Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers football

College football team
Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers football
First season1895; 131 years ago (1895)
Head coachLuke Venne
4th season, 7–33 (.175)
StadiumGoerke Field
(capacity: 4,500)
Year built1932
LocationStevens Point, Wisconsin
NCAA divisionDivision III
ConferenceWIAC
All-time record516–456–43 (.530)
Playoff record4–6–1 (.409)
Unclaimed national championships
NAIA Div. II: 1 (1987)
National finalist
NAIA Div. II: 1 (1987)
College Football Playoff appearances
NCAA Div. III: 4 (1986, 1999, 2001, 2008)
NAIA Div. II: 2 (1987, 1989)
NAIA Div. I: 1 (1977)
Conference championships
WIAC: 14 (1928, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1946, 1949, 1955, 1961, 1977, 1986, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2008)
Consensus All-Americans5
ColorsPurple and gold[1]
   
Websiteathletics.uwsp.edu/football

The Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin–Stevens Point competes at the NCAA Division III level and is a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).

Head coaching history

Wisconsin–Stevens Point has had 35 head coaches in their history.[2]

Coach Seasons Term Wins Losses Ties Win % Nat. titles Conf. titles Playoff App.
Unknown 1 1894 0 1 0 .000 0 N/A N/A
Joseph Raycroft 2 1895–1896 6 2 0 .750 0 N/A N/A
Joseph Marshall Flint 1 1897 2 1 0 .667 0 N/A N/A
V.E. McCaskill 1 1898 3 2 0 .600 0 N/A N/A
Walter E. Garrey 1 1899 4 1 0 .800 0 N/A N/A
Harvey Schofield 2 1900, 1903 2 3 1 .417 0 N/A N/A
Professor Spindler 1 1901 2 2 0 .500 0 N/A N/A
James Christiansen 1 1902 1 2 0 .333 0 N/A N/A
Arnie Lerum 1 1904 1 2 0 .333 0 N/A N/A
Dr. Smiley 1 1905 0 2 1 .167 0 N/A N/A
Clarence Mortell 1 1906 5 1 1 .786 0 N/A N/A
W.F. Lusk 4 1907–1910 9 8 3 .525 0 N/A N/A
Leonard Schneller 2 1912–1913 0 9 1 .050 0 0 N/A
George Corneal 3 1914–1916 14 7 0 .667 0 0 N/A
Raymond W. Fairchild & Charles F. Watson 2 1917–1918 3 4 1 .438 0 0 N/A
S.A. Tenison 1 1919 2 3 1 .417 0 0 N/A
Joe Swetland 6 1920–1925 13 24 4 .366 0 0 N/A
Walter Hunting 1 1926 1 3 1 .300 0 0 N/A
Carl Eggebrecht 2 1927–1928 7 3 2 .667 0 1 N/A
Mr. Stockdale 2 1929–1930 1 12 1 .107 0 0 N/A
Eddie Kotal 11 1931–1941 37 36 9 .506 0 3 N/A
George Berg 4^ 1942–1947 8 13 1 .386 0 1 N/A
Hale Quandt 4 1948–1951 13 12 7 .516 0 1 N/A
John Roberts 5 1952–1956 29 10 1 .738 0 1 0
Duaine Counsell 11 1957–1965, 1967–1968 56 33 4 .624 0 1 0
Bill Burns 1 1966 6 2 0 .750 0 0 0
Pat O'Halloran 3 1969–1971 3 26 1 .117 0 0 0
Monte Charles 4 1972–1975 13 27 0 .325 0 0 0
Ron Steiner 5 1976–1980 28 22 1 .559 0 1 1
D. J. LeRoy 7 1981–1987 34 44 1 .437 1* 2* 2*
John Miech 24 1988–2011 156 83 2 .651 0 4 4
Tom Journell 6 2012–2017 29 31 0 .483 0 0 0
Greg Breitbach 3^ 2018–2021 9 21 0 .300 0 0 0
Luke Venne 4 2022–present 7 33 0 .175 0 0 0

^ No team was fielded in 1911. Additionally, no teams were fielded in 1943 and 1944 due to World War II, or in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* All wins, ties, and championships from the Pointers 1987 season were later vacated due to using two ineligible players. The conference title was retroactively awarded to Wisconsin–River Falls and Wisconsin–Whitewater as co–champions and Pacific Lutheran was retroactively awarded the national title outright.

Championships

National championship

Wisconsin–Stevens Point won the NAIA Division II football national championship in 1987. The title was split with Pacific Lutheran after the two teams played to a 17–17 tie. The Pointers later vacated their share of the title for use of two ineligible players.

