Fabulous Five: Meet the Johnnies Who Conquered D3football.com All-American Honors!

By: Ryan Klinkner, SJU Athletic Media Relations Director

Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – On Thursday, Jan. 2, five student-athletes from Saint John’s University were recognized as D3football.com All-Americans.

Senior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) was named to the D3football.com All-America second team, while junior wide receiver Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View) earned a place on the third team, along with three others – senior defensive lineman Zach Frank (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial), junior tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka), and senior guard Nick McKenzie (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) – who received fourth-team accolades.

Wheeler was honored as a first-team All-American by the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), whereas Syverson achieved second-team recognition from both bodies last month.

SJU has now seen 118 football student-athletes garner All-America accolades a total of 154 times throughout the program’s 113-year history. The Johnnies have had an All-American at tight end for four consecutive seasons, on the offensive line in seven of the last eight years and on the defensive line in five of the past six seasons.

Frank, McKenzie, and Syverson earned D3football.com All-Region 6 first-team honors on Dec. 11, while Gendreau and Wheeler were acknowledged on the second team.

Syverson

Last month, Syverson was recognized as a finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy and the D3football.com Region 6 Offensive Player of the Year. He ended the regular season leading Division III in completion percentage (.765), ranking second in completions per game (26.7), passing yards per game (355.9), passing touchdowns (43), points accountable for per game (26.4), and total offense (355.0 ypg.); fifth in passing efficiency (200.5); and ninth in yards per pass attempt (10.2).

This season, he completed 331 of 434 passes (.763) for 4,382 yards and threw for 51 touchdowns (with four interceptions) across 12 games. Syverson exceeded 300 yards in passing during 10 of the Johnnies’ 12 games this fall, including four games above 400 yards, and recorded five or more touchdown passes in six instances, with eight games featuring four or more.

Against nationally ranked teams this fall, Syverson completed 77.1 percent (158-for-205) of his passes for 1,928 yards and 19 touchdowns (with two interceptions) in five matchups (including then-No. 4/now No. 10 Wartburg; then-No. 24/now No. 21 Bethel twice; No. 18 UW-La Crosse; and No. 6 Susquehanna).

He holds the program and MIAC records for pass attempts (1,418); completions (983), passing yards (12,888), and touchdown passes (147), along with the SJU benchmarks for completion percentage (.693), passing yards per game (314.3), total offense (12,961 yards), and 300-yard passing games (20). Syverson ranks third in SJU history in both passing efficiency (175.8) and as a starting quarterback with a 36-5 record.

Syverson also achieved the 2024 MIAC Offensive Player of the Year title and received his third All-MIAC recognition after participating in all eight conference contests, where he led the MIAC in every passing statistic for the second consecutive year: completions (213), attempts (286), completion percentage (.745), passing yards (2,953/369.1 ypg.), touchdown passes (36), and pass-efficiency rating (199.95). He set MIAC records (conference games only) for passing yards per game (369.1), 300-yard passing games (7), and three 400-yard passing games.

Wheeler

Wheeler closed the regular season ranked second in NCAA Division III for receiving touchdowns (19), eighth for total touchdowns, 10th for receptions per game (7.5), and 16th for receiving yards (1,065). He surpassed 100 receiving yards in seven of his team’s 12 games, leading SJU in receptions (88) and receiving touchdowns (21). Wheeler was just behind senior wide receiver Marselio Mendez (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) with 1,164 receiving yards.

The 21 receiving touchdowns tied for second-most in program history, just shy of the record of 22 established by Blake Elliott ’03 in 2002, while his catches rank third and his yards rank 10th. As he enters his senior season next fall, Wheeler currently sits fourth in program history for 100-yard receiving games (10), sixth in receiving touchdowns (31), eighth in receptions (149), and 12th in receiving yards (2,007).

He was a two-time MIAC Offensive Player of the Week, leading the MIAC in scoring—both in touchdowns (16) and total points (96)—while finishing fifth in receptions (54) and sixth in receiving yards (821) in eight conference matches.

Frank

A two-time (2023, 2024) All-MIAC selection, Frank led the team this fall with 9.0 sacks and 6 quarterback hurries, and he was second in tackles for loss (11.5) for a defense that completed the regular season as the NCAA Division III leader for fourth-down conversions (20 percent/5-for-25), third in sacks (4.10 spg.), sixth in red zone defense (.565/13-for-23), eighth against the run (53.8 ypg.), and 19th in points allowed (13.0 ppg.). Across 31 career games, he has recorded 23.0 tackles for loss, including 15.5 sacks, in addition to 14 quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles.

Gendreau

Gendreau ranked third on the team in catches (63), receiving yards (810), and receiving touchdowns (5). Among MIAC tight ends, he topped the conference in receptions (43), was tied for first with four receiving touchdowns, and placed second with 500 receiving yards in league play. Currently, he sits fourth in program history for tight ends in receptions (92), fifth in receiving yards (1,176), and tied for seventh in receiving touchdowns (11).

McKenzie

McKenzie started the last 22 games at left guard (25 overall) for an SJU offense that finished the regular season seventh in Division III concerning both first downs (259) and total offense (513.0 ypg.), along with placing 14th in scoring (46.0 ppg.). The Johnnies led the MIAC in total offense (523.1 ypg.) for six consecutive seasons and in passing offense (384.8 ypg.) for the second consecutive year in conference play. The 384.8 passing yards per game set a new program record, exceeding last year’s 375.6 yards per MIAC game.

SJU (11-1, 8-0 MIAC) secured its MIAC-record 37th conference championship and made its 33rd postseason appearance (29th in Division III) this fall. The ten-win season marks the program’s 26th.