All-Americans Lead 78 Husker Graduates

Lincoln – A total of 78 Husker student-athletes will earn degrees this weekend during the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s commencement ceremonies, with graduate commencement occurring on Friday at 4 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena, before undergraduate commencement is scheduled to be held at Memorial Stadium on Saturday with ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. If inclement weather becomes a factor for the outdoor ceremonies on Saturday, Sunday has been set aside as an alternate date for the undergraduate ceremonies.

Former Nebraska Hall of Fame football coach, athletic director and U.S. Congressman Tom Osborne will deliver the keynote address to the undergraduates at Memorial Stadium.

A live video stream of the commencement will be available at commencement.unl.edu/live-commencement-stream.

The large collection of Husker graduates across all sports is filled with 13 All-Americans who combined for 36 All-America awards during their illustrious competitive careers.

Headlining the list of graduates are a pair of former Husker football players who went on to NFL careers, including two-time All-American Lavonte David, who is a starting linebacker for the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. David, who earned his degree in criminology and criminal justice, was the 2011 Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year. A first-team All-Big Ten choice in 2011 and a first-team All-Big 12 pick in 2010, David was also the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. He totaled 285 tackles in his two seasons at Nebraska before going on to his active nine-year NFL career with Tampa Bay. A member of the 2012 NFL All-Rookie team, David was a first-team All-Pro in 2013 before earning a Pro Bowl selection in 2015. He has started 137 NFL games and owns 1,125 tackles since being chosen in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Buccaneers.    

Former Big Red running back Correll Buckhalter also earned his degree as a sociology major. Buckhalter rushed for 2,522 yards while playing in 46 games for the Huskers from 1997 through 2000. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and displayed his dedication and determination through his decade-long pro career from 2001 to 2010. He played in 103 NFL games and totaled 4,354 yards from scrimmage, including nearly 3,000 yards rushing in his seven active NFL seasons. He spent five years on the field with the Eagles and his final two years with the Denver Broncos in 2009 and 2010.

David and Buckhalter represent the Nebraska football program along with current Husker starting quarterback Adrian Martinez. Other football graduates include Ben Stille (master’s degree in nutrition and health sciences), Austin Allen, David Alston, Bradley Bunner, Ty Chaffin, Ryker Fyfe, Trent Hixson, Ben Lingenfelter, Lane McCallum, Kurt Rafdal, Matt Sichterman and Kade Warner. 

The most decorated of the former Husker student-athletes returning to earn a degree is seven-time NCAA All-American AJ Lamb from the women’s gymnastics program. A three-time Big 12 Conference vault champion from 2001 to 2003, Lamb was also a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection after graduating from Lincoln Northeast High School. She also helped the Huskers to four consecutive NCAA Super Six appearances during her career. She earned her degree in business administration.

Among current Huskers, six-time diving All-American Abigail Knapton leads the newest class of graduates. Knapton, an Omaha Marian High School graduate, is the most decorated diver in Nebraska history, claiming six first-team All-America awards, including four on the platform. She is the only Nebraska diver or swimmer in history to capture four first-team All-America certificates in the same event. Knapton was named the 2021 Big Ten Diver of the Meet after becoming Nebraska’s first Big Ten diving champion on both the platform and one-meter events. An NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship award winner in 2021, Knapton is a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.

Madison Coughlen, a 2020 CSCAA All-American in the 200 butterfly, joins Knapton among the seven members of Coach Pablo Morales‘ program to earn degrees, including Gabrielle Baratta, Sutton Marvin, Isabelle Murray, Mira Rhodes and Grace Tiernon.

Raquel Orozco, Nebraska’s 2020 Female Athlete of the Year, adds another nationally recognized performer to the group of graduates. The 2020 NTCA Bowler of the Year, Orozco was a three-time first-team All-American for the Huskers. She is joined in NU’s graduating class by 2019 NTCA All-America Leah Glazer.

Coach Chuck Chmelka‘s men’s gymnastics program adds a pair of All-Americans and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholar to Nebraska’s graduating class. Jake Bonnay (Floor, 2019) and Griffin Kehler (Floor, 2018) earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Evan Hymanson brought more national recognition with his 2021 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. The trio also has helped lead the Huskers to three consecutive top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships.

Eric Schultz (2020) and Taylor Venz (2018) added a pair of All-America honors for Coach Mark Manning‘s Husker wrestling program, which also included graduates Tucker Sjomeling and Christian Lance.

