Football

UW-River Falls' Blaha Receives 2025 Gagliardi Trophy, Presented by Stearns Bank

**Release courtesy of UW-River Falls Sports Information

Official Gagliardi Trophy Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn.--University of Wisconsin-River Falls senior quarterback Kaleb Blaha is the recipient of the 2025 and 32nd Annual Gagliardi Trophy, presented by Stearns Bank, winning Division III's most prestigious award, the Saint John's University J-Club announced on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.

The Gagliardi Trophy, given annually since 1993, is awarded to the most outstanding NCAA Division III football player and recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service. The award is named after John Gagliardi, Saint John's legendary Hall of Fame head football coach who passed away at the age of 91 in 2018. John retired in 2012 with 489 career victories, the most in college football history. 

Other finalists for this year's award included Jack Curtis of Carleton College (Minn.), Bay Harvey of Johns Hopkins University (Md.), Montie Quinn of Curry College (Mass.), and Albert Rundell of Bethel University (Minn.). Blaha becomes the 19th quarterback to win the Gagliardi Trophy in the 33-year history of the award. Blaha is the third winner from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), joining UW-Whitewater's Justin Beaver (2007) and UW-Oshkosh's Brett Kasper (2017).

Of the 42 voters, nearly 70 percent had Blaha as their top pick. The Gagliardi Trophy national-selection committee is comprised of 18 Division III coaches (three from each NCAA Region), six Division III administrators (one from each region), 12 regional notable voters (two from each region) and six national voters which included a "fan" vote which ran until December 15th.  No Saint John's J-Club members vote as part of the national-selection committee.

Heading into the 2025 NCAA Division III National Championship Stagg Bowl as the nation's leader with 5,770 yards of total offense, Kaleb Blaha recently set an NCAA Division III single-season record after amassing 550 yards in the NCAA semifinal win over Johns Hopkins University on Dec. 20, including a UW-River Falls single-game passing record of 520 yards. He also tops the country with 4,680 passing yards and 336 points responsible for, while ranking among the national leaders with 27.7 completions per game, 40 passing touchdowns, and 334.3 rushing yards per game.

Selected as a 2025 First Team All-American by D3football.com, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Associated Press (AP), and the Walter Camp Foundation, and honored as both the AP Offensive Player of the Year and WIAC Offensive Player of the Year, Blaha has rewritten the UW-River Falls record books. He set single-season records in pass completions, passing yards, passing touchdowns, and total offense, while also becoming the program's all-time leader in career scoring and passing yards. In addition, he broke WIAC single-season records for pass completions and total offense, solidifying his status as one of the most prolific players in Division III history.

Off the field, Blaha is a two-time WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll member and has maintained a 3.337 cumulative GPA, majoring in health and physical education. During his career as a Falcon student-athlete, he has volunteered his time in the River Falls community for events such as 'Youth Day With Falcons', 'Change Drive for Food Pantry', UW-River Falls' 'Trick or Treat for Canned Goods' Project, BRIDGE efforts with handicap populations, along with Breast Cancer, Military Appreciation, and Coach to Cure MD initiatives.

Blaha and the 2025 Falcons have been the most successful team in program history, highlighted by winning the WIAC Championship, a program-record 13 wins, and securing a trip to the national championship for the first time in program history. UW-River Falls is set to face defending national champion North Central College (Ill.) in the Stagg Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. (ET) in Canton, Ohio.
 
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