Wheaton, Ill. - Wheaton College senior Eric Stevenson has been named as one of 13 semifinalists for the 2018 Gagliardi Trophy, an award presented by Jostens and the J-Club of Saint John's University (Minn.) to the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III. The Gagliardi Trophy, given annually since 1993, recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service. The award is named after John Gagliardi, the legendary Hall of Fame head football coach at St. Johns, who retired in 2012 with 489 career victories, the most in college football history.

Stevenson is the second Wheaton player to be a semifinalist for the award, joining Matt Snebold who was a semifinalist in 2015. A three-year starter at linebacker, Stevenson was recently named the CCIW's "Don Larson Defensive Player of the Year". He was recently selected as a First Team All-CCIW selection and also picked up Second Team Google Cloud Academic All-District 7 honors. An Academic All-American as a junior, Stevenson was recently named as the only Division III finalist for the Campbell Trophy by the National Football Foundation (NFF). As a Campbell Trophy Finalist, he received a NFF Scholar-Athlete Award and an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Stevenson made a team-high 74 total tackles this fall, including 41 solo stops. The senior registered 9.5 tackles for lost yardage (-29 yards), including two quarterback sacks (-13 yards). Wheaton's leading tackler in each of the past three seasons, Stevenson made 268 career tackles, including 150 solo tackles. The linebacker made 27 tackles for loss (-79 yards) in his career, with 5-1/2 sacks (-27 yards).

Four Gagliardi Trophy finalists will be released by D3football.com on Thursday, December 6th, in a live streaming broadcast. The winner of the 2018 Gagliardi Trophy will be announced by D3football.com on Friday, December 14th prior to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.

Nominations were submitted by colleges across the country, and the semifinalist were selected by the J-Club Board of Directors. The 13 semifinalists will now move on to the national-selection committee. In past years 10 semifinalists have been named, but additional spots were needed for 2018 based on the voting totals at the nominee stage. The Gagliardi Trophy national-selection committee is comprised of 39 former small college football players, former Gagliardi Trophy recipients, business leaders, academicians and sports writers from around the country. Each cast a ballot ranking the semifinalists. A fan vote, which will serve as the 40th committee member, is live on D3football.com and runs until Monday, Dec. 3, the same day the national-selection voting is closed.

To vote for Stevenson at the voting link, go to: http://www.d3football.com/gagliardi-voting