COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A leader on the ice and in the classroom, Omaha senior defenseman
Joel Messner has been selected as the recipient of the NCHC's third annual Post-Graduate Scholarship, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) announced Monday. Messner will be recognized as the 2018 Post-Graduate Scholarship winner at the NCHC Awards Celebration this Thursday, March 15 in Saint Paul.
Messner (Lorette, Manitoba) carries a 3.54 grade-point average in the School of Business while majoring in marketing and management. He is a four-time NCHC Academic All-Conference Team member and is an NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete this season. The team captain is set to graduate with a degree in Business Administration this May.
"NCHC students always seem to impress us in the classroom and this is certainly the case with
Joel Messner," NCHC Commissioner Josh Fenton said. "We are proud to select Joel as the conference's post-graduate scholarship winner for 2018, as he continues his studies in the area of Business Administration."
In addition to his NCHC academic honors, Messner is a finalist for NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year this season. He also earned the Maverick Muscle Award from Omaha last year and helped lead Omaha to the program's first ever NCAA Frozen Four as a freshman. For his career, Messner played in 135 games, tallying 42 points on seven goals and 35 assists, including career bests of five goals, 18 assists and 23 points this season, plus a team-best 70 blocked shots.
"It's great to get something like this from the NCHC. It's been such a pleasure to play in this conference and to get recognized in such a great league is a good feeling," Messner said. "In the future, the scholarship will be a great asset. In the business world, if you want an upper management position, you need to further your education, and this will help me do that."
Messner is the second Maverick to earn the scholarship, as current Omaha volunteer assistant coach
Kirk Thompson, now in grad school at Omaha, shared the scholarship last season while serving as a student goaltender coach in his senior year.
The NCHC's Post-Graduate Scholarship is funded by a grant from the El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs, which has also supported the NCHC by providing its office headquarters on the grounds of the Penrose House and helping cover the cost of the Penrose Cup. Messner's 2018 scholarship award amount will be $7,500.
"The NCHC membership and Board of Directors are grateful to have the support of Mr. Bill Hybl and the entire El Pomar Foundation," Fenton said. "Celebrating student success should be paramount in a conference and on our campuses. We are honored and excited to provide this award to Joel."
To be eligible for the NCHC's Post-Graduate Scholarship, the student-athlete must be a senior on the official NCAA hockey roster with at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average, who plans to continue his academic studies beyond his undergraduate degree. The recipient must enroll in a post-graduate school within three years of receiving the scholarship to collect the financial aid. The winner is chosen by a vote of the NCHC's Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs) from among the nominees submitted by each school's FAR.
All of the remaining NCHC individual award winners, including the Senior Scholar-Athlete, will be announced Thursday night at the NCHC Awards Celebration at the Science Museum of Minnesota in Saint Paul on the eve of the Frozen Faceoff.
PREVIOUS NCHC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
2016 – Gabe Levin, Denver
2017 – Aaron Hadley, WMU and
Kirk Thompson, Omaha
2018 –
Joel Messner, Omaha
