2025 Wartburg Knights football team
| 2025 Wartburg Knights football | |
|---|---|
A-R-C Champion | |
NCAA Division III Second Round, L 24–28 vs Wheaton (IL) | |
| Conference | American Rivers Conference |
| Ranking | |
| AFCA | No. 5 |
| D3Football.com | No. 5 |
| Record | 10–1 (8–0 ARC) |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive coordinator | Matt Wheeler (15th season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Matt Tschetter (5th season) |
| Home stadium | Walston-Hoover Stadium |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Wartburg $^ | 8 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 24 Coe ^ | 7 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central (IA) | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simpson (IA) | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dubuque | 4 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loras | 3 | – | 5 | 3 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buena Vista | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nebraska Wesleyan | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Luther | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2025 Wartburg Knights football team represents Wartburg College as a member of the American Rivers Conference (ARC) during the 2025 NCAA Division III football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Chris Winter, the Knights play home games at Walston-Hoover Stadium in Waverly, Iowa.[1][2]
The Knights won their 20th conference championship and 3rd straight in 2024.[3] On October 11th in their homecoming game against the University of Dubuque, the Knights won their 30th conference game in a row, which passed the old mark of 29 set by Central College in 1987.[4]
Schedule
Wartburg's 2025 regular season schedule consists of five home, with five on the road.[5]
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 6 | 7:00 p.m. | Monmouth (IL)* | No. 9 | W 21–7 | 3,728 | |
| September 13 | 1:00 p.m. | at Wisconsin–Stout* | No. 10 |
| W 16–0 | 2,252 |
| September 20 | 1:00 p.m. | at Simpson | No. 10 |
| W 27–13 | 1,689 |
| September 27 | 1:00 p.m. | Coe | No. 7 |
| W 17–7 | 3,800 |
| October 4 | 1:00 p.m. | at Luther | No. 8 |
| W 36–3 | 1,650 |
| October 11 | 1:30 p.m. | Dubuque | No. 8 |
| W 33–7 | 3,400 |
| October 18 | 1:00 p.m. | at Loras | No. 8 |
| W 40–20 | 1,200 |
| October 25 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 14 Central (IA) | No. 7 |
| W 28–13 | 6,100 |
| November 1 | 1:00 p.m. | at Nebraska Wesleyan | No. 7 |
| W 34–10 | 375 |
| November 15 | 1:00 p.m. | Buena Vista | No. 6 |
| W 63–20 | 5,200 |
| November 29 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 19 Wheaton (IL) | No. 5 |
| L 24–28 | 3,812 |
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Rankings
| Week | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Final |
| D3football.com | 9 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | |
| AFCA | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | |
Awards and honors
| Player | Award |
|---|---|
| Keenan Tyler | ARC Defensive Player of the Year AFCA 1st team All-American |
| Sam Heither | ARC Rookie of the Year |
| Coach | Award |
| Chris Winter | ARC Coach of the year |
| Reference:[6][7] | |
| Player | Position | Team | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Walker | DL | 1 | JR |
| Conner McDonald | DL | 1 | JR |
| Keenan Tyler | LB | 1 | SR |
| Mac Watts | LB | 1 | SR |
| Conner Grover | DB | 1 | SR |
| Dawson Rud | RB | 1 | JR |
| Sam Heither | TE | 1 | FR |
| Cole Hotz | OL | 1 | SR |
| Jaxson Hoppes | K | 1 | SR |
| Dylan Swanstrom | RS | 1 | JR |
| Jack Drahos | DL | 2 | SR |
| Jason O'Boye | DB | 2 | JR |
| Leo Dodd | QB | 2 | SR |
| Cole Mahnke | OL | 2 | JR |
| Braden Plotz | OL | 2 | SO |
| Dylan Swanstrom | WR | 2 | JR |
| Austin Souhrada | LS | HM | FR |
| Matt Dufoe | TE | HM | SR |
| Tyler Gayer | LB | HM | JR |
| Drew Streb | OL | HM | SO |
| HM = Honorable mention. Reference:[8] | |||
References
- ^ Svenson, KatieJo. "2025 Wartburg Football Schedule Announced". go-knights.net. Wartburg Athletics. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ "Wartburg Facilities". go-knights.net. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ Nelson, Jim (November 17, 2024). "College football: No. 11 Wartburg secures third consecutive ARC championship". Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ Woodley, Mark (October 11, 2025). "Wartburg football tops Dubuque for American Rivers record streak". KWWL. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
- ^ "2025 Football Schedule". Wartburg College Athletics Athletics. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ Bornemeier, Carter. "Tyler, Heither, Winter Headline Knights' 23 All-A-R-C Selections". go-knights.net. Wartburg Athletics. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ^ "Curry's Montie Quinn and Adrian's Ethan Burrows Headline the 2025 AFCA Division III Coaches' All-America Teams". afca.com. AFCA. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
- ^ Wilson, Ali. "A-R-C Announces Football Postseason Honors". rollerivers.com. American Rivers Conference. Retrieved November 21, 2025.