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Matt Wrather D3football All-American Preseason graphic
Dylan Feltovich

Matt Wrather Chosen as a D3football.com First Team Preseason All-American

| By: Joe Ginley '16, SID
Matt Wrather will be a critical cog of the offensive line for a third straight year. 
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – For a second straight year, the linchpin of the offensive line is garnering preseason recognition for John Carroll Football.

Matt Wrather is a D3football.com Preseason All-American. 

In anticipation of the 2024 season, Wrather tallied First Team honors. The senior is the first player from the program to make the top preseason billing from D3football.com since Conner Bogard in 2019. 

This honor follows Wrather's selection to the Lindy's 2024 Division III Preseason All-American squad (First Team). 

Preseason prognostications don't mean too much once the games begin, but Wrather has plenty of substance to him. Picked as a Second Team Preseason All-American a season ago, the Olentangy Liberty grad lived up to the hype, becoming a 2023 Second Team All-American. 

The starter at center for the past two seasons, Wrather has become a critical cog in the offensive line. After both the 2023 and 2022 seasons, the Powell native tabbed First Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors, as well as College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® recognition. 

Following his junior campaign, the accolades increased. Wrather was chosen as the OAC's Ken Wable Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year, becoming JCU's sixth such winner of the award. The star lineman prestigiously earned a spot to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® Second Team, just the 11th member of the football program to be heralded by CSC (formerly known as CoSIDA). 

As Wrather would tell you, he doesn't do it alone. The entire offensive line thrived this past season, allowing the fewest sacks in the conference and helping the offense to set a new mark for pass efficiency (while also giving Joe Collins the chance to break the program mark for completion percentage in a season). The big men got the OAC Offensive Athlete of the Week award following a 44-14 win over Ohio Northern. The unit paved the way for 526 total yards, a season-high 269 rushing yards, and allowed zero sacks.

In the classroom, Wrather has done fine work as a Finance major. Twice, he's tabbed Academic All-OAC certificates. 

In the community, the rising senior has done plenty. This past spring, Wrather served as a core team member for Jesuit Day of Service, helping to organize the event, which gathered 400 students and staff members to conduct service projects at nine sites. Within athletics, Wrather is the football representative for the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). He's also helped with the 2nd and 7 Reading Program, the Mental Health Day Fair at JCU, More Than Food (founded by Bricker Thiel & Brenden Swann), Night To Shine (hosted by the Tim Tebow Foundation), Build The Bridge Camp, Philosophy classes at nearby Gesu Catholic School, the Cleveland Browns High School Showcase, and Carroll Ballers. 

Notably, Wrather co-founded and successfully launched JCU Student Alumni Association last year, a new student organization sponsored by JCU Alumni Relations Department. He helped to recruit over 200 alumni to join the organization with an additional 150 students within the first year. 

Wrather is the lone OAC player on the D3football.com First Team offense, while three OAC players are on the First Team defense. 

Wrather and his teammates will kickoff the campaign on Saturday, September 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, ranked #3 in the D3football.com preseason poll.

Full D3football.com Preseason All-America Teams
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