longoria (2) Texas Lutheran University Sr. 3.70 Education
LB Matt Crawford (1) Thiel College Sr. 3.97 Secondary Education / History
LB Eric Kraus The College of Wooster Jr. 4.00 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
LB Tony Silvanic (2) St. John Fisher College Sr. 4.00 Finance
DB Will Hasken Wartburg College Sr. 3.91 Biochemistry
DB Kyle Kelly (2) Baldwin Wallace University Sr. 4.00 Physical Therapy / Athletic Training
DB Sean Kent MIT Sr. 3.84 Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
DB Brody Pearman Puget Sound Sr. 4.00 Math / Computer Science
P Zach Warcola The College of New Jersey Sr. 3.66 Computer Engineering
Academic All-America® of the Year: Matt Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
(1) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 1st team selection in 2018
(2) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 2nd team selection in 2018
(3) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 1st team selection in 2018 & 1st team selection in 2017
(4) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 1st team selection in 2018 & 2nd team selection in 2017
(5) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 2nd team selection in 2017