Coach Gary Pepin‘s track and field program contributed two All-Americans among its 16 graduates in the class, including 1,500-meter All-American and Big Ten men’s cross country champion George Kusche and outdoor high jump All-American Petra Luteran.

Coach Lisa Johnson‘s women’s golf program added a Big Ten champion of its own with graduate Kate Smith, who was joined by Noor Ahmed and Hannah Thiele in the class. Smith will lead the Huskers at the 2021 NCAA Columbus Regional, May 10-12.

Coach Will Bolt‘s Nebraska baseball program offered a strong group of 10 graduates, led by Joe Acker, Mojo Hagge, Jaxon Hallmark, and Luke Roskam, along with Mike Addante, Logan Foster, Max Schreiber, Kennet Sorenson, Paul Tillotson and Matt Waldron.

The Nebraska softball program contributes six graduates, led by Tristen Edwards, Olivia Ferrell, Sam Owen, Ally Riley, Rylie Unzicker and Sarah Yocom, while the Husker volleyball team (Jazz Sweet, Hayley Densberger) and soccer team (Grace Brown, Hannah Davis) both added a pair of graduates. The Nebraska men’s basketball program added a trio of graduates with Thor Thorbjarnarson, Derrick Walker and Walter Pitchford, while the Husker women’s basketball team contributed Nicea Eliely and Taylor Kissinger to the class.

Nebraska men’s golfer Daniel Pearson, who was the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President in 2020-21, rounded out the strong collection of Husker graduates.

The May graduates came from near and far to call Nebraska home during their careers. The group came to Lincoln from 23 states, including 19 native Nebraskans, while five more Huskers came to Nebraska from foreign countries (Canada, Hungary, Iceland, Mexico, South Africa).

Nebraska continues to feature one of the highest graduation rates in the country, while leading the nation in the number of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans (340) and NCAA Top 10 Award winners (18) across all sports.

May 2021 Nebraska Student-Athlete Graduates (78)

Joe Acker, Baseball (Waukesha, Wisconsin) – Finance

Mike Addante, Baseball (Angonquin, Illinois) – Management

Noor Ahmed, Women’s Golf (Folsom, California) – History

Austin Allen, Football (Aurora, Nebraska) – Mechanized Systems Management

David Alston, Football (Saint Paul, Minnesota) – Advertising & Public Relations

Gabrielle Baratta, Swimming & Diving (Old Tappan, New Jersey) – English

Jake Bonnay, Men’s Gymnastics (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) – Business Administration

Emma Bresser, Track & Field/Cross Country (Lansing, Kansas) – Forensic Science

Grace Brown, Soccer (Iowa City, Iowa) – Child, Youth & Family Studies

Correll Buckhalter, Football (Mt. Olive, Mississippi) – Sociology

Bradley Bunner, Football (Clarkson, Nebraska) – Finance

Ty Chaffin, Football (Burwell, Nebraska) – Mathematics Education

Madison Coughlen, Swimming & Diving (Frisco, Texas) – Finance

Lance Christian, Wrestling (Nixa, Missouri) – Sociology

Lavonte David, Football (Miami, Florida) – Criminology & Criminal Justice

Hannah Davis. Soccer (Lincoln, Nebraska) – Child, Youth & Family Studies

Hayley Densberger, Volleyball (Malcolm, Nebraska) – Psychology

Tristen Edwards, Softball (Murrieta, California) – Management

Nicea Eliely, Women’s Basketball (Colorado Springs, Colorado) – Business Administration

Olivia Ferrell, Softball (Omaha, Nebraska) – Psychology

Logan Foster, Baseball (Lincoln, Nebraska) – Child, Youth & Family Studies

Erika Freyhof, Track & Field/Cross Country (Hamilton, Michigan) – Nutrition & Health Sciences

Ryker Fyfe, Football (Grand Island, Nebraska) – Sociology

Eric Garner, Track & Field (Lititz, Pennsylvania) – Finance

Leah Glazer, Bowling (Henderson, Nevada) – Marketing

Mojo Hagge, Baseball (Omaha, Nebraska) – Civil Engineering

Jaxon Hallmark, Baseball (Midland, Texas) – Sports Media & Communication

Trent Hixson, Football (Omaha, Nebraska) – Accounting

Isaiah Hutchinson, Track & Field (Raytown, Missouri) – Child, Youth & Family Studies

