The record

Division III History

National champions and major awards for Division III, computed live from this product's own historical reference library.

FBS FCS Division II Division III

level

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2025	Wisconsin-River Falls	North Central (IL)	24-14
2024	North Central (IL)	Mount Union	41-25
2023	Cortland	North Central (IL)	38-37
2022	North Central (IL)	Mount Union	28-21
2021	Mary Hardin-Baylor	North Central (IL)	57-24
2020	Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic	—	—
2019	North Central (IL)	Wisconsin-Whitewater	41-14
2018	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Mount Union	24-16
2017	Mount Union	Mary Hardin-Baylor	12-0
2016	No champion declared; title vacated by the NCAA	—	—
2015	Mount Union	St. Thomas (MN)	49-35
2014	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Mount Union	43-34
2013	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Mount Union	52-14
2012	Mount Union	St. Thomas (MN)	28-10
2011	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Mount Union	13-10
2010	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Mount Union	31-21
2009	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Mount Union	38-28
2008	Mount Union	Wisconsin-Whitewater	31-26
2007	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Mount Union	31-21
2006	Mount Union	Wisconsin-Whitewater	35-16
2005	Mount Union	Wisconsin-Whitewater	35-28
2004	Linfield	Mary Hardin-Baylor	28-21
2003	Saint John's (MN)	Mount Union	24-6
2002	Mount Union	Trinity (TX)	48-7
2001	Mount Union	Bridgewater	30-27
2000	Mount Union	Saint John's (MN)	10-7
1999	Pacific Lutheran	Rowan	42-13
1998	Mount Union	Rowan	44-24
1997	Mount Union	Lycoming	61-12
1996	Mount Union	Rowan	56-24
1995	Wisconsin-La Crosse	Rowan	36-7
1994	Albion	Washington & Jefferson	38-15
1993	Mount Union	Rowan	34-24
1992	Wisconsin-La Crosse	Washington & Jefferson	16-12
1991	Ithaca	Dayton	34-20
1990	Allegheny	Lycoming	21-14 (OT)
1989	Dayton	Union (NY)	17-7
1988	Ithaca	Central (IA)	39-24
1987	Wagner	Dayton	19-3
1986	Augustana (IL)	Salisbury State	31-3
1985	Augustana (IL)	Ithaca	20-7
1984	Augustana (IL)	Central (IA)	21-12
1983	Augustana (IL)	Union (NY)	21-17
1982	West Georgia	Augustana (IL)	14-0
1981	Widener	Dayton	17-10
1980	Dayton	Ithaca	63-0
1979	Ithaca	Wittenberg	14-10
1978	Baldwin-Wallace	Wittenberg	24-10
1977	Widener	Wabash	39-36
1976	Saint John's (MN)	Towson State	31-28
1975	Wittenberg	Ithaca	28-0
1974	Central (IA)	Ithaca	10-8
1973	Wittenberg	Juniata	41-0

2016 title vacated by the NCAA (no champion declared). 2020 championship canceled due to COVID-19.

