SJU’s Wozniak Earns Second Academic All-America Honor
CSC publication
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — Saint John’s University senior defense lineman Michael Wozniak (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) was named a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American for the second consecutive year on Tuesday, December 20.
Wozniak was called up to the second-team after winning first-team awards a year ago.
Nominees must be in their sophomore year or better with a GPA of 3.50 or higher. The Academic All-District and All-America teams are elected and elected by registered members of the CSC (formerly College Sports Information Directors of America).
Over the past 19 seasons, SJU has now had 21 Football Academic All-Americans (35 overall).
Wozniak, a 2022 unanimous All-American (Associated Press second-team, American Football Coaches Association second-team, and D3football.com third-team), also became a 2022 Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist and MIAC Defensive Player of the Year 2022 that fall appointed. The two-time All-MIAC pick started all 12 games on the defensive end and finished with 43 tackles (18 solo), including 13.5 for a loss and nine sacks, as well as nine quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a blocked kick. In his last 14 games since the 2021 season, he averaged 20.0 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks and finished his Johnnie career with 31.5 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks in 32 games.
Wozniak, an accounting major with a 3.86 GPA, received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a finalist for the National Football Foundation’s (NFF) Campbell Trophy, nicknamed Academician Heisman, and represented SJU as a member the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Dec. 5-7 in Vegas.
He was selected to the 2022 Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team of 22 on September 19, earned his second consecutive All-MIAC honor and received MIAC Defensive Player of the Year honors and was named a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy 2022 on November 22nd. Wozniak also received his second consecutive Academic All-District honor on November 22.
The three-time Academic All-MIAC honoree (minimum 3.5 GPA) was a unanimous 2022 All-America preseason and 2021 D3football.com All-America first-team selection. He started all 12 games and finished the team with 15.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks, including 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in two NCAA playoff games in 2021. Wozniak returned in 2021 after one Back on the field at the end of the season Injured hand in the first defensive game of the 2019 season – a tackle for loss – at Wisconsin-Stout.
Off the field, in his fifth year, Wozniak is raising money for two of SJU football’s initiatives, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Tackle Cancer. He was also a member of the Johnnies’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which hosts an annual Kids Fighting Hunger meal-packing event every March for two school years (2020-21 and 2021-22). Wozniak also helped organize a spring 2022 swim meet for local Special Olympians in Collegeville.
At home, Wozniak volunteered to coach 2nd and 3rd grade youth football for the Armstrong Cooper Youth Football Association.
SJU (10-2, 7-1 MIAC) won its fourth straight conference championship—a MIAC-record 36th overall title—and made its 32nd postseason appearance this fall (28th in Division III).
