Bowling Green State University Athletics
Photo by: Larry Clapper
Joey Akpunonu Named an Academic All-American!
December 07, 2022 | Men's Soccer
Junior center-back chosen to CSC Academic All-America® First Team
AUSTIN, Texas (BGSU Strategic Communications) – Bowling Green State University men's soccer standout Joey Akpunonu has earned a prestigious national honor. Akpunonu has been named to the 2022 Academic All-America® Team, selected by the College Sports Communicators.
Akpunonu, a junior, was named to the Academic All-America® First Team. He is the second Falcon to earn Academic All-America® accolades in as many years, as Michael Montemurri was named to the third team last season.
Akpunonu is one of just two Mid-American Conference players to be named to the Academic All-America® First Team in 2022.
Akpunonu, a native of Toledo, Ohio (St. John's Jesuit), started all 16 matches in 2022, and was named to the All-MAC First Team. He led the Falcons in goals, with six, and finished second on the club with 12 points. The defender also helped the Orange and Brown post seven shutouts in those 16 contests.
Akpunonu, the lone Falcon other than goalkeeper Brendan Graves to play all 1440 minutes this season, scored the first goal of the match in three of BGSU's four Mid-American Conference wins. He now has career totals of eight goals and 19 points in 48 matches played.
He helped the Falcons set a school record for fewest goals allowed in a season. BGSU surrendered just 10 goals in 2022, with two of those 10 coming via penalty kicks.
In the classroom, Akpunonu has a 4.000 cumulative grade-point average as a biology major.
Last month, he was named to the Academic All-District® First Team, in the process seeing his name placed on the CSC Academic All-America® ballot.
The Academic All-District® and All-America® Teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes soccer honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
For more information regarding the Academic All-America® program, visit https://academicallamerica.com/.
Akpunonu is the first Falcon to earn Academic All-America® first-team honors since 2016, when both Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan earned first-team accolades. Overall, Akpunonu's selection marks the 13th time in program history that a Falcon men's soccer student-athlete has been named to an Academic All-America® Team sponsored by CoSIDA/CSC. The complete list of BGSU's honorees can be found at the bottom of the page.
BGSU went 6-5-5 overall, and the Falcons finished MAC play with a 4-2-2 league ledger, finishing third in the conference. The Falcons will compete in the Missouri Valley Conference beginning next fall.
The Falcons have a record of 42-25-12 over the last 79 games, dating to midway through the 2018 season. Sixteen of the 25 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.
The complete 2022 team can be found below...
FIRST TEAM
Pos. Name School Yr. GPA Major
GK Niclas Wild UNCG Jr. 4.00 Economics
D Joey Akpunonu Bowling Green Jr. 4.00 Biology
D David Garcia FIU Sr. 4.00 Computer Science
D Luis Grassow Kentucky Sr. 3.87 Sociology
D Tommy Silva UCLA Jr. 4.00 Communication
M Ryan Clare Princeton Sr. 3.89 Computer Science
M Hendrik Hebbeker (1) Hofstra Sr. 3.98 Mathematics & Physics
M Billy Hency (1) Loyola Chicago Sr. 3.78 Supply Chain Management
F Ben Damge Kentucky Jr. 3.95 Finance and Accounting
F Lucas Meek Washington Sr. 3.60 Business Administration
F Dylan Sing Western Michigan Sr. 3.98 Integrated Supply Management
SECOND TEAM
Pos. Name School Yr. GPA Major
GK Simon Jillson Loyola Chicago Gr. 4.00 Economics
D Luca Dahn Seton Hall Gr. 3.97 Finance (G)
D Aaron Denk Gracia (3) West Virginia Gr. 3.97/3.66 Business (UG) / Business Admin. (G)
D Marco Milanese UNCG Sr. 3.97 Finance
D Jonathan Robinson Western Michigan Jr. 4.00 Sports Mgmt. & Strategic Comm.
