5/24-Nittany Nation Report- Blue Mt. Grad Matt Stankiewitch Named to Rimington Trophy Watch List
By: Phil Schoener
Updated: May 24, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., May 24, 2012 -- Penn State's Matt Stankiewitch (Orwigsburg) has been named to the Watch List for the Rimington Trophy, presented to the nation's top center.
A fifth-year senior this fall, Stankiewitch is among the initial list of 50 candidates. Penn State All-American A.Q. Shipley won the 2008 Rimington Trophy.
A starter in every game last season, Stankiewitch will anchor the offensive line and is the unit's only returning starter. He was instrumental in helping Penn State lead the Big Ten in fewest sacks allowed last season (14 in 13 games). Stankiewitch played a vital role in helping open running lanes for tailback Silas Redd (1,241 yards), giving Penn State a 1,000-yard rusher for the seventh consecutive season. The former Blue Mountain High School standout led the Nittany Lions in snaps played last year with 966, led by an astounding 97 plays in the win at Indiana.
Stankiewitch earned Dean's List and Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2011 and is one of the squad's premier students. He entered the spring semester with a 3.41 cumulative grade point average and is a potential Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America candidate. Stankiewitch is on schedule to graduate in December with degrees in management and advertising/public relations.
The Rimington Trophy is named after former Nebraska center Dave Rimington and is presented by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Since its 2000 inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised more than $2 million for the award's benefactor, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, in Nebraska. The Boomer Esiason Foundation has raised more than $100 million for Cystic Fibrosis research.