DIVISION III MAJOR AWARDS

AWARD

Year	Award	Player	School
2025	John Gagliardi Trophy	Kaleb Blaha	UW-River Falls
2025	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Caleb Bayer	Trinity (TX)
2024	John Gagliardi Trophy	Luke Lehnen	North Central (IL)
2024	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Matt Wrather	John Carroll
2023	John Gagliardi Trophy	Luke Lehnen	North Central (IL)
2023	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Jarod Thornton	North Central (IL)
2022	John Gagliardi Trophy	Ethan Greenfield	North Central (IL)
2022	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Dalton Simpson	Susquehanna
2021	John Gagliardi Trophy	Blaine Hawkins	Central (IA)
2021	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Mike Olsen	Wis.-Oshkosh
2020	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Mike Olsen	Wis.-Oshkosh
2019	John Gagliardi Trophy	Broc Rutter	North Central (IL)
2019	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Zach Smith	Hope
2018	John Gagliardi Trophy	Jackson Erdmann	Saint John’s (MN)
2018	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Nate Trewyn	Wis.-Whitewater
2017	John Gagliardi Trophy	Brett Kasper	Wis.-Oshkosh
2017	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Vic Rodriguez	Hardin-Simmons
2016	John Gagliardi Trophy	Carter Hanson	Saint John’s (MN)
2016	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Mitch Doraty	Mount Union
2015	John Gagliardi Trophy	Joe Callahan	Wesley
2015	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Mitch Doraty	Mount Union
2014	John Gagliardi Trophy	Kevin Burke	Mount Union
2014	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Spencer Clark	Wheaton (IL)
2013	John Gagliardi Trophy	Kevin Burke	Mount Union
2013	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Ben Cranston	Johns Hopkins
2012	John Gagliardi Trophy	Scottie Williams	Elmhurst
2012	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Curtis James	St. Thomas (MN)
2011	John Gagliardi Trophy	Michael Zweifel	Dubuque
2011	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Brett Ekkens	Mount Union
2011	Cliff Melberger Award	Greg Cordivari	Catholic
2010	John Gagliardi Trophy	Eric Watt	Trine
2010	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Josh Ostrue	St. Thomas (MN)
2010	Cliff Melberger Award	Ben McLaughlin	Louisiana Col.
2009	John Gagliardi Trophy	Blaine Westemeyer	Augustana (IL)
2009	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Dillon Hollin	Wittenberg
2009	Cliff Melberger Award	Alex Tanney	Monmouth (IL)
2008	John Gagliardi Trophy	Greg Micheli	Mount Union
2008	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Josh Ostrue	St. Thomas (MN)
2008	Cliff Melberger Award	Nate Kmic	Mount Union
2007	John Gagliardi Trophy	Justin Beaver	Wis.-Whitewater
2007	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Brent Allen	Wis.-Whitewater
2007	Cliff Melberger Award	Jason Boltus	Hartwick
2006	John Gagliardi Trophy	Josh Brehm	Alma
2006	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Josh Knox	Hardin-Simmons
2006	Cliff Melberger Award	Chris Sharpe	Springfield
2005	John Gagliardi Trophy	Brett Elliott	Linfield
2005	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Damien Ciecwisz	Delaware Valley
2005	Cliff Melberger Award	Brett Elliott	Linfield
2004	John Gagliardi Trophy	Rocky Myers	Wesley
2004	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Matthew Bush	Mary Hardin-Baylor
2004	Cliff Melberger Award	Brett Trichilo	Wilkes
2003	John Gagliardi Trophy	Blake Elliott	Saint John’s (MN)
2003	Dave Rimington Award (Ncaa Iii)	Tom Doyle	Capital
2003	Cliff Melberger Award	Brett Trichilo	Wilkes
2002	John Gagliardi Trophy	Dan Pugh	Mount Union
2002	Cliff Melberger Award	Dan Pincelli	Hartwick
2001	John Gagliardi Trophy	Chuck Moore	Mount Union
2001	Cliff Melberger Award	Chuck Moore	Mount Union
2000	John Gagliardi Trophy	Chad Johnson	Pacific Lutheran
2000	Cliff Melberger Award	R.J. Bowers	Grove City
1999	John Gagliardi Trophy	Danny Ragsdale	Redlands
1999	Cliff Melberger Award	Scott Pingel	Westminster (MO)
1998	John Gagliardi Trophy	Scott Hvistendahl	Augsburg
1998	Cliff Melberger Award	Mike Burton	Trinity (TX)
1997	John Gagliardi Trophy	Bill Borchert	Mount Union
1997	Cliff Melberger Award	Bill Borchert	Mount Union
1996	John Gagliardi Trophy	Lon Erickson	Ill. Wesleyan
1996	Cliff Melberger Award	Bill Borchert	Mount Union
1995	John Gagliardi Trophy	Chris Palmer	Saint John’s (MN)
1995	Cliff Melberger Award	Craig Kusick	Wis.-La Crosse
1994	John Gagliardi Trophy	Carey Bender	Coe
1994	Cliff Melberger Award	Carey Bender	Coe
1993	John Gagliardi Trophy	Jim Ballard	Mount Union
1993	Cliff Melberger Award	Jim Ballard	Mount Union