SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Landon Ruesink, Dakota Wesleyan Football and Baseball dual-sport athlete, has been tabbed the Great Plains Athletic Conference’s male nomination for the A. O. Duer Scholarship Award.
Ruesink is heading into his senior season with both the DWU Football and Baseball Teams. During his junior year, Landon earned double-honors on the gridiron, being named Second Team All-GPAC as a defensive back while receiving Honorable Mention honors as a punt returner. Defensively, he would record 53 total tackles, 11 pass breakups, and two interceptions, and, on special teams, averaged 11.7 yards on his punt returns. On the baseball field, Ruesink would finish the season with a .284 batting average and 17 RBIs while bolstering DWU’s infield.
The Dell Rapids, South Dakota native would land All-Conference honors in baseball during the 2023 campaign, where he would be an Honorable Mention as an outfielder. Academically, Ruesink is a multiple-time Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete in both sports and was tabbed a member of the CSC Academic All-District team in 2023. He was also the 2023 winner of the South Dakota Trust Association Scholarship.
“Landon is one of those young adults who pass through your school and you don’t realize how great they are until they are gone,” said Dakota Wesleyan Faculty Athletic Representative Joel Reinesch. “To earn this award, you must have the total package: Academics, Athletics, and Citizenry. That is what this honor demands of a student-athlete, and Landon exceeds expectations. He is the same kid in victory as he is in defeat and is very worthy of this honor.”
Ruesink will move on to the national ballot, with winners being named during the NAIA National Awards Day in September. The NAIA winners will be recognized as part of the NAIA National Awards Luncheon at the NAIA National Convention next Spring in Kansas City, Missouri. You can read all of the GPAC’s national award nominees here.