Gingery Named AFCA First Team All-American

2017 Mar 22

WACO, Texas-Wittenberg senior kicker Will Gingery of Etna, Ohio, was named a First Team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association on Monday after a record-setting year for the Tigers. The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. Beginning this year, the AFCA started selecting a first and second team. Gingery's selection represents his hard work on the field for Wittenberg this season, as players are chosen exclusively by coaches.

Gingery finished his senior season for the Tigers sending 23 of his 29 field goal attempts through the uprights, connecting on two 50-yard attempts for his season and career-long best. No Wittenberg player had ever made more than 14 field goals in a single season coming into 2016.

The Bexley, Ohio native is Wittenberg's first AFCA All-American selection since Eddie Vallery was named to the team back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010.

Gingery served primarily as Wittenberg's punter in the 2015 season, and while the same held true in 2016, head coach Joe Fincham also gave Gingery the nod to lead the Tigers' kicking efforts, despite early reservations about double-duty.

The decision paid off for the senior, and the team, as Gingery recorded three games with 15 points, another Wittenberg record, as well as tying the school record for most field goals made in a game (4) and attempted (5). Topping things off, Gingery now sits atop the Wittenberg football record book for single season kicking points at 110.

In the NCAC, Gingery was recognized as the Special Teams Player of the Year, earning first team designation as a kicker and punter, ending his career leading the conference record book for single season kicking points. Outside of the NCAC, Gingery's on-field accomplishments caught the eye of writers for d3football.com, as the kicker earned First Team All-North Region honors by the publication, as well as second team honors as a punter.

Gingery is the only player in the country who ranks among the national leaders in punting and field goals. This distinction landed Gingery an invite to the National Bowl, a Division II-III all-star game that was played on Dec. 4 in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Tigers' kicker did not disappoint, connecting on field goal attempts from 51 and 48 yards in the showcase game.

The senior is not done yet, as he will also play in the Division III Senior Classic on Dec. 17 in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and has also earned an invitation to the Dream Bowl at Virginia Tech, Jan. 12-16.

With all this in mind, Gingery now awaits one final accolade: The Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award. During the mid-1960s, Mitchell set the NCAA College Division record for career points scored by kicking while playing in the Ohio Athletic Conference for the legendary Bill Edwards at Wittenberg, who later was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Edwards had previously served as head coach of the Detroit Lions (1941-42) and as an assistant coach to Paul Brown with the Cleveland Browns. It was with the Browns that Edwards tutored Pro Football Hall of Fame kicker Lou Groza.

Mitchell, who was named to the Lutheran College All-America team in 1968, was inducted into Wittenberg's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. Following in Mitchell's footsteps, Gingery was named one of ten finalists out of 750 eligible kickers for the award that is presented annually to the nation's top place-kicker in FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA and NJCAA excellence on the football field and in the community.

The AFCA's Division III All-America Selection Committee is made up of three head coaches from each of the AFCA's eight districts, one of whom serves as a district chairman, along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the team is chosen.

Members of the AFCA Coaches' All-America first team will receive a plaque commemorating their selection to the team, while members of the second team will receive a certificate.