LANCASTER, Pa. – Eight Ursinus Football players were named to the 2025 All-Centennial Conference team, announced by the Conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Senior defensive end
Aaron Rios was the lone first team selection while four players: junior wide receiver
Ryder Zulkowski, senior offensive lineman
Deane Leader, sophomore defensive back
Nick Strusowski, and senior kicker/punter
Jordan Carr garnered second team honors. Junior running back
Jason Bernard, senior defensive end
Jonathon Small, and senior defensive back
Anthony Esposito were named to the honorable mention team.
Rios repeated his All-Centennial selection from a year ago and was named to the first team for the first time in his career. Rios paced the Centennial Conference with 15.5 tackles for loss and ranked second in the Centennial with 5.5 sacks. He ranked third on the team with 50 tackles (33 solo) while forcing and recovering a fumble.
Zulkowski was one of four Bears to earn All-Centennial honors for the first time in their career. He had his best season to date statistically by leading the team with 608 receiving yards and nine touchdowns while ranking second with 34 receptions. He ranked seventh in the Centennial in yards and tied for fourth in touchdowns. Zulkowski played his best down the stretch by recording 308 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in the past four games and has three straight multi-touchdown games.
Leader became a three-time All-Centennial selection after anchoring the Bears offensive line once again. He overcame an injury in the season opener against Alvernia and returned to help power the Ursinus offense that ranked third in total offensive yards and third in passing yards.
Strusowski had a breakout season in his first season as a starter by leading the Centennial Conference with six interceptions and returned a pick-6 against Kean back in September. His efforts against Kean earned him Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors and a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week. Strusowski also earned the Kenneth E. Walker trophy as the most outstanding Ursinus player in their homecoming game. He ranked fourth on the team with 49 tackles (28 solo) and ranked third on the team with five pass break-ups.
Carr was one of three Bears to become a three-time All-Centennial selection after another strong season as the team's punter. Carr paced the Centennial Conference with a career best 43.4 punting average and recorded a career-long 62-yard punt. He tied for the Centennial Conference lead with five 50+ yard punts and earned Centennial Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors in September.
Bernard earned his first career All-Centennial nod in his first season as the Ursinus primary running back. Bernard ranked fourth in the Centennial Conference with 586 rushing yards on 118 carries and ranked second in the conference with 11 touchdowns. He rushed for a season-high 120 yards against Moravian in September, tallied four multi-touchdown games, and averaged 5.0 yards per carry.
Small also earned his first career All-Centennial honor behind having his best season to date. He tallied 38 tackles (17 solo) and ranked third on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks that were all career bests. Small also broke up a pair of passes.
Esposito was the third Bear to become a three-time All-Centennial selection after earning it in 2022 and 2023. He tallied 22 tackles (16 solo) and a pair of interceptions with 2.5 tackles for loss in six games before suffering a season-ending injury against Johns Hopkins in Mid-October. Esposito maintained his status as one of the best shutdown cornerbacks in the Centennial Conference in his return and finishes his career with seven interceptions and 31 pass break-ups.
Senior defensive back
Matthew Charney was the Bears representative on the All-Sportsmanship team.
