D3football.com Preseason All-America Team
The College of Wooster's Lake Barrett, Cole Hissong, and Matt Pardi were among the D3football.com Preseason All-Americans, which were announced by the popular website dedicated to covering NCAA Div. III football on Monday morning.
Hissong, a first-team tight end, is appearing on D3football.com's Preseason All-America team for the third consecutive season. The local native earned second-team All-America honors from D3football.com and the Associated Press following the 2021 season and earned a second first-team All-NCAC honor. The three-time 2021 D3football.com Team of the Week tight end broke the program record for career receiving touchdowns by a tight end and heads into this season with 15. Hissong ranked second in the NCAC with nine touchdowns and third with 53 receptions and was tops among tight ends league-wide in receptions, yards (760), and touchdowns in 2021.
Pardi, the second-team punter, earned second-team D3football.com All-Region and second-team All-NCAC honors as a junior. He enjoyed one of the top punting seasons in program history with 42.9 yards per boot en route to becoming the first Scot over 40 yards per punt on at least 20 attempts since 2010. Pardi's 42.9 yards per punt were higher than the single-season school record that has stood since 1948, and would have been tops nationally for the 2021 season within Div. III, except for he did not reach the minimum number of attempts for both categories due to the offense's high level of success. Pardi averaged a school-record 55.5 yards over four punts in a win at Wabash College and was instrumental in the closing seconds with a 55-yard boot to Wabash's 20-yard line in the final 30 seconds.
Barrett, the third-team placekicker, was voted a first-team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American® last fall, a season in which he earned second-team D3football.com all-region and second-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors. The Fred Mitchell Award nominee became the first placekicker in program history to make over 40 extra-point tries in a season without a miss. He finished 47-for-47 en route to setting the program's single-season record for makes. On field goals, Barrett went 8-for-10 with a long of 42 yards, and his 71 points on the year are the second-most among placekickers in program history. Barrett is heading into the 2022 season tops in program history in career extra-point percentage (98.6; 73-for-74) and first in career field-goal percentage (79.2; 19-for-24).
Wooster opens its season at Geneva College on Saturday, September 3. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.