Geoff Belz was one of the top defensive players in Fighting Scot
history, and not just for the football team, which most associate
him with. He also was a standout lacrosse player for The College of
Wooster, despite never playing the sport previously.
Belz came to campus from traditional Cleveland football power St.
Edward High School, where he had been named the outstanding
defensive lineman as a senior, and made the Scots’ coaching
staff take notice as a special teams player and second-string
inside linebacker, gaining credit for 46 tackles in those roles
during his freshman season.
One person that especially took notice was Jon Hind,
Wooster’s first-year assistant football (offensive line) and
head lacrosse coach. Hind talked Belz into coming out for a sport
that the latter knew little-to-nothing about, and his
aggressiveness, athleticism, discipline, and work ethic quickly
translated into being a key defender.
Belz earned starting roles in both football and lacrosse as a
sophomore. He was the leading tackler for the gridders, the first
of three consecutive years he held that distinction, with 108 stops
that fall and received his first all-North Coast Athletic
Conference award (honorable mention). In the spring, Belz also
picked up a postseason honor, taking a spot on the All-Midwest
Lacrosse Association Team (honorable mention).
A knee injury during the first football game of his junior season
slowed down Belz temporarily, but after missing three games, he
came back and proceeded to dominate the defensive side of the ball
for the Scots. He racked up a career-high 66 solos and 113 total
tackles while playing in what amounted to just six and one-half
games en route to being voted first-team all-NCAC and the
team’s Most Valuable Player. Pretty impressive numbers and
honors for a guy who wasn’t blessed with the size of a
prototypical linebacker.
“He stretches to get 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds,” said
then-Wooster coach Bob Tucker in a 1989 interview of Belz, who
nearly earned the equivalent awards in lacrosse that year as he was
the team’s defensive MVP, second-team all-NCAC, and
second-team all-Midwest. “He’s a (Chris) Spielman in
that body. He has tremendous instinct in finding the football,
getting there and tackling the guy. God gave him the type of
instinct he gave to Dick Butkus. He just didn’t give him
Butkus’ size.”
As a senior, Belz stayed healthy and continued to be the leading
force for the Scots’ defense, highlighted by closing his
career with a 20-tackle game during a 28-19 upset win over Ohio
Wesleyan Univ. That increased his season total to 122 tackles, 50
more than the second-best on the team, as he received honorable
mention on the Pizza Hut All-America Team, voted on by the College
Sports Information Directors of America, as well as first-team
all-NCAC and team MVP accolades.
In all, Belz racked up 389 tackles from 1986-89, which was the
most in school history at the time and currently No. 3. Another of
his records – 11.4 tackles per game – remains intact
today.
Maybe even more impressive, Belz also wrapped up his lacrosse
career in style as he was selected to the All-NCAC First Team after
anchoring Wooster’s backfield again.
“Geoff is truly a great lacrosse player,” Hind
commented after his career came to an end. “It’s
amazing how much he improved in four years, going from a person who
never played the game to one of the best defensive players in the
nation.”
Belz, who earned his bachelor’s degree in urban studies, is
a vice president of sales and marketing for GOJO Industries. He is
married to a fellow 1990 alum in Heather Keeney and they have three
children – Lauren (14), Jacob (11), and Brendan (5). Belz
even remains involved with lacrosse, as well as football and
baseball, coaching youth teams in Strongsville, Ohio.
