Valparaiso University had four football players named to the Academic All-Pioneer Football League First Team and one other named to the Second Team.

            Matt Watkins (Mason, Ohio/Mason H.S.), Ryan Koepke (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead H.S.), Adam Rundh (Aalborg, Denmark/Ojanskolan [Sweden] H.S.), and Ryan Kozey (Waterford, Wis./Union H.S.) all earned First Team accolades for the Crusaders while Justin Wiler (Lowell, Ind./Lowell H.S.) was named to the Second Team.

            Watkins, a defensive back, ranked second on the team in tackles with 71, including 41 solo stops.  A redshirt junior, he recovered a pair of fumbles, forced another, and intercepted three passes.  A marketing major, he has a 3.43 grade point average and has been named to the Pioneer Football League’s Academic Honor Roll three times.

            Koepke led the Crusaders in tackles with 79 on the season, including five for loss.  A redshirt junior linebacker, he intercepted two passes and forced a fumble.  Koepke was also a Second Team All-PFL selection this season.  A mechanical engineering major, he has a 3.59 GPA and is a two-time First Team Academic All-PFL pick.

            Rundh had 7.5 total sacks on the year and earned Honorable Mention All-PFL honors.  A defensive lineman, the sophomore had 37 total tackles, including 16 behind the line of scrimmage.  In the classroom, the international business major has tallied a 3.94 GPA and has been on the Academic Honor Roll for the PFL the last two years

            Kozey was a First Team All-PFL selection as well this season after starting all 11 games on the offensive line.  The junior is a three-time member of the league’s Fall Academic Honor Roll, and has a 3.80 grade point average in engineering.

            Wiler also started all 11 games on the offensive line for the Brown and Gold. A three-time member of the PFL Fall Academic Honor Roll, the redshirt-junior sports a 3.28 GPA as a political science major.