A half dozen College of Wooster football players earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors, as announced by the league office on Thursday morning. Senior tight end Cole Hissong, senior punter Matt Pardi, and senior offensive lineman Colton Rambur were second-team selections, while senior placekicker Lake Barrett, first-year defensive end Q Renteria, and senior defensive back Matt Ulishney earned third-team laurels.
With his selection, Hissong is the second tight end in program history to be a three-time all-conference honoree, and Wooster now has 40 players who have earned at least three All-NCAC certificates. The 2021 All-American led Wooster with 52 receptions and was second on the team in yards (593) and touchdowns (3) this fall. He graduates as the program's all-time leader in receptions (145), receiving yards (2,020), and touchdowns (18) by a tight end, with the stats ranking third, fifth, and sixth all-time in program history overall, respectively. Hissong caught the game-winning touchdown with :11 remaining in Wooster's stunning 44-43 win over Wittenberg University on October 29, a game in which the Fighting Scots overcame a 33-7 deficit to knock off their rivals.
Pardi, a two-time all-conference performer, broke the NCAC and Wooster career records for punting average at 41.1 yards this fall. His 43.5 2022 per-punt average broke the program's 74-year-old single-season record, and it is currently ranked third in NCAA Div. III for the 2022 season. Pardi had 40 punts on the year, had a long of 62, and placed 12 inside the opposition's 20-yard line. He opened the year with five straight games averaging at least 42.0 yards per boot, including punting six times for a 48.0 average against NCAC champion DePauw University on September 24.
Rambur, a first-time all-conference selection, anchored the left guard position on Wooster's offensive line. The three-year starter helped Wooster average 365.7 yards of total offense per game this fall, with that marking the Scots' sixth straight season over 360 yards per game. Wooster surpassed 500 yards of total offense three times this fall and the opposition had zero or one sack in four contests.
Barrett, Wooster's other three-time All-NCAC honoree, was a perfect 39-for-39 on extra-point kicks this season to become the first placekicker in program history to go two entire seasons without a miss. Barrett upped his consecutive extra-points made streak to 91 against Oberlin College, where he went a perfect 8-for-8 in Wooster's 56-13 win on November 12. Barrett's season-long 33-yard field goal came during Wooster's furious 44-43 come-from-behind thriller against Wittenberg in late October. He is the second placekicker in program history to earn three All-NCAC certificates.
Renteria quickly established himself as Wooster's biggest playmaker on the edge of the defensive front. The first-year ranked sixth on the team with 43 tackles, and led the way with nine tackles for loss, five sacks, and three forced fumbles. Renteria forced fumbles in Wooster's first two games of the season and against Wittenberg, where he also had an 18-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the Scots' come-from-behind victory. Renteria's season-high of 13 tackles came against Denison University, and he caused havoc against Ohio Wesleyan University with 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and 32 negative yards.
Ulishney led the NCAC with 103 tackles. He entered the week eighth nationally with 6.7 solo tackles per game and 22nd nationally with 10.3 tackles per Saturday. The senior, who was Wooster's first player over 100 tackles since 2014, made at least a dozen stops in six games, including against NCAC champion DePauw. He had a career-high 15 tackles against Wabash College, 13 of which were solo stops. The senior tied for the team lead with two interceptions, the second of which came in the season finale.
Wooster went 6-4 this fall and posted a 4-4 ledger in NCAC play. The Scots' fifth-place NCAC finish marked the program's highest since 2018.