Evan Hymanson, Men’s Gymnastics (Marlboro, New Jersey) – Mechanical Engineering

Andy Jacobs, Track & Field (Rochester, Minnesota) – Broadcasting/Journalism/Psychology

Chelsey Jones, Track & Field (Mandeville, Louisiana) – Sports Media & Communication

Griffin Kehler, Men’s Gymnastics (Frisco, Texas) – Marketing

Taylor Kissinger, Women’s Basketball (Minden, Nebraska) – Mathematics

Abigail Knapton, Swimming & Diving (Omaha, Nebraska) – Psychology

George Kusche, Track & Field/Cross Country (Malelane, South Africa) – Actuarial Science

AJ Lamb, Women’s Gymnastics (Lincoln, Nebraska) – Business Administration

Ben Lingenfelter, Football (Cherokee, Iowa) – Mechanical Engineering

Noah Lukz, Track & Field (Long Grove, Illinois) – Management

Petra Luteran, Track & Field (Szarliget, Hungary) – Accounting/Finance

Adrian Martinez, Football (Fresno, California) – Management

Ryan Martins, Track & Field/Cross Country (Green Brook, New Jersey) – English

Sutton Marvin, Swimming & Diving (Austin, Texas) – Sociology

Isabelle Murray, Swimming & Diving (North Bend, Ohio) – Fisheries & Wildlife/Environmental Studies

Lane McCallum, Football (Norfolk, Nebraska) – Finance

Brandon Nelson, Track & Field (Oswego, Illinois) – Economics/Finance

Raquel Orozco, Bowling (Tijuana, Mexico) – Marketing

Sam Owen, Softball (Manteca, California) – Child, Youth & Family Studies

Daniel Pearson, Men’s Golf (Longmont, Colorado) – Finance

Walter Pitchford, Men’s Basketball (Grand Rapids, Michigan) – Ethnic Studies

Zach Podraza, Track & Field (San Diego, California) – Management

Kurt Rafdal, Football (Carmel, Indiana) – Management

Mira Rhodes, Swimming & Diving (Oakwood, Ohio) – Political Science

Ally Riley, Softball (Alva, Oklahoma) – Psychology

Luke Roskam, Baseball (Chaska, Minnesota) – Criminology & Criminal Justice

Luke Russell, Track & Field (Shoreview, Minnesota) – Business Analytics (Master’s)

Madi Scholl, Track & Field (Prior Lake, Minnesota) – Nutrition & Health Sciences

Max Schreiber, Baseball (Cardington, Ohio) – Finance

Eric Schultz, Wrestling (Tinley Park, Illinois) – Management

Matt Sichterman, Football (Cincinnati, Ohio) – Software Engineering

Tucker Sjomeling, Wrestling (Delano, Minnesota) – Actuarial Science

Kate Smith, Women’s Golf (Detroit Lakes, Minnesota) – Graphic Design

Kennet Sorenson, Baseball (Stone Mountain, Georgia) – Psychology

Ben Stille, Football (Ashland, Nebraska) – Nutrition & Health Sciences (Master’s)

Jazz Sweet, Volleyball (Topeka, Kansas) – Management

Ally Talpash, Track & Field (Temecula, California) – Criminology & Criminal Justice

Hannah Thiele, Women’s Golf (Wahoo, Nebraska) – Child, Youth & Family Studies

Thor Thorbjarnarson, Men’s Basketball (Reykjavik, Iceland) – Psychology

Grace Tiernon, Swimming & Diving (Fishers, Indiana) – Mathematics

Paul Tillotson, Baseball (Monument, Colorado) – Mechanical Engineering

Rylie Unzicker, Softball (Omaha, Nebraska) – Psychology

Taylor Venz, Wrestling (Farmington, Minnesota) – Psychology

Megan Verceles Carr, Women’s Gymnastics (Monte Sereno, California) – Advertising & Public Relations

Matt Waldron, Baseball (Omaha, Nebraska) – Psychology

Derrick Walker, Men’s Basketball (Kansas City, Missouri) – Child, Youth & Family Studies

Kade Warner, Football (Scottsdale, Arizona) – Fisheries & Wildlife

Madison Yerigan, Track & Field (Seattle, Washington) – Nutrition & Health Sciences

Sarah Yocom, Softball (Cozad, Nebraska) – Communication Sciences & Disorders