M JP Armbruster (3) Belmont Gr. 4.00/4.00 Accounting (UG) /
Master of Accountancy (G)
M Simon Carlson Georgia State Jr. 3.65 Business Economics
M Dyon Dromers West Virginia Gr. 3.94 Sport Mgmt. (UG) / Sport Mgmt. (G)
M Tristan Jumeau Georgia State Gr. 4.00 Geosciences (UG) / Communications (G)
M Kian Yari (3) Missouri State Sr. 3.81 Economics
F Mike Melaragni Western Michigan Sr. 3.96 Biomedical Science
F Charlie Sharp Western Michigan Sr. 3.79 Business
F Alex Willis Charlotte Sr. 3.94 History
THIRD TEAM
Pos. Name School Yr. GPA Major
GK Ryan Bilichuk Elon Gr. 3.66 Sport & Entertainment Mgmt.
D Stefan Mason (3) Hofstra Sr. 3.85 Finance
D Dylan Shockey LMU Gr. 3.97 Health & Human Sciences (UG) /
Healthcare Systems Engineering (G)
D Keegan Tingey Stanford Sr. 3.89 Economics
D Robert Winkler LIU So. 4.00 Biology / Pre-med
M Jackson Wrobel Wofford So. 3.96 Undeclared
F Carlo Agostinelli Stanford Sr. 3.60 International Relations
F Finn Ballard McBride UC Santa Barbara Sr. 3.52 Global Studies
F Ryan Wittenbrink Indiana Sr. 3.58 Finance & Accounting
Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Niclas Wild, UNCG
(1) – 1st team Academic All-America® in 2021
(2) – 2nd team Academic All-America® in 2021
(3) – 3rd team Academic All-America® in 2021
BGSU'S CSC (formerly CoSIDA) ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® SELECTIONS
1991 * – Greg Murphy, GK
1995 * – Joe Burch, MF (3)
1996 * – Joe Burch, F (1)
1999 * – Ty Fowler, GK (1)
2009 – Jacob Lawrence, D/F (1)
2013 – Brandon Silva, MF (2)
2014 – Pat Flynn, F (2)
2015 – Pat Flynn, F (1); Joe Sullivan, F (2)
2016 – Pat Flynn, F (1); Joe Sullivan, F (1)
2021 – Michael Montemurri, D (3)
2022 – Joey Akpunonu, D (1)
* named to Fall-Winter At-Large Team (before CoSIDA/CSC sponsored a soccer-specific team)
Akpunonu, a junior, was named to the Academic All-America® First Team. He is the second Falcon to earn Academic All-America® accolades in as many years, as Michael Montemurri was named to the third team last season.Akpunonu is one of just two Mid-American Conference players to be named to the Academic All-America® First Team in 2022.
Akpunonu, a native of Toledo, Ohio (St. John's Jesuit), started all 16 matches in 2022, and was named to the All-MAC First Team. He led the Falcons in goals, with six, and finished second on the club with 12 points. The defender also helped the Orange and Brown post seven shutouts in those 16 contests.
Akpunonu, the lone Falcon other than goalkeeper Brendan Graves to play all 1440 minutes this season, scored the first goal of the match in three of BGSU's four Mid-American Conference wins. He now has career totals of eight goals and 19 points in 48 matches played.
He helped the Falcons set a school record for fewest goals allowed in a season. BGSU surrendered just 10 goals in 2022, with two of those 10 coming via penalty kicks.
In the classroom, Akpunonu has a 4.000 cumulative grade-point average as a biology major.
Last month, he was named to the Academic All-District® First Team, in the process seeing his name placed on the CSC Academic All-America® ballot.
The Academic All-District® and All-America® Teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes soccer honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
For more information regarding the Academic All-America® program, visit https://academicallamerica.com/.
Akpunonu is the first Falcon to earn Academic All-America® first-team honors since 2016, when both Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan earned first-team accolades. Overall, Akpunonu's selection marks the 13th time in program history that a Falcon men's soccer student-athlete has been named to an Academic All-America® Team sponsored by CoSIDA/CSC. The complete list of BGSU's honorees can be found at the bottom of the page.
BGSU went 6-5-5 overall, and the Falcons finished MAC play with a 4-2-2 league ledger, finishing third in the conference. The Falcons will compete in the Missouri Valley Conference beginning next fall.
The Falcons have a record of 42-25-12 over the last 79 games, dating to midway through the 2018 season. Sixteen of the 25 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.
The complete 2022 team can be found below...
