Ceisel, Osburn Repeat as Titan Football MVPs

December 11, 2007

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — For the second straight season, junior wide receiver Martin Ceisel and senior defensive back Bo Osburn have been selected as the most valuable offensive player and most valuable defensive player, respectively, for the 2007 Illinois Wesleyan University football team.
Ceisel (Deerfield HS), who also earned the team’s “Best Skill” award and was a first team all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin selection, led IWU with 60 catches for 742 yards and eight touchdowns. After three seasons, Ceisel is No. 4 all-time at IWU with 2,194 receiving yards, No. 7 with 145 receptions and No. 5 with 23 receiving touchdowns.
Osburn (Morton HS), a first team all-CCIW selection, was fourth on the team with 66 total tackles including 41 solo. He had six tackles for losses totaling 23 yards, an interception, a fumble recovery and four pass breakups for the Titans, who finished 7-3 overall and earned a share of the CCIW championship for the first time since 2001. It is IWU’s 13th league title.

Other Team Honors

Sophomore quarterback Kraig Ladd (Shelbyville HS) was selected as the “Most Improved Player”, junior linebacker Dan Souder (Elk Grove Village, Elk Grove HS) earned “Best Big Skill” honors and offensive tackle Ray Krishock (Wheaton, St. Francis HS) was named the team’s “Most Valuable Freshman.”
Ladd, who became a starter in the second game of the year, completed 168 of 303 pass attempts (.554 percent) for 1,869 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was CCIW “Offensive Player of the Week" and honored by Don Hansen's Football Gazette for his play in a 35-31 win at Carthage on Oct. 6. He completed 27 of 37 passes for 404 yards and five TDs and had 52 rushing yards for a total offense day of 456 yards, second only to the IWU mark of 458 set by Brad Forsyth against Carroll in 1989. Ladd's 404 passing yards is the third most in an IWU single game, behind only John Rooney (426, Elmhurst 1983) and Chad Beaty (409, North Central 1997) and the 27 completions is the fourth best single game total. Ladd's .730 completion total is third best in an IWU game, behind two efforts by Lon Erickson (.871, 27-31 vs. Millikin in 1996 and .750, 21-28 vs. North Park in 1995).
Souder was second on the team with 75 total tackles and had 41 solo. He made 8.5 tackles for losses totaling 36 yards and accounted for three quarterback sacks for -24 yards.
Senior defensive nose guard Rob Hoyland (Montgomery, Oswego HS) was chosen as the team’s “Best Lineman” and junior defensive back Robert Beauchamp (Cerro Gordo HS) was the “Best Special Teams” player.
Hoyland made 51 total tackles (27 solo) and had two quarterback sacks for -8 yards while also making a fumble recovery.
Beauchamp, who had 20 tackles as a defensive back, returned 15 kickoffs for a 25.4 yard average with a long of 63 yards against Wheaton.
Senior linebacker Charlie Welke (New Lenox, Lincoln Way Central HS) was the winner of the “Doug Schmied Award”, voted on by the coaches for loyalty, leadership, citizenship, most sports- and team-minded and attitude. The honor is named for Schmied, the IWU senior offensive lineman who passed away in 2005.
Freshman wide receiver Sam Pranckus (Mokena, Lincoln Way East HS) and sophomore defensive lineman Mike Smith (Chicago, Leo HS) were the winners of the top offensive and defensive junior varsity player honors, respectively.
Senior running back Marcus Dunlop (Maywood, Proviso East HS) finished his career with 2,649 rushing yards, placing him No. 2 all-time at IWU, behind only Kurt Swearingen, who ran for 2,772 yards from 1975-78. Dunlop is the school career leader in rushing attempts with 658, having bested the old mark of 604 by Britt Travis (1977-80) and his 222 yards vs. North Park in 2004 remains sixth most in an IWU single game.
Titan head coach Norm Eash, who was the CCIW “Coach of the Year” for the fourth time in his 21-year career, has a 126-73-1 overall record at his alma mater and will return 40 lettermen for next season.

