MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) announced its 2025 Football postseason awards on Thursday, Nov. 20, with 14 student-athletes from UW-River Falls represented along with Kaleb Blaha selected as the Offensive Player of the Year, Gage Timm the Defensive Player of the Year, Taylor Sussner the Newcomer of the Year, and Matt Walker the Coach of the Year.

In addition, seven Falcons were named to the First Team (DJ Fox, Kaleb Blaha, Blake Rohrer, Kody Curtis, Gage Timm, Andre Hall, and Justin Scheberl), three on the Second Team (Hunter McKinney, Kevin Spahn, Connor McKenzie), and four Honorable Mentions (Trevor Asher, Austin Rush, Ben Wesolowski, Taylor Sussner) for a total of 14 All-WIAC selections - matching the most in program history. In addition, Carter Quam was selected to the All-Sportsmanship Team.

For the second time in his career, Matt Walker was named the WIAC Coach of the Year after leading the Falcons to the program's first WIAC outright title since 1985 and first NCAA playoff appearance since 1996. UWRF finished the regular season matching a program record for wins with a 9-1 overall record and 6-1 WIAC ledger. The Falcons were ranked as high as No. 3 in NCAA Division III, the highest national ranking in program history by a media outlet, earned a trio of wins over nationally ranked opponents, five wins over 2025 national postseason teams, an undefeated 5-0 record at home for the second consecutive season, and for the first time since 1988 defeating UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse in the same season.

Kaleb Blaha, now a three-time All-WIAC honoree, becomes the first Falcon to be named the WIAC Offensive Player of the Year in UWRF history (WIAC began differentiating offensive/defensive/special teams players of the year in 2014). Before that, former Falcon quarterback Adam Kowles was named the WIAC Player of the Year in 1995. Blaha led the WIAC in 2025 with 415.6 yards of total offense per game, 28.7 completions per game, 3,281 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, and 875 rushing yards, and was a four-time WIAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Blaha repeatedly rewrote the record book in 2025. He broke his own single-game program record with 569 yards of total offense in a 59-47 win over Coe on Sept. 13; surpassed the UWRF all-time career passing record during the Oct. 4 matchup at No. 15 UW-Oshkosh, climbing to 9,314 career yards, seventh all-time in WIAC history; toppled the school's all-time scoring record with his 52nd career touchdown in a 52-14 win over No. 8 UW-Whitewater, eventually reaching 55 career rushing touchdowns, fourth in WIAC history; and set a new UWRF single-season passing record with 3,281 yards in the regular season.

Gage Timm is the second Falcon in program history to receive WIAC Defensive Player of the Year honors, following Nick Jacobsen in 2017. Timm started in all 10 games and led the WIAC with 13 solo tackles for loss, also ranking second in the league with five sacks and fifth in the league with 77 total tackles. 

Taylor Sussner becomes the first Falcon in UWRF history to be named the WIAC Newcomer of the Year. After missing the entire 2024 season due to injury, he returned to the field this fall and started in all 10 games with 44 tackles, seven tackles for loss, five pass breakups, three fumble recoveries, and tied for the WIAC-lead with four interceptions. He returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns and scored another on a blocked punt return.

First Team – Offense 
DJ Fox, Junior, Offensive Line, Union Grove, Wis. (Union Grove)
Kaleb Blaha, Senior, Quarterback, Coon Rapids, Minn. (Fridley)
Blake Rohrer, Junior, Wide Receiver, Woodbury, Minn. (Woodbury)
 
First Team – Defense 
Kody Curtis, Sophomore, Defensive Line, Buffalo, Minn. (Buffalo)
Gage Timm, Senior, Linebacker, Shawano, Wis. (Shawano)
Andre Hall, Junior, Defensive Back, Cambridge, Minn. (Cambridge-Isanti)

First Team – Special Teams
Justin Scheberl, Senior, Placekicker, Fond du Lac, Wis. (Fond du Lac)
 
Second Team – Offense 
Hunter McKinney, Senior, Offensive Line, Pipestone, Minn. (Pipestone)
Kevin Spahn, Senior, Center, Middleton, Wis. (Middleton)
 
Second Team – Defense 
Connor McKenzie, Senior, Defensive Line, Sheboygan, Wis. (Sheboygan South)
 
Honorable Mention – Offense 
Trevor Asher, Sophomore, Running Back, Elmwood, Wis. (Elmwood-Plum City)
Austin Rush, Junior, Wide Receiver, Yuma, Ariz. (Yuma Catholic)
Ben Wesolowski, Junior, Wide Receiver, Wittenberg, Wis. (Wittenberg-Birnamwood)
 
Honorable Mention – Defense 
Taylor Sussner, Freshman, Defensive Back, Chaska, Minn. (Chaska)

All-Sportsmanship Team
Carter Quam, Senior, Defensive Line, Zumbrota, Minn. (Kenyon-Wanamingo)

During the 2025 regular season, UWRF led the WIAC in scoring (46.4 points per game), total offense (583.3 yards per game), rushing offense (227.8 yards per game), passing offense (355.5 yards per game), first downs (315), 3rd down conversion percentage (51.3%), defensive touchdowns (3), blocked kicks (5), fumbles recovered (8), and turnovers gained (26). Defensively during league play, the Falcons were the WIAC leaders in total defense (281.1 yards against per game), rushing defense (58.9 yards against per game), and scoring defense (15.7 points against per game).