University of Minnesota Duluth junior wide receiver Jason Balts and senior defensive end Nick Thorpe became the seventh and eighth Bulldogs to ever attain CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American football honors today when they both landed a spot on the 26-member first team.

Balts, a native of Barron, Wis., maintains a 3.99 cumulative grade point average as a physical education major.  He closed out the 2017 season ranking second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in pass receiving yards (83.6 yards per game) and was fourth in all-purpose yards (117.3 ypg). Balts, who last month was bestowed with the 2017 NSIC Elite 18 Award for football (presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating on an NSIC championship team), also set career highs for both pass receptions (57) and pass reception yards (1,003). Thorpe, who like Balts was a 2017 All-NSIC first team selection,  had a hand in 20 total tackles while working out of the defensive end position. The Cold Spring, Minn., product is majoring in mechanical engineering at UMD and has compiled a 3.72 GPA.

Balts and Thorpe join offensive guard/center Andrew Pattock (first team in 2013), free safety Cameron Harper (second team in 2012), placekicker David Nadeau (second team in 2011), running back Issac Odim (first team in 2010 and 2009), center Tobias Lemke (first team in 2009) and cornerback Brandon Wood (second team in 2009) in the circle of Bulldog football CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-Americans.

2017 CoSIDA Academic All-American Football Teams (NCAA II)