FIRST TEAM
Pos. Name School Yr. GPA Major
GK Niclas Wild UNCG Jr. 4.00 Economics
D Joey Akpunonu Bowling Green Jr. 4.00 Biology
D David Garcia FIU Sr. 4.00 Computer Science
D Luis Grassow Kentucky Sr. 3.87 Sociology
D Tommy Silva UCLA Jr. 4.00 Communication
M Ryan Clare Princeton Sr. 3.89 Computer Science
M Hendrik Hebbeker (1) Hofstra Sr. 3.98 Mathematics & Physics
M Billy Hency (1) Loyola Chicago Sr. 3.78 Supply Chain Management
F Ben Damge Kentucky Jr. 3.95 Finance and Accounting
F Lucas Meek Washington Sr. 3.60 Business Administration
F Dylan Sing Western Michigan Sr. 3.98 Integrated Supply Management
SECOND TEAM
Pos. Name School Yr. GPA Major
GK Simon Jillson Loyola Chicago Gr. 4.00 Economics
D Luca Dahn Seton Hall Gr. 3.97 Finance (G)
D Aaron Denk Gracia (3) West Virginia Gr. 3.97/3.66 Business (UG) / Business Admin. (G)
D Marco Milanese UNCG Sr. 3.97 Finance
D Jonathan Robinson Western Michigan Jr. 4.00 Sports Mgmt. & Strategic Comm.
M JP Armbruster (3) Belmont Gr. 4.00/4.00 Accounting (UG) /
Master of Accountancy (G)
M Simon Carlson Georgia State Jr. 3.65 Business Economics
M Dyon Dromers West Virginia Gr. 3.94 Sport Mgmt. (UG) / Sport Mgmt. (G)
M Tristan Jumeau Georgia State Gr. 4.00 Geosciences (UG) / Communications (G)
M Kian Yari (3) Missouri State Sr. 3.81 Economics
F Mike Melaragni Western Michigan Sr. 3.96 Biomedical Science
F Charlie Sharp Western Michigan Sr. 3.79 Business
F Alex Willis Charlotte Sr. 3.94 History
THIRD TEAM
Pos. Name School Yr. GPA Major
GK Ryan Bilichuk Elon Gr. 3.66 Sport & Entertainment Mgmt.
D Stefan Mason (3) Hofstra Sr. 3.85 Finance
D Dylan Shockey LMU Gr. 3.97 Health & Human Sciences (UG) /
Healthcare Systems Engineering (G)
D Keegan Tingey Stanford Sr. 3.89 Economics
D Robert Winkler LIU So. 4.00 Biology / Pre-med
M Jackson Wrobel Wofford So. 3.96 Undeclared
F Carlo Agostinelli Stanford Sr. 3.60 International Relations
F Finn Ballard McBride UC Santa Barbara Sr. 3.52 Global Studies
F Ryan Wittenbrink Indiana Sr. 3.58 Finance & Accounting
Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Niclas Wild, UNCG
(1) – 1st team Academic All-America® in 2021
(2) – 2nd team Academic All-America® in 2021
(3) – 3rd team Academic All-America® in 2021
BGSU'S CSC (formerly CoSIDA) ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® SELECTIONS
1991 * – Greg Murphy, GK
1995 * – Joe Burch, MF (3)
1996 * – Joe Burch, F (1)
1999 * – Ty Fowler, GK (1)
2009 – Jacob Lawrence, D/F (1)
2013 – Brandon Silva, MF (2)
2014 – Pat Flynn, F (2)
2015 – Pat Flynn, F (1); Joe Sullivan, F (2)
2016 – Pat Flynn, F (1); Joe Sullivan, F (1)
2021 – Michael Montemurri, D (3)
2022 – Joey Akpunonu, D (1)
* named to Fall-Winter At-Large Team (before CoSIDA/CSC sponsored a soccer-specific team)
Players Mentioned
Andrew Shaffer Post-Match Interview (Sept. 26, 2025)
Saturday, September 27
Eric Nichols Post-Match Interview (Sept. 26, 2025)
Saturday, September 27
Off The Pitch: Anthony Hernandez (Sept. 25, 2025)
Thursday, September 25
Eric Nichols Post-Practice Interview (Sept. 24, 2025)
Wednesday, September 24