Grinnell’s Ryan Slager finishes as 2016 D-III tackles leader

Grinnell College Athletics

GRINNELL, Iowa – For the second time in the past decade, the Grinnell College football team has boasted the NCAA Division III national tackle leader.

Ryan Slager ’19, a 6-0, 222-pound linebacker from Orland Park, Ill. (Amos Alonzo Stagg), finished atop D-III with 154 total tackles. That figure is the 15th-highest ever at the D-III level.

Slager, also the national leader in tackles per game with 15.4 and assisted tackles with 102, joins Brett Maloney as Grinnell’s other national tackles leader. Maloney made 161 stops in 2008.

His tackle total is third-best in Grinnell history and he ranks seventh in career tackles for the Pioneers with 288.

Slager also had nine tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Slager was an All-Midwest Conference selection and a nominee for the prestigious Cliff Harris Award.