ST. LOUIS – A trio of Illinois State football student-athletes are among a list of 38 student-athletes named to the 2025 All-Missouri Valley Football Conference Scholar-Athlete Team, as announced by the league office on Friday. Linebacker Mason Kaplan, quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse and offensive lineman Ben Wallace were each named selections in the annual vote by the league's sports information directors.
Kaplan earned MVFC All-Academic First-Team honors, after he started all 12 games during the regular season at linebacker for the Redbirds. The Peachtree Corners, Georgia, native holds a 4.0 cumulative GPA in graduate school while studying psychology of sport and physical activity. He ranked fourth on the team with 62 total tackles, including 22 solo stops, and was credited with two pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, a sack and 3.5 TFLs on the season. Kaplan posted a career-high 11 tackles against Youngstown State and had seven games with five or more tackles. Last week in the first-round playoff win at Southeastern Louisiana, Kaplan recorded a pair of interceptions for the Redbirds.
A 2025 All-MVFC Honorable Mention Team selection, Rittenhouse earned MVFC All-Academic Second Team honors for the second year in a row. The senior from Geneva, Illinois, graduated with a 3.68 cumulative GPA in entrepreneur small business management and is in his first semester in the Master's program. The two-year team captain started all 12 games during the regular season, completing 64.8 percent of his passes (219-for-338) for 2,345 yards with 28 touchdown passes. Rittenhouse ranked first in the MVFC with the 28 touchdown passes and was fourth in the FCS in that category heading into the final week of the season. He led the team with six rushing touchdowns as well, with at least one in each of the last five games of the regular season.
Rounding out the MVFC All-Academic honorees for the Redbirds is Wallace, who took home Honorable Mention honors. The Germantown Hills, Illinois, product holds a 3.91 cumulative GPA in physical education/teacher education and saw action in all 12 games for the Redbirds, with five starts at right tackle to end the year. Wallace was a key member of the offensive line unit that helped the Redbirds rush for 164.5 yards per game on the ground and score 32.7 points per game, which ranked in the top 30 in the FCS. Named the MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week (Nov.3), he was a crucial part of the protection team that helped the Redbirds rank in the top 15 in the country in fewest sacks allowed.
Nominees for the All-MVFC Scholar-Athlete Team must be starters or important reserves, must have participated in at least 66 percent of his team's games and carry a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale). Additionally, nominees must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his institution and must have completed at least one calendar year at his institution. True freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible athletic transfers are not eligible.
Nominees in graduate school must have a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or better both as an undergrad and in graduate school. Graduate students who are competing at a different institution than the one from which they earned their undergraduate degree are eligible even if they are in their first semester at the graduate institution.Â
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
Â
