Wednesday, November 30, 2016
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

SAINT LOUIS, Mo.– Dayton redshirt senior linebacker Christopher Beaschler earned his second consecutive Pioneer Football League Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, leading a group of 53 student-athletes named to the 24th annual Academic All-PFL Teams, as selected by the league’s sports information directors.

Beaschler, of Ada, Ohio, is a mechanical engineering major who has amassed a 3.73 grade-point average during his Dayton career. In addition to being named the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, he earned his third consecutive First-Team Academic All-PFL selection, becoming only the 37th student-athlete to accomplish that feat in the award’s 24 seasons.

Nationally, Beaschler was named to the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams™ in October, less than a year after being named to that organization’s 2015 Academic All-America Teams©. Beaschler is a four-time Academic All-PFL selection and a four-time member of the league’s academic honor roll.

In addition to those honors, Beaschler is one of 16 finalists for the 2016 National Football Foundation’s William V. Campbell Trophy. The trophy, sometimes referred to as “the Academic Heisman,” recognizes an individual as the top football scholar-athlete in the nation.

On the field, Beaschler has been Dayton’s leading tackler for each of the last three seasons, including his team best 88 tackles this season. He ranks fifth among FCS active career leaders in total tackles (384) and is third in solo tackles (11). This season, Beaschler also had 56 solo tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss and three sacks.

In addition, 10 student-athletes appear as first-team honorees for a second consecutive year: Butler’s Sean Horan; the Dayton quartet of Jack Crain, Alex Jeske, Jimmy Vogel and Tucker Yinger; Drake’s Keegan Gallery; the San Diego duo of Devyn Bryant and Max Michaels; Stetson’s Davion Belk and Valparaiso’s Brian Lang.

The Academic All-PFL teams are a complement to the Capital One Academic All-America® program presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Thirteen PFL student-athletes were named to their respective Capital One Academic All-District Teams® this fall. The 2016 Capital One Academic All-America Teams® will be announced Thursday.

Pioneer Football League athletic directors established the Academic All-PFL squads in 1993 as a way to recognize the league’s outstanding student-athletes. To be eligible for Academic All-PFL consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00 and reached their second season both athletically and academically at his current institution.