The American Football Coaches Association and d3football.com pollsters’ opinions on the Wartburg Knights prove one thing: they think the black and orange are the team to beat in the American Rivers Conference (ARC) yet again.
Head Coach Christ Winter’s team appeared in both preseason polls, holding the ninth spot as they are the clear-cut favorites to capture a fourth straight conference title.
The Waverly institution comes into 2025 fresh off a 10-2 season overall with an undefeated record in ARC league play. The Knights have cleaned house amongst their conference foes in recent years as they head into this season with 26 consecutive triumphs, their longest string of wins in conference history.
Who can we expect to see under center for the Knights? Exit Carter Markham, enter Leo Dodd. Dodd, who grew up just south of Waverly in Janesville, saw extensive action in 2024, completing 48 of his 73 pass attempts for 604 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions. The senior also rushed for 178 yards and two scores a year ago.
Joining Dodd in the backfield is First Team All-ARC tailback Dawson Rud. Rud ran for over 1000 yards last season and found the end zone nine times. Opposing ARC defenses can expect a heavy dosage of Dodd and Rud barreling downhill at them in 2025.
Jagger Schmitt is set to lead the Wartburg receiving corps this season after hauling in 26 passes for a total of 422 yards and three touchdowns last year. Look for Dylan Swanstrom to have an expanded role in 2025 as he hopes to build off a 320 yard and one touchdown season.
Defensively, Decorah native Keenan Tyler is back again and will be a problem to scheme against. The Viking alum is coming off a First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-Region year where he registered over 100 tackles, a pair of sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
Tyler, a senior, isn’t the only stud linebacker in Waverly, as he will be flanked by Linn- Mar graduate and fellow senior Mac Watts. Watts also tallied 100 tackles and two picks in 2024. This veteran duo and junior Adam Link will set the tone for defensive coordinator Matt Tschetter’s unit.
Jake Walker has been making plays in the city of Waverly for years and aims to continue that trend. The former Waverly-Shell Rock Go-Hawk was Honorable Mention All-ARC last season thanks to 42 tackles, 6.5 of them for a loss. Walker will also be joined by the Knights’ sack leader from 2024, Conner McDonald. McDonald dragged down the quarterback four times last year and matched Walker for the team lead in
tackles for a loss.
From a special teams standpoint, Wartburg will have some continuity at long snapper and punter. Austin Souhrada, a W-SR graduate like Walker, is back after an Honorable Mention All-ARC nomination last year and he’ll be snapping to Jaxson Hoppes, another Honorable Mention. Hoppes, who is a Waterloo West grad, has handled punting duties for the Knights since 2023 and can kick extra points and field goals as well. With the graduation of Cael O’Neill, will Hoppes take the reins full-time as kicker or will one of the three sophomores listed, Jackson Othmer, Andrew Tollefson, or Keegan Weber, claim the starting role?
Wartburg has 189 players on their JV and Varsity Roster in 2025. 141 of these players are former IA HS Players
Looking ahead at Wartburg’s non-conference schedule, they will be tested early.
They will host the Monmouth College Fighting Scots from the Midwest Conference on Saturday, September 6 at Walston-Hoover Stadium before traveling to Menomonie, Wisconsin the following Saturday for a battle against UW-Stout. Monmouth finished with a record of 8-3 in 2024, with one of the three losses coming against the Knights in the season opener, final score of 38-24. UW-Stout is receiving votes for both major Division III polls and the Blue Devils will be hungry to take down a ranked foe in week two.
While Wartburg is the favorite to repeat as ARC Conference champions, don’t expect rivals Coe and Central to let the Knights waltz to a fourth straight title. Wartburg’s games against those two will both be at Walston-Hoover Stadium, making things even tougher for the Kohawks and Dutch.
At SGI if we had to set a floor for the Knights it would be at 8 Wins (although we think that would be very unlikely). The ceiling is 10-0 and a likely NCAA DIII first round bye (DIII is now 48 teams in the playoffs versus the 36 in 2023) and a home game in round two at Waverly. That would set them up for a big playoff run and maybe that elusive breakthrough to the championship game.
Do the Kohawks, Dutch, or any other schools have the horses to keep up with Wartburg? Will the Knights march through the regular season with a perfect record into the NCAA Division III playoffs?
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