2007 ILLINOIS WESLEYAN LETTERMEN (54)

SENIORS (14)
Brock Collins *** DL 6-2 240 Mt. Prospect, Ill. (Prospect HS)
Andrew Dulaney *** DB 5-10 180 Eden Prairie, Minn. (HS)
Marcus Dunlop **** RB 5-9 180 Maywood, Ill. (Proviso East HS)
Rob Hoyland **** DL 6-1 260 Montgomery, Ill. (Oswego HS)
Jacob Jolly * DL 6-0 230 Bloomington, Ill. (Normal U High)
Bryan Kelly **** WR 6-0 170 Evanston, Ill. (HS)
Donnie McGhee *** DB 5-10 210 Hazel Crest, Ill. (Hillcrest HS)
Brett McWherter * WR 5-11 195 River Grove, Ill. (East Leyden HS)
Chad Olson ** WR 5-9 175 Bloomington, Ill. (HS)
Bo Osburn **** # DB 5-11 200 Morton, Ill. (HS)
Brian Smith **** DB 5-11 190 Louisville, Ky. (Trinity HS)
Eric Van Hise *** OL 6-4 270 Rochelle, Ill. (HS)
Charlie Welke *** # LB 6-2 210 New Lenox, Ill. (Lincoln Way Central HS)
Tim Wilkins *** # DE 6-2 225 Evanston, Ill. (HS)

JUNIORS (13)
Tom Almanzo ** WR 6-0 193 Elk Grove Village, Ill. (Elk Grove HS)
Robert Beauchamp * DB 6-1 195 Cerro Gordo, Ill. (HS)
Andrew Boyd ** DL 6-5 255 Metamora, Ill. (HS)
Martin Ceisel *** # WR 6-4 205 Deerfield, Ill. (HS)
Joe Duffy * FB 5-11 225 Oak Lawn, Ill. (Chicago Brother Rice HS)
Ben Hammer *** OL 6-5 305 Peoria, Ill. (Richwoods HS)
Alex Holmberg ** LB 6-0 225 Oak Park, Ill. (Fenwick HS)
Josh Monk *** LB 6-0 200 Bloomington, Ill. (Central Catholic HS)
John Nelson ** OL 6-1 255 Wheaton, Ill. (Wheaton-Warrenville Sr.)
Rick Podkowa ** TE 6-6 255 Glenview, Ill. (Niles Notre Dame HS)
Dan Souder *** LB 6-1 205 Elk Grove Village, Ill. (Elk Grove HS)
Dewayne Stallings ** OL 6-5 305 Harvey, Ill. (Thornton HS)
Brian Tiefenbruck * K 6-3 190 St. Louis, Mo. (Lindbergh HS)
Christian Winston * RB 5-5 145 Chicago, Ill. (Walther Lutheran HS)

SOPHOMORES (19)
Mike Ammirati ** DL 6-3 240 Woodstock, Ill. (HS)
Travis Boothe ** DE 6-5 285 Villa Park, Ill. (Willowbrook HS)
Travis Brubaker * RB 5-11 195 Mt. Prospect, Ill. (Hersey HS)
Keenan Clifford * OL 6-2 240 Tinley Park, Ill. (Lincoln Way East HS)
Adam Crouch ** DB 5-10 195 Sycamore, Ill. (HS)
Keely Flood * OL 6-1 250 Lombard, Ill. (Montini Catholic HS)
Roman Hunter ** DB 6-0 175 Chicago, Ill. (Gordon Tech HS)
Mike Kotz ** LB 6-2 220 Elmwood Park, Ill. (Saint Patrick HS)
Kraig Ladd * QB 6-4 195 Shelbyville, Ill. (HS)
John Meacham * FB 6-1 230 Oak Park, Ill. (Oak Park-River Forest HS)
Chris Messina * WR 6-2 185 Chicago, Ill. (Nazareth Academy)
Nick Nikolich ** LB 6-2 200 Libertyville, Ill. (HS)
Kevin O'Connor ** DL 6-0 225 Dunlap, Ill. (Peoria Notre Dame HS)
Brandon Patrick * DB 5-10 185 Palos Hills, Ill. (Stagg HS)
Matt Sandrik * WR 6-4 180 Riverside, Ill. (Riverside Brookfield HS)
Jack Scalcucci ** WR 6-2 205 Batavia, Ill. (HS)
Pat Topf * TE 6-2 210 Orland Park, Ill. (Sandburg HS)
Sam Vizza ** P 6-3 190 Crestwood, Ill. (Shepard HS)

FRESHMEN (8)
Max Brooks * DL 6-2 215 Oak Park, Ill. (Oak Park-River Forest HS)
Mike Chiodo * LB 5-11 190 Morton, Ill. (HS)
Michael Handke * TE 6-3 225 Brookfield, Ill. (Lyons Township HS)
Miguel Jones * DB 6-0 185 Maywood, Ill. (Walther Lutheran HS)
Ray Krishock * OL 6-4 295 Wheaton, Ill. (St. Francis HS)
Bo Lanter * RB 6-0 205 Clayton, Mo. (HS)
Dan Rogers * LB 6-2 210 Palos Ridge, Ill. (Maine South HS)
Brien Rooney * QB 6-0 185 Western Springs, Ill. (Fenwick HS)

CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206