NFF Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Twenty Saint John's University football student-athletes were named to the 2026 National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame Hampshire Honor Society on Wednesday, April 8.

A record-total of 2,596 student-athletes from 365 schools (FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA) qualified for membership in the society's 20th year.

To qualify, student-athletes must be either a starter or a significant substitute in their last year of eligibility, achieve a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average and meet all NCAA-mandated progress towards degree requirements.

Saint John's ranks second all-time (among all divisions) and leads all of Division III with 228 all-time Hampshire Honor Society honorees.

SJU is also one of 23 college football programs, one of just three from the Division III ranks (Johns Hopkins and Redlands are the others), that have had at least one honoree in all 20 years of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society.

Those honored (listed alphabetically) in 2026 include:

-Senior wide receiver Faaris Amegankpoe (Maple Grove, Minn.), a global business leadership major;
-Senior wide receiver Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.), an exercise and health science major;
-Senior offensive lineman Ian DeGross (Elko, Minn./New Prague), a biology major;
-Senior defensive lineman Riley DeRosier (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd), an accounting major;
-Senior quarterback Zander Dittbenner (Mankato, Minn./West), an elementary education major;
-Senior defensive lineman Cole Engen (Esko, Minn.), a psychology major (pre-medicine emphasis);
-Senior tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka), an exercise and health science and global business leadership double-major;
-Senior defensive back John Hawkins (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral), a communication major;
-Senior linebacker Zachariah Hunter (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area), a global business leadership major;
-Senior linebacker Jayden Leach (Bayport, Minn./Stillwater Area), an accounting major;
-Senior offensive lineman Alex Markgraf (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville), an accounting major;
-Senior linebacker Isaac Potter (Waseca, Minn.), a global business leadership major;
-Senior offensive lineman Eddie Reece (Hudson, Wis./Hill-Murray), a global business leadership major;
-Senior defensive back Charlie Ryks (Maple Grove, Minn./Breck), an accounting major;
-Senior linebacker Adam Schavey (Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area), a global business leadership major;
-Senior defensive back Blake Simonson (Waconia, Minn.), a global Business leadership major;
-Senior offensive lineman Joe Vascellaro (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Thomas Academy), a global business leadership major;
-Senior defensive back Evan Wahlin (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral), an accounting major;
-Senior running back Caden Wheeler (Andover, Minn.), an accounting major;
-Senior wide receiver Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View), an accounting major.

Two 2025 inductees – senior defensive linemen Zach Frank (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) and Tommy Gilmore (Otsego, Minn./Rogers) – played for SJU this past fall thanks to an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA for a medical hardship.