Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton football team has earned recognition in a pair of national college football preseason publications. The Thunder football program is eighth in the Sporting News College Football preseason magazine and 10th in the preseason magazine distributed by Lindys Sports. Wheaton earns the rankings following a 2016 season in which the program posted an 11-2 record and advanced to the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Playoffs.

 

Senior tight end Zach Lindquist is on Street and Smith's preseason Division III All-America Team. A First Team All-America honoree from D3football.com in 2016, Lindquist caught 42 passes last season with 422 receiving yards. He averaged 10.0 yards per catch in 2016 and snagged six touchdown receptions. In three seasons with the Thunder, Lindquist has 102 career receptions for 1,224 yards with 11 touchdowns.


 

Lindy's recognized four Thunder player in its preseason publication. Senior  Kyler Kregel was tabbed as a preseason First Team All-America pick at center. Kyler Kregel earned Second Team All-America recognition from D3football.com in 2016.

 

Seniors Chase Greenlee and Tyler Sigler were named to Lindy's Second Team squad. Greenlee, a defensive end, was an honorable mention All-America pick by D3football.com in 2016. He led Wheaton with 14 sacks (-79 yards) last year, a mark that tied for third on Wheaton's single-season sacks list. Greenlee registered 19 tackles for loss (-98 yards) in 2016 and tallied 61 total tackles. The junior's 14 sacks was fifth among all Division III players last year and his 19 tackles for loss was 16th in Division III. Sigler, a Second Team pick at safety, recorded 46 total tackles in 2016, playing at both safety and cornerback. As a junior, he registered 34 solo tackles; he ranked second on the Thunder defense with 11 passes broken-up and snatched two interceptions.

Lindy's listed Dallas McRae as the "Newcomer of the Year". McRae is a transfer to Wheaton from Southern Utah University, a NCAA FCS program in the Big Sky Conference.

The Thunder open the 2017 season against Benedictine University on September 2 in Lisle, Illinois.
 

2017 STREET & SMITH DIVISION III PRESEASON POLL				2017 LINDYS SPORTS DIVISION III PRESEASON POLL
RANK	TEAM	2015 RECORD		RANK	TEAM	2015 RECORD
1.	Mount Union	12-2		1.	Mary Hardin-Baylor	15-0
2.	Mary Hardin-Baylor	15-0		2.	Mount Union	12-2
3.	UW-Whitewater	12-1		3.	St. Thomas (Minn.)	12-1
4.	St. Thomas (Minn.)	12-1		4.	St. John's (Minn.)	10-2
5.	UW-Oshkosh	13-2		5.	Johns Hopkins	11-1
6.	North Central	11-1		6.	Linfield	9-2
7.	John Carroll	12-2		7.	John Carroll	12-2
8.	St. John's (Minn.)	10-2		8.	Wesley	9-3
9.	Linfield	9-2		9.	Alfred	12-1
10.	WHEATON	11-2		10.	Stevenson	9-2
11.	Washington & Jefferson	9-2		11.	St. Lawrence	9-1
12.	Johns Hopkins	11-1		12.	North Central	11-1
13.	Wesley	9-3		13.	WHEATON	11-2
14.	Hardin-Simmons	9-2		14.	UW-Oshkosh	13-2
15.	Frostburg State	10-1		15.	UW-Whitewater	12-1
16.	Hobart	9-2		16	Frostburg State	10-1
17.	Monmouth (Ill.)	10-1		17.	Hardin-Simmons	9-2
18.	UW-Platteville	8-3		18.	Hope	7-3
19.	Alfred	12-1		19.	Hobart	9-2
20.	Case Western Reserve	9-1		20.	Bethel (Minn.)	5-5
21.	Hope	7-3		21.	Western New England	11-1
22.	Coe	11-1		22.	Washington & Jefferson	9-2
23.	Rose-Hulman	8-3		23.	Redlands	8-2
24.	Redlands	8-2		24.	Monmouth (Ill.)	10-1
25.	St. John Fisher	8-3		25.	Coe	11-1