NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALIST RELEASE
MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg University linebacker
Justin Tverberg (SR, Farmington, Minn./Hastings HS) has been named this week as a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's 2023 William V. Campbell Trophy, college football's premier scholar-athlete award.
A four-year starting linebacker for the Auggies, Tverberg is an exercise science major and physlcal education minor with a 3.81 grade-point average. He is planning to pursue postgraduate studies in strength and conditioning coaching. A two-time Academic All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honoree, he earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors in 2022, and was an inductee into Augsburg's Chi Alpha Sigma Student-Athlete National Honor Society chapter.
Through the first three games of the 2023 season, Tverberg stands second on the team with 14 tackles (10 solo) with a quarterback hurry. Tverberg had a career year as a linebacker in 2022, leading the Auggies with 81 tackles (46 solo), with 3.0 tackles for-loss, 1.0 sacks, an interception and a blocked kick. He had eight or more tackles in seven of his 10 games in 2022. In 24 career games as an Auggie, he now has 157 total tackles (74 solo), with 7.0 tackles for-loss (16 yards), 3.0 sacks (10 yards), three quarterback hurries, one interception and a blocked kick.
Tverberg has served as a volunteer strength and conditioning intern at Augsburg for the past three years. He also served as an athletic performance intern at the University of Minnesota in 2022, and as a strength and conditioning intern for football at the University of Georgia in the summer of 2023. He has also worked as an adapted fitness trainer at Minnetonka (Minn.) High School, and as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Club Tonka junior volleyball club in Minnetonka. He serves as student secretary for Augsburg's Exercise Science Club, and is also a member of the Augsburg Family Scholars, a program in its second year at Augsburg that provides assistance to students who have previously been in the foster care system.
A record 201 student-athletes nationally were named as semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy, in its 34th year of recognizing an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. Tverberg is one of 48 nominees from NCAA Division III institutions (four from MIAC schools), and one of 63 total nominees with GPAs of 3.80 or better.
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 25, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2023 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 5, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 34th Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
(NOTE: This story includes information taken from the NFF Campbell Trophy 2023 semifinalist release.)
