Wheeler Named To Buck Buchanan Award Watch List

RICHMOND, Va. – University of Richmond redshirt junior linebacker Tristan Wheeler (Bethlehem, Pa.) has been named one of the 35 players selected on the preseason Buck Buchanan Award Watch List, which Stats Perform presents to the national defensive player of the year in college football's Division I subdivision. Wheeler is one of four players from the Colonial Athletic Association honored on the watch list and the only CAA linebacker on the list.

Wheeler was a preseason All-America selection by Stats Perform earlier this week and a preseason All-CAA selection this year. He is a three-time All-CAA selection with two of those coming as First Team selections. He was named Second Team All-America by Stats Perform last fall and was a First Team Sophomore All-America honoree by HERO Sports. He led the team and the CAA in total tackles in the regular season with 114. He ranked eighth in the nation in total tackles and tackles per game (10.4). He enters the season with 256 total tackles in 27 career games.

Wheeler was a Buck Buchanan Award Watch List honoree last fall and has posted back-to-back full seasons with over 100 tackles. He was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award during the shortened spring season in 2021 after posting 38 tackles in four games. Wheeler was the CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year and a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award given to the nation's top freshman in 2019.

Earlier this week, the Spiders had two placed on the Walter Payton Award Watch List in Reece Udinski (North Wales, Pa.) and graduate wide receiver Jakob Herres (Easton, Pa.). The Spiders are the only team in the CAA with players on each list and one of 13 programs in the country with a representative on both the Buck Buchanan and Walter Payton Award Watch Lists.

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Jakob Herres

Reece Udinski

Tristan Wheeler

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