North Central’s Radtke selected to play in Hula Bowl

Reprinted with permission from North Central College.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – North Central College linebacker Lenny Radtke (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) has been selected to play in the 2006 Hula Bowl. The game features the top seniors in the country from primarily NCAA Division I schools.

The game is Saturday, Jan. 21, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kickoff time is 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and will be broadcast live on ESPN. The coaches for this year’s game are Washington’s Tye Willingham and Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville.

“It’s just awesome,” Radtke said. “I couldn’t believe it when I received the phone call. You always watch those Division I guys on TV and wonder if you can play with them. Well, now I get the chance to find out.”

Radtke is one of only four players from NCAA III to play in this year’s game. The others are Ohio Northern University defensive back Wes Hostetler, UW-Oshkosh tight end Bob Docherty and Linfield College (Ore.) quarterback Brett Elliott.

In December, 2005, Radtke was one of 46 NCAA Division III seniors from around the country who participated in the Aztec Bowl. The linebacker recorded five tackles, four for a loss of 27 yards, two sacks for a loss of 17 yards and one interception returned 28 yards for a touchdown to help Team USA to a 53-15 win over Mexico. Radtke’s four tackles-for-loss were a new Aztec Bowl record.

For North Central, Radtke led the team in tackles with 162 (73 solo, 79 assisted) while also adding 11.5 tackles for a loss of 35 yards, two sacks for a loss of 15 yards, two interceptions returned for 25 yards, 10 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two blocked kicks (both returned for touchdowns). He was already the school record-holder for career tackles (now 451) and most tackles in a season (141 in 2004). He moved up to third for most pass breakups in a career (26) and fourth for most tackles for loss in a career (37 for 113).

His postseason honors to date include AFCA All-American, D3football.com All-American Second Team and College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin First Team.