Newhouse, who finished his Wildcats career this past season as a defenseman and also alternate captain, earned the award from faculty athletic representatives at the league’s eight institutions. The award honors the CCHA player who performed consistently as a regular member of their hockey team and displayed outstanding sportsmanship, made satisfactory progress toward his degree, displayed leadership, was active in community service off the ice, and encompassed a positive culture for their institution and the league.

Another 196 student-athletes were named to the CCHA All-Academic Team earlier this summer, including 23 from NMU as listed at the end of this story.

Newhouse, 24, was a three-year varsity member of the NMU hockey team after transferring from Union College. He was the alternate captain his final two seasons, playing in all 5-on-5 and special teams situations and leading Northern players in ice time by averaging nearly 26 minutes per game.

Last season, he played in all 37 NMU games while amassing a career-high 27 points, tying him for third in CCHA scoring among defensemen. He also led NCAA Division I hockey in blocked shots and was named the Wildcats’ hockey MVP.

Ben Newhouse

“Ben is an exceptional student and has been a central part of our community from the moment he stepped on campus,” NMU Director of Athletics Forrest Karr said. “He is a fan favorite known for his competitiveness on the ice and for being thoughtful and good-natured off the ice.

“Ben has made it a priority to immerse himself in Upper Peninsula culture by choosing to spend summers in Marquette and connecting with community members on a personal level.”

Academically, Newhouse received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics with a concentration in actuarial science plus a minor in entrepreneurship at NMU, compiling a 3.96 grade-point average in his master’s program.

In the past fall and spring semesters, he took and passed Exam P and Exam FM, the first in the series of actuarial exams. In addition to passing these exams, he presented the Borsuk-Ulam Theorem in his topology course in the winter semester. He then presented the equation of geodesic deviation in his geometry class in the fall semester.

With the hockey Wildcats, he earned a spot on last season’s CCHA Scholar-Athlete Team and the CCHA All-Academic Team, while also being named an AHCA All-American Scholar. For the AHCA award, a student-athlete must have attained a 3.75 GPA each semester and appear in 40% of his team’s games.

Northern Michigan University defenseman Ben Newhouse watches a play in front of him during a Wildcats' game early in the 2021-22 season. (Photo courtesy NMU)

Newhouse is an active member of the Marquette Golf Club. Before COVID, he spent numerous hours at Lakeview Arena in Marquette helping out at multiple levels with Marquette Junior Hockey. He was also a lead instructor for the NMU Wildcat Summer Hockey Clinic.

He regularly volunteers for community- and campus-led events associated with athletics or NMU hockey, including attending and often speaking at Fourth Period gatherings at various businesses after Saturday games, the Cativities Halloween Bash — trick or treating with kids from the community — and volunteering at an aid station for the Marquette Marathon.

Newhouse has signed to play professional hockey in Italy for HC Pusteral of the ICEHL.

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23 Wildcats named

Seventeen NMU hockey players were named both a CCHA Scholar-Athlete and earned a berth on the CCHA All-Academic Team.

An additional half-dozen Wildcats earned All-Academic status.

Scholar-Athletes must have at least a 3.50 GPA for their most recently completed semester and overall GPA also of at least 3.50. Student-athletes in the first year of undergraduate residency at their present institution are not eligible, though graduate transfers may be based on their final overall undergraduate GPA.

All-Academic honorees need a 3.00 GPA for either the previous two semesters or overall.

Not surprisingly, Newhouse made both teams and was joined in these dual honors by the Wildcats’ Tyrell Boucher, Mack Byers, Mikey Colella, Trevor Cosgrove, Vincent de Mey, Rico DiMatteo, Tim Erkkila, Andre Ghantous, Bo Hanson, Jett Jungels, Nolan Kent, Connor Marritt, Michael Van Unen, Rylan Van Unen, Tanner Vescio and Brett Willits.

The additional six who earned All-Academic status were Alex Frye, Reilly Funk, Oscar Geschwind, Charlie Glockner, Garrett Klee and Joseph Nardi.

The release from the CCHA can be found online at https://ccha.com/news/2022/6/22/mens-ice-hockey-ccha-announces-academic-awards.aspx?utm_medium=sidearm-email&utm_source=nmuwildcats.com&utm_campaign=CCHA+Announces+All-Academic+Awards&utm_content=44e3335e-d493-464f-aac2-b15ffe9eef92.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.