PHILADELPHIA – A school record five Ursinus football players were named to the PhillySIDA Football Academic All-Area Team on Wednesday morning.
Seniors
Ethan Belville,
Brett Gross,
Jack Psenicska, along with juniors
Ryan Bodolus and
Ryan DiVergilis were the five Bears named to the team. Belville, Bodolus, and Gross were all unanimous selections which tied for the most with Penn. The Academic All-Area Team, voted on by the sports information offices of 30 institutions in the Philadelphia metro area, requires a student-athlete to be in their second year at the school and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or better.
Bodolus, an applied economics major, earns his first-ever accolade from PhillySIDA after maintaining his status as one of the top pass rushers in the Centennial Conference for 2022. He earned All-Centennial honors once again by ranking second in the conference with 10.5 sacks and third with 14.5 tackles for loss. Bodolus ranked third on the team with 55 tackles (26 solo) and forced a pair of fumbles. Bodolus recorded three multi-sack efforts this season as well. His strong work in the classroom helped earn him College Sports Communicators (CSC), while also being named to the Centennial Academic Honor Roll and Academic All-Centennial team.
A biology major, Belville earned his first-ever PhillySIDA nod behind a dominant season on the defensive line for Ursinus. He recently garnered a spot on the D3football.com All-Region 2 Third Team and earned his second-straight All-Centennial honor. Belville paced the Centennial and tied for fourth in NCAA Division III with five forced fumbles. He ranked second in the Centennial with 21 tackles for loss and ranked third in the conference with 10 sacks. Belville was also named to the CSC Academic All-District Team, the Centennial Academic Honor Roll, and Academic All-Centennial team.
Gross, a business management major, anchored the middle of the Bears defense to earn his first PhillySIDA selection. He was all over the field for Ursinus as he earned his second All-Centennial honor and first selection to the first team. Gross set a career-high and ranked second in the Centennial Conference with 94 total tackles (30 solo). He grabbed two interceptions on the season and recorded 5.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries. His dynamic efforts in the Bears Centennial-MAC Bowl Series win over King's earned him game MVP honors. Gross led the team in tackles nine of the 11 games this season behind five double-digit tackle performances.
A media and communication studies major, DiVergilis was a force in the Bears secondary in 2022 to also gain his first PhillySIDA selection. He earned All-Centennial first team honors at safety to make a big jump from earning honorable mention in 2021. DiVergilis ranked second on the team with 61 tackles (25 solo), totaled 4.0 tackles for loss, and snatched two interceptions to tie for second-most. He also tied for the team lead with six pass break-ups while recovering one fumble out of the safety spot. DiVergilis joined Bodolus and Belville on the CSC Academic All-District Team, the Centennial Academic Honor Roll, and Academic All-Centennial teams.
Psenicska became the only two-time selection to the PhillySIDA team among the five Bears after his record-setting season in 2022. A media and communication studies major, Psenicska earned All-Centennial honorable mention after pacing the Centennial with 2,950 passing yards, 268.2 passing yards per game, and 36 touchdown passes. In all of Division III, Psenicska ranked fourth in touchdown passes, 10th in passing yards, and 17th in passing yards per game. Psenicska set the program single-season record in touchdown passes while also surpassing former teammate Thomas Garlick's career touchdown pass record as well. He set the single-game touchdown pass record against Juniata with six and topped his own program single-season passing yard record as well.
Below is the full team:
2022 PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Football Team
Student-Athlete School Cl. Major(s) Hometown
Jose Barbon Temple Gr. Communications Studies Lancaster, Pa.
Ethan Belville Ursinus Sr. Chemistry Wallingford, Pa.
Ryan Bodolus Ursinus Jr. Applied Economics Pottstown, Pa.
Michael Corbi Villanova Gr. Mechanical Engineering Arnold, Md.
Ryan DiVergilis Ursinus Jr. Media and Communication Studies Philadelphia, Pa.
James Fara Rowan Jr. Sports Communications Point Pleasant, N.J.
Brett Gross Ursinus Sr. Applied Economics/Finance Langhorne, Pa.
Jaaron Hayek Villanova Sr. Finance Wayne, N.J.
Jake Heimlicher Penn Sr. Finance Aurora, Colo.
Ben Hoitink Penn Sr. Finance and Management Hartford, Wis.
Mike Husni Rowan Sr. Liberal Studies (BA)/Diversity and Inclusion (MA) Toms River, N.J.
Danny Kay Rowan Sr. Advertising Palmyra, N.J.
Ben Krimm Penn Sr. Economics (Psychology minor) Columbus, Ohio
Zach Liggitt West Chester Sr. English Danielsville, Pa.
John Maldonado Rowan Sr. Finance Glassboro, N.J.
Patrick Methlie West Chester R-Fr. Business Management Avondale, Pa.
Thatcher Miller West Chester R-Fr. Business/Eco-Finance Lititz,Pa.
Isaac Moore Temple Gr. English/Education Orebro, Sweden
Garrett Morris Penn Sr. Finance Auburn, Ala.
Jack Psenicska Ursinus Sr. Media and Communication Studies Springfield, Pa.
Edward Saydee Temple R-So. Exercise Science Philadelphia, Pa.
Aidan Sayin Penn So. Wharton – Undeclared Carlsbad, Calif.
Robert Stashek Rowan Jr. Health & Physical Education Raritan, N.J.
Kobe Wilson Temple So. Communications and Social Influence Snellville, Ga.
Performer of the Year: Jake Heimlicher, Penn
