NAPERVILLE, Ill. – North Central’s Ryan Kuhl, DJ Warkenthien and Kyle Pruess were named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Football Players of the Week on Monday.
 
Kuhl, a junior wide receiver from Naperville, Illinois and Neuqua Valley High School, established season highs for receptions and receiving yards in a 59-17 win over Elmhurst on Saturday that secured the outright CCIW title. He finished with nine catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the win and has caught at least one touchdown pass for six-straight weeks. Kuhl hauled in a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage, then scored on an eight-yard catch in the second quarter after keeping a drive alive with a 14-yard catch on fourth-and-9. He also prevented a turnover with a fumble recovery on a drive which eventually resulted in a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
 
Warkenthien, a sophomore linebacker from Naperville, Illinois and Neuqua Valley High School (Marketing major), totaled six tackles (five solo), 4.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks against Elmhurst. He shared the team lead in total tackles and turned in the fourth-highest single-game tackle-for-loss total in Cardinals history. Warkenthien helped lead North Central to a seven-sack effort just a week after a school-record 11 at Carthage. The Cardinals established a new single-season record with 49 total sacks.
 
Preuss, a junior tight end/long snapper from Elmhurst, Illinois and York High School (Marketing major), served as long snapper for eight successful PATs, one made field goal and three punts against Elmhurst. He gave the Cardinals an extra possession after a second-quarter punt by racing downfield and recovering a mishandled return at the Elmhurst 23-yard line. North Central scored to go up 35-10 four plays later.
 
2016 CCIW Football Players of the Week
 
Offense
Ryan Kuhl – North Central (11/14/16)
Trey Hanley – Wheaton (11/7/16)
Broc Rutter – North Central (10/31/16)
Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore – Illinois Wesleyan (10/24/16)
Nicco Stepina – Millikin (10/17/16)
Orlando Hernandez – Elmhurst (10/10/16)
Andrew Bowers – Wheaton (10/3/16)
Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore – Illinois Wesleyan (9/26/16)
Orlando Hernandez – Elmhurst (9/19/16)
Broc Rutter – North Central (9/12/16)
T.D. Conway – North Park (9/6/16)
 
Defense
DJ Warkenthien – North Central (11/14/16)
Josh Leonhard – North Central (11/7/16)
Greg Money – Carthage (10/31/16)
Matt Brown – Millikin (10/24/16)
Josh Akin – Illinois Wesleyan (10/17/16)
Luke Sahly – Wheaton (10/10/16)
Andy Warsen – Elmhurst (10/3/16)
Tommy Sora – North Central (9/26/16)
Eric Stevenson – Wheaton (9/19/16)
DJ Warkenthien – North Central (9/12/16)
Sean Wetherell – Elmhurst (9/6/16)
 
Special Teams
Kyle Preuss – North Central (11/14/16)
Zane Lodico – North Central (11/7/16)
Andrew Iwaszkiewicz – Illinois Wesleyan (10/31/16)
Stefan Knoerr – Wheaton (10/24/16)
Liam Crotty – North Central (10/17/16)
Zach Feddeler – Wheaton (10/10/16)
James Cobbs – Carthage (10/3/16)
Pat Cravens – North Central (9/26/16)
Zane Lodico – North Central (9/19/16)
Darquise Holman – Carthage (9/12/16)
Robert Martin – Augustana (9/6/16)
 
Twitter & Instagram: @CCIW_Athletics

The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2015-16 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,600 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 36 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and over 100 all-Americans.