These were combination athletic-academic honors for four Wildcats, the Academic All-District Team named by the College Sports Communicators.

Those honored were Austin Ridl, Michael Karlen, Trevor Leigh and Mitch Larkin.

Ridl is a junior undeclared major with a 3.97 cumulative grade-point average who is a Marquette Senior High School graduate. He played 10 games last season as quarterback and rushed for career highs of 106 yards vs. Minnesota State-Moorhead and 268 yards for the season.

He started in NMU’s first victory since 2022 in a road game at Roosevelt on Oct. 18, including a 67-yard rushing touchdown as part of a school-record 538-yard rushing day.

This illustration developed at Northern Michigan University shows the four Wildcats football players named to the Academic All-District Team by the College Sports Communicators. From left are Austin Ridl, Michael Karlen, Mitch Larkin and Trevor Leigh. (Photo illustration courtesy NMU)

Ridl was in his second season at Northern after transferring from Michigan Tech.

Karlen is a senior business major with a 3.97 GPA from Stanley, Wisconsin. Handling most of the Wildcats’ placekicking and punting duties last season, he was named GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week after the final game of the season against Wayne State after he made a 41-yard field goal and all six of his extra-point kicks in NMU’s 45-11 victory.

He started as kicker and punter in nine games and was third in the conference with a 71.4% field goal success rate.

Larkin is a senior business major with a 3.76 GPA from Palatine, Illinois. One of the Wildcats’ captains, he played in all 11 games and was named to the GLIAC Second Team as a linebacker. He recorded 6 1/2 tackles for loss, finishing with 85 total tackles, including double digits in four games.

He added four quarterback hits, two pass breakups and a blocked kick to his totals.

Northern Michigan University quarterback Austin Ridl, top, calls a play behind Wildcats lineman Will Graffin, partially obscured at left, during a game played against Minnesota State-Moorhead at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Aug. 28. Ridl is a Marquette Senior High School graduate. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Leigh is a senior secondary education major with a 3.74 GPA from Milford. He started all 11 games for NMU this fall on the offensive line and helped open holes for a rejuvenated rushing attack that finished as one of the most productive in NCAA Division II.

The Wildcats’ rushing game produced a school-record 3,123 yards, led by All-American Noah Dobert going for a school-record 1,656 yards.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the honors. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.