PHOTO GALLERY OF WHEATON'S ALL-REGION SELECTIONS

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder football team placed 10 players on the 2025 D3football.com All- Region 5 Team on Wednesday. Five players from the Thunder offense earned All-Region recognition, four defensive players, and one special teams player picked up the honor. Wheaton placed six players on the First Team unit and four on the Second Team. Additionally, Thunder head coach Jesse Scott earned his first career Region 5 Coach of the Year Award from D3football.com.

Scott, who has led the Thunder to an 11-2 record this season and a trip to the Division III national quarterfinals, is the Region 5 Coach of the Year. Wheaton's 11 victories so far this season is tied for the second-highest win total in program history, just behind a pair of 12-win seasons in 2003 and 2019 that are the highest single-season win totals at Wheaton. Scott's team this year is tied with the 2008 team (that Coach Scott was an All-American offensive lineman on) that won 11 games, and the 2014, 2015 and 2016 teams that also each won 11 games. The three postseason victories so far this season are tied for the most in team history, joining the 2008 team that also won three postseason games in advancing to the national semifinal for the first time in program history. Scott is guiding Wheaton to its first quarterfinal appearance since 2019 and the fourth quarterfinal trip all-time, joining the 2008, 2016 and 2019 teams as teams that earned a spot in the quarterfinals.

This is Scott's first selection as a D3football.com regional Coach of the Year. NCAA Division III realigned Division III football into six regions in 2021. Region 5 includes the American Rivers Conference, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, the Midwest Conference and the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. In the previous NCAA Division III football alignment, Wheaton was in the North Region, one of four regions across Division III.

Defensive end Peter Johanik, linebacker Zeke Harris and safety Colin Moore represented the Thunder defense on the All-Region 5 First Team. Guard Aiden Byrne and tackle Aidan Kingsbury represented the Thunder offense on the All-Region 5 First Team. Josiah Smith earned All-Region 5 First Team honors for his efforts on special teams.

Johanik had an outstanding senior season for the Thunder to earn First Team All-Region 5 honors at defensive for the second-consecutive season. Earlier this fall he was a First Team All-CCIW honoree for the third-straight season, and earlier today he was named a First Team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Johanik leads the CCIW in tackles for loss with 23 (-110) and sacks with 14 (-89). Johanik broke the Thunder all-time record for tackles for loss with 60, 10 tackles for loss higher than the next closest mark. His 0.92 sacks per game number is 20^th in Division III and his 1.69 TFLs per game ranks 17^th. His 22 TFL this season ranks sixth in Division III and his 10 QB hits ranks second on the Thunder this year. His performance against the North Park Vikings to conclude the regular season earned him D3football.com Team of the Week as well as CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week honors. The performance included a record-breaking tackle for loss, along with three more in the contest for a total of four, the highest single-game mark in the CCIW. Three of his tackles for loss were sacks, two of which were strip sacks which resulted in a score for the Thunder.

Harris, a sophomore, and senior Luca Torti earned All-Region 5 honors with Harris earning First Team honors for the first time in his career and Torti making his second-consecutive All-Region 5 appearance, earning Second Team honors. This award goes along with their First-Team All CCIW selections earlier in the fall. Harris leads the CCIW in tackles with 112, a mark that puts him 14^th in Division III. Harris also works in the backfield, recording 13 tackles for loss (-52) and getting to opposing quarterbacks five times. Harris' efforts also earned him CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week in the Thunder game against WashU. In that game, Harris led all members of the Wheaton defense with 13 total tackles and a game-sealing interception in Wheaton territory preventing a comeback victory. Torti has 79 tackles and two sacks on the season. Torti made it tough on opposing ball-carriers forcing a conference-leading three fumbles and a mark that is fourth-highest in Division III and tied with fellow All-Region 5 honoree Peter Johanik for the mark.

Junior Colin Moore earned First Team All-Region 5 recognition for his ball hawking work at safety. This is Moore's first career All-Region 5 selection and goes along with his First Team All-CCIW selection earlier in the fall. Moore recorded a career-high eight interceptions this season which is tied for first in Division III and is also tied for first in the NCAA (all divisions) as well. His interceptions per game mark of 0.62 is sixth in Division III. Moore is also credited with 15 total passes defended this season, the 12^th-highest mark in Division III.

Junior punter Josiah Smith earned his first career All-Region 5 honors, earning First Team honors this season coming off an All-CCIW selection this fall. Smith would currently be ranked second in Division III in yards per punt with 45.1 (qualification requires 3.6 punts/game) and 11 of his 28 punts landed within the 20-yard line or better, a 39% rate. Smith also recorded a career-long punt against Illinois Wesleyan, blasting all three of his punts 50-plus yards and reaching a high of 64 yards against the Titans.

Senior Aidan Kingsbury and sophomore Aiden Bryne each earned First-Team All-Region 5 honors, the first time each has received First-Team honors. Kingsbury picked up the honor for his work at offensive tackle and Byrne at guard. Kingsbury received Third-Team recognition in 2024. Both linemen also received First-Team All-CCIW honors this fall. Both Byrne and Kingsbury helped hold down an offensive line which bolstered an impressive Wheaton offense. The Thunder were fifth in Division III in total points per game amassing 47 and led the CCIW in passing offense, averaging 298.6 yards per game through the air and totaling 3,882 yards on the season.
Wheaton's skill positions were well-represented in the Second Team All-Region 5 selections with Mark Forcucci, Seth Kortenhoeven, and Ben Juska all receiving selections.

Forcucci received his second All-Region selection after garnering Third Team honors in 2024. He also picked up his second-consecutive All-CCIW award with First Team honors this fall. Forcucci has passed for 3,009 yards this season, 15^th in Division III and has 35 touchdown passes, fifth in Division III. Forcucci completed 68.6% of his passing attempts, good for 18^th in Division III. He is hyper-efficient in doing so with a 194.4 passing efficiency, ranking third in Division III and throwing only six interceptions which is third-best in the CCIW. Forcucci's 5,659 career passing yards are seventh in Wheaton history and his 35 passing touchdowns this season is tied for the second-highest in program history. Forcucci earned CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week honors for his effort against North Park where he passed for what would be tied for a single-game Wheaton record, six touchdowns in three quarters of work.

Senior Seth Kortenhoeven earned Second Team All-Region 5 recognition along with an All-CCIW selection in the fall. Kortenhoeven is second in the CCIW in receiving yards with 981 and in receiving touchdowns with 10. His 5.3 receptions per game was fourth in the conference and his 15.6 yards per catch ranks ninth. Kortenhoeven made an impact on special teams, recording 209 return yards, 16^th in Division III.
Senior Ben Juska earned his second career All-Region 5 selection, representing Wheaton at the tight end position on the Second Team. Juska also received All-CCIW recognition in the fall. Juska brought in eight touchdowns this season, tied for third in the CCIW and leading all tight ends in the conference. He also rushed for four touchdowns, giving him 12 total on the season, which is second amongst all CCIW pass catchers. His 494 receiving yards and 92 rushing yards are both career-highs.