Wheaton, Ill. - Wheaton senior linebacker Caleb Ashby has been selected as a nominee for the 2016 Cliff Harris Award, given to the nation's top small-college defensive player. The nominees are chosen from more than 5,000 defensive players representing over 500 NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA institutions. Ashby is the only nominee from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) and is the CCIW's second nominee in the four-year history of the award, joining Wheaton's Adam Dansdill (2015).

Finalists for the award will be announced later this month with the winner being chosen by a prestigious selection committee including Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach. The winner will be announced at the end of December and honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club's annual awards banquet in February of 2017.

Last month, Ashby became the 11^th Wheaton student-athlete to win the CCIW's "Don Larson Defensive Player of the Year Award". A senior at linebacker for the Thunder,  he is a two-time All-CCIW performer. Ashby registered 86 total tackles this fall, including 47 solo stops. The senior recorded 16.5 tackles for lost yardage (-80 yards), including 10 quarterback sacks (-67 yards). His 10 sacks this year is tied for the seventh-highest single-season sack total in program history.

In his four seasons with the Thunder, Ashby tallied 231 total tackles, including 35 tackles for lost yardage (-131 yards). He registered 12 career sacks (-79 yards) and snagged five interceptions