BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College senior tight end/fullback Sal Pagano has been named to the 2019 Academic All-America® Division III Football Second Team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
To be eligible for Academic All-America® honors, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.30 grade-point average, be a sophomore, junior or senior and be a starter or significant reserve. Pagano made the national ballot after earning his first Academic All-District IV honor in November, and District IV is NCAA Division III schools from Pennsylvania. Pagano is only Centennial Conference student-athlete to earn Academic All-America honors his year.
Pagano received Moravian's 53rd Academic All-American® selected by CoSIDA honor, and he is the fifth football player to earn Academic All-America® accolades with the program accounting for a total of seven Academic All-Americans.
Pagano is majoring in health sciences at Moravian, and he has a perfect 4.0 GPA. He served as a team captain for the Greyhounds this season for a second consecutive fall, and Pagano had a pair receptions this year to give him five career catches for 36 yards. He missed a combined 14 games over is first two seasons with injuries and was sidelined again this fall by another injury on November 2 versus Franklin & Marshall College, missing the last two contests of the year.
"This is a tremendous honor for Sal, and a great way to cap an outstanding career with our program," commented Moravian College Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "On the field despite battling injuries his entire career, Sal has been a major contributor and respected by his teammates as evidenced by being voted as a two-time captain. Off of the turf, Sal has continued to show his leadership in the classroom and the way he gives his time back to the community. As coaches, we talk about having high character, over achieving in both the classroom and football field, and having success when you leave Moravian. Sal has conquered the first two goals and his future successes are right in front of him."
Off the field, Pagano is the three-time member of the Centennial Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll, and he was selected one of 185 semifinalists across college football for the 2019 William V. Campbell Trophy Presented by Mazada.
Pagano also works with the 5 Star Heart project – weekly visits to local middle schools to engage with mentees, monthly mentor session involving a workout and discussion of program material, assist with clean up and remodel of Bethlehem Boys & Girls Club, coaches youths at various one-day camps. He has participated in Read Across America, in the Greyhounds' Be the Match Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive, Moravian's Heritage Day of Community Service, spending time at Traditions of Hanover (retirement facility) for events such as bingo, spring fling and board game night, helping to tutor teammates and working at the Bethlehem Boys & Girls Club and a foreign exchange student football clinic.
To view all of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® teams, visit https://academicallamerica.com/news/2019/12/11/2019-academic-all-america-ncaa-division-iii-football-team-announced.aspx.