Year Coach Division Opponent Result Record
1987* D. J. LeRoy NAIA Division II Pacific Lutheran T 16–16 0–15*

Conference championships

Wisconsin–Stevens Point has won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championship 14 times.[3]

Year Coach Overall record WIAC record
1928† Carl Eggebrecht 5–0–1 3–0–1
1933† Eddie Kotal 7–0–1 4–0–1
1934† 7–1 5–0
1936† 3–3–1 2–1–1
1946† George Berg 3–2–1 3–1–1
1949† Hale Quandt 6–1–1 5–1
1955 John Roberts 8–0 6–0
1961 Duaine Counsell 8–1 7–1
1977 Ron Steiner 8–2–1 7–0–1
1986† D. J. LeRoy 8–4 7–1
1987* 0–15* 0–8*
1998† John Miech 7–2 5–2
1999† 9–2 6–1
2001† 8–3 5–2
2008† 9–2 6–1

† Co-champions

* The Pointers had a conference record of 7–1 and an overall record of 12–2–1 at the end of the 1987 season, all wins and ties were later vacated due to using two ineligible players. The conference title was retroactively awarded to Wisconsin–River Falls and Wisconsin–Whitewater as co–champions and Pacific Lutheran was retroactively awarded the national title outright[4][5]

Postseason

NCAA Division III playoffs

Wisconsin–Stevens Point has participated in the NCAA Division III playoffs four times and has a 1–4 record.

Year Round Opponent Result Record
1986 First Round Concordia–Moorhead L 15–24 8–4
1999 First Round Saint John's (MN) L 10–23 9–2
2001 First Round Bethel (MN) W 37–27 8–3
Second Round Saint John's (MN) L 7–9
2008 First Round Wartburg L 21–26 9–2

NAIA Division I playoffs

Wisconsin–Stevens Point participated in the NAIA Division I playoffs once in 1977, losing in the semifinals.

Year Round Opponent Result Record
1977 Semifinals Abilene Christian (TX) L 7–35 8–2–1

NAIA Division II playoffs

Wisconsin–Stevens Point has participated in the NAIA Division II playoffs twice, and was named co-champion in 1987 with Pacific Lutheran after playing to a 16–16 tie in the championship game. Later the Pointers forfeited their 12 wins and their share of the title after it was found they had used two ineligible players.[6]

Year Round Opponent Result Record
1987 First Round Westmar W 50–24 0–15*
Quarterfinals Saint Ambrose W 30–14
Semifinals Geneva W 48–25
Championship Pacific Lutheran T 16–16
1989 First Round Wisconsin–La Crosse L 20–30 8–2–1

*The Pointers had a record of 12–2–1 at the end of the 1987 season, the 0–15 record reflects 13 forfeits due to playing two ineligible players.

Ranked teams

Starting in 1999 the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) began publishing rankings for Division III football.[7] In 2003, D3football.com started publishing its own rankings for Division III football.[8] Since the inception of both polls, Wisconsin–Stevens Point has been ranked at least four times in the AFCA Coaches Poll and two times in the D3football.com poll to end the season. Additionally, while not being ranked in the Top 25 to end the season, the Pointers have received votes (RV) in both polls two additional years.

Year D3 AFCA Record
1999 N/A 19 9–2
2001 N/A 13 8–3
2002 N/A RV 6–4
2003 18 23 8–2
2008 14 16 9–2
2009 RV RV 7–3
2010 RV Unknown 7–3

Border Battle

From 1984 to 2000 the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, home to the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Golden Gophers, hosted games in November between WIAC teams and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) teams at the NCAA Division II level in what came to be known as the "Border Battle".[9] The Pointers played at the Metrodome three times, and had a 3–0 record.[10]

Date Opponent Result
November 14, 1998 Southwest Minnesota State W 28–16
November 20, 1999 Bemidji State W 35–23
November 11, 2000 Winona State W 30–25

Facilities

In 1995 the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League chose the university to host its inaugural preseason training camp.[11][12] Five other NFL teams used campuses across Wisconsin and Minnesota for training camp, in what was known as the Cheese League.

Notable former players

NFL draftees

Year Round Pick Overall Player Team Position
1966 16 14 244 Bob Schultz Green Bay Packers DE
1988 12 3 308 Aatron Kenney Indianapolis Colts WR
1990 9 22 242 Kirk Baumgartner Green Bay Packers QB
1991 10 8 258 Pete Lucas Atlanta Falcons T
1992 10 27 279 Barry Rose Buffalo Bills WR
1999 6 8 177 Clint Kriewaldt Detroit Lions LB
2017 1 32 32 Ryan Ramczyk New Orleans Saints OT
2022 2 25 57 Luke Goedeke Tampa Bay Buccaneers OT

Other notable former players

References

  1. ^ "Communication Standards Manual" (PDF). Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  2. ^ "2025 Football Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Athletics. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  3. ^ "Football Team Champs (PDF) - Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference" (PDF). wiacsports.com. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  4. ^ "The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, which forfeited its share... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  5. ^ "Article clipped from The News Tribune". The News Tribune. May 10, 1988. p. 27. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  6. ^ "The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point announced Monday it was... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  7. ^ "Polls". AFCA. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  8. ^ "D3football.com Top 25 history". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ "Breaking the five-way tie". November 11, 1999. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "Football Year By Year Results (PDF) - Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference" (PDF). wiacsports.com. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
  11. ^ editor1 (January 28, 2018). "Shoe Column: When the Jacksonville Jaguars came to Point". Point/Plover Metro Wire. Retrieved January 4, 2025. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Jacksonville Jaguars Training Camp Locations". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  • Official website
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