Manitowoc area grads receive postseason honors

Three Manitowoc County graduates, Andrew Schwoerer (Valders), Ben Stelzer (Roncalli) and John Ross (Manitowoc Lutheran), each received postseason recognition for their exploits at the collegiate level.

Schwoerer

Schwoerer, a senior forward for St. Norbert’s men’s team, was named honorable mention All-America prior to the NCAA Division III national championship game on Saturday by D3hoops.com.

He was also the 2015 Co-Midwest Conference Player of the Year. Schwoerer averaged 16.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, both team highs. Schwoerer finished with 1,439 career points to stand sixth on St. Norbert's career scoring list, and the most scored by a Green Knight since 1984.

Schwoerer's honor marks the second consecutive year St. Norbert has earned an All-America nod from D3hoops.com. Brandon Gries, a Kiel graduate, was an honorable mention selection in 2014.

Stelzer

Stelzer, a senior guard for Michigan Tech men’s team, added two more prestigious awards to his haul from the 2014-15 season. He was named Daktronics/Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-America Second Team and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-Region First Team.

Stelzer already has Daktronics Midwest Player of the Year, GLIAC Player of the Year and Capital One Academic All-America Second Team titles to his name. He finished the 2014-15 campaign averaging 22.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The 6-1 guard connected on 111 three pointers, hitting 46 percent of his tries from long range.

He ranked second in the nation in 3-point field goals made per game (3.96) and was also among the national leaders in scoring and 3-point percentage (45.7). Stelzer, with 618 points this season, totaled 1,755 career points—seventh most in Michigan Tech history. He also reset Tech's record for 3-pointers made (363).

As an NABC All-Region First Team selection, Stelzer will have the opportunity to gain NABC All-America status and join Ali Haidar, Josh Buettner and Matt Cameron as the only players to earn both Daktronics and NABC All-America accolades in the same season.

Ross

Ross, Calvin College women's basketball coach, was named the Division III Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The award was announced last weekend at the NCAA III Final Four banquet in Grand Rapids.

In addition, Ross has been named a finalist for the WBCA Division III National Coach of the Year award which will be announced on April 6 at the WBCA awards show at the site of the NCAA Women's Basketball Finals.

Ross led the Calvin women's basketball team to a school record 30-win campaign this season as the Knights finished 30-1 overall and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA III Tournament. Included in the season were MIAA regular season and MIAA Tournament titles.

Calvin finished the MIAA season with a 16-0 conference record and then defeated Olivet and Hope to win the four-team MIAA Tournament.

Under his guidance, the Calvin women's basketball team established a new school record for consecutive victories (30), breaking the previous record of 22 set by Calvin's 1995-96 team.

Earlier in the week, Ross was also named the D3hoops.com Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year.

Ross recently completed his 12th year at Calvin and has a career won-loss record of 279-61 for a winning percentage of .821.