Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

Northwestern and Minnesota-Morris atop 2011 UMAC Men's Basketball award lists

2/24/2011 12:00:12 PM

ST. PAUL -- Northwestern College and the University of Minnesota, Morris, who claimed the top two spots in the final Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men’s basketball standings, each boasted three players on the all-conference first and second teams. Five other schools had two all-conference recipients on the list of postseason awards that were announced at halftime of Wednesday evening’s UMAC Tournament semifinal games.

Northwestern’s Brian Lecheler headlined the UMAC All-Conference First Team that included Bethany Lutheran College’s Derek Peterson, the College of St. Scholastica’s Brett Tester, Martin Luther College’s Greg Holzhueter and Presentation College’s Channing Coffey. Holzhueter, a senior, was selected to the five-member first team for the second consecutive year.

Lecheler, who has contributed to the Eagles’ success in each of the last four years, averaged 12.2 points, 5.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds per conference game while making 60 percent of his attempts in 14 league contests. He was also the UMAC’s assist-to-turnover ratio leader, boasting a mark of plus-3.2.

Martin Luther’s Galen Holzhueter earned UMAC Freshman of the Year honors after averaging 14.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in conference affairs. Holzhueter made 48 percent of his attempts from the field. Following Northwestern’s 13-1 conference record, which included 12 consecutive victories, Eagles head coach Tim Grosz was named the UMAC Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

In addition to the all-conference awards, the UMAC also showcased its best defensive players on the all-defensive team. Bethany Lutheran College’s Derek Peterson, Greg Holzhueter, Northland College’s Zeb Woiak, Northwestern’s Nate Thompson and Minnesota-Morris’ Dan Fragodt were all recognized as all-defensive team members. Peterson has been named one of the league’s top five defenders in each of his two seasons in a Vikings uniform.

A full listing of the 2010-11 UMAC postseason awards is below.

1st Team All-Conference
Name	Institution	Year	Position
Derek Peterson	Bethany Lutheran College	Sophomore	Guard
Brett Tester	College of St. Scholastica	Sophomore	Forward
Greg Holzhueter	Martin Luther College	Senior	Guard
* Brian Lecheler	Northwestern College	Senior	Guard
Channing Coffey	Presentation College	Senior	Forward

 

2nd Team All-Conference
Name	Institution	Year	Position
Danny Schmitz	College of St. Scholastica	Senior	Guard
Tom Gisler	Northwestern College	Sophomore	Forward
Wade Chitwood	Northwestern College	Sophomore	Guard
Dan Fragodt	University of Minnesota-Morris	Senior	Guard
Derek Schmidt	University of Minnesota-Morris	Junior	Forward

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Name	Institution	Year	Position
Gavin Kroehler	Bethany Lutheran College	Sophomore	Forward
Taylor Jones	Crown College	Sophomore	Forward
David Glover	Crown College	Sophomore	Forward
Nathan Bauer	Martin Luther College	Sophomore	Guard
Joey Brennan	Northland College	Senior	Guard
Josh Muellner	Presentation College	Junior	Forward
Eric Dalbey	University of Minnesota-Morris	Senior	Guard

All-Defensive Team
Name	Institution	Year	Position
Derek Peterson	Bethany Lutheran College	Sophomore	Guard
Greg Holzhueter	Martin Luther College	Senior	Guard
Zeb Woiak	Northland College	Senior	Forward
Nate Thompson	Northwestern College	Senior	Guard
Dan Fragodt	University of Minnesota-Morris	Senior	Guard