Wartburg Athletics boasts many achievements. The Knights have a string of 24 years of individual or national team championships and 16 conference all-sports championships for overall men's and women's programs. In 2012, the Knights made NCAA history for any division when they won two national championships (women's indoor track and field and wrestling) on the same day. Last fall, another first was added to the Knights portfolio when then-junior Matt Sacia was named the Iowa Conference MVP for football. Alone, his honor wasn't enough to make history, though still impressive. What cemented Sacia's place in the NCAA Division III history books was the fact that his mother, Stephanie Reinert Sacia '91, was named the conference's MVP for women's golf in 1990. The addition of Matt's honor made them the first mother-son duo to accomplish this.

Stephanie, who played golf and softball in each of her four years,  qualified for nationals for golf multiple times and competed in that tournament her senior year.

But, this is a story that almost never had the opportunity to be told. Stephanie was set to go to the University of Iowa—she went so far as to get her room assignment. She hadn't even considered the college athletics experience until she visited Wartburg with some high school friends. Of the 48 in her graduating class, six attended Wartburg.

"A couple of them were seriously looking at Wartburg, and I came along on the visit for fun," she said. "LeAnn Bollum was my assistant basketball coach back home in Durant, and she played at Wartburg. She was the one who was really encouraging me to come for a visit here."

At Wartburg, Stephanie visited with legendary coach Buzz Levick, the women's golf coach at the time, as well as Coach Janet Vaughan, the softball coach, and they planted the seed.

"I felt really comfortable right off the bat and was excited to consider continuing all the sports that I loved to do. Late in the spring of my senior year, I changed my plans and came here," she said.
  "I knew coming in that I would be golfing and playing softball. I didn't know how it would all shake out time-wise, but wanted to try since, at that time, the only thing in the spring for golf was nationals.

"I qualified for nationals a few times and told myself I had to play there at least once," she continued. "The year I did play, unfortunately it didn't go very well because I was in the middle of softball season and hadn't golfed very much. It was in Wisconsin, and it was freezing cold."

Though Stephanie came to Wartburg as a shortstop, she switched to second base her freshman year to guarantee more playing time and still ranks seventh in career assists and double plays.

When asked about her conference MVP award, she humbly responded that she didn't remember which year she was honored. When reminded, she recalled playing well in the conference tournament and turning in consistently good performances throughout the year.

"That's what I admire about the women's golf team now; I am just amazed by those women, Rochelle Beardsley (a 2017 graduate) and Brooke Klostermann (who will graduate this year), at how consistent they are. That was that year for me. Jen Sterk and I played No. 1 and 2, went back and forth, and were friendly competitors.

"That was the year I felt the most solid and contributed team-wise and I think that got recognized with the MVP award," she continued. "I had a really good round and was leading the field after the first day of the conference championships, but day two didn't go quite as well. It was a little shocking to me when they named me MVP. I thought it would go to the person who sealed the deal on day two. I think the voters took into account the whole year and how it was a balanced year for me."

Athletics aren't the only things the mother and son have in common. Both have a passion for health care, with Stephanie starting in pre-med and switching to physical therapy and Matt planning on med school from the beginning of his college career. Stephanie's husband and Matt's father, Eric '91, also earned his Wartburg degree in the sciences and went on to earn a master's in physical therapy from Washington University in St. Louis (as did Stephanie).

"(Eric and I) were friends from the get go," she said. "We had a lot of our classes together the first two years. We studied together, and it kind of came down to a point junior year where I said, 'I think this is more than a friendship.'"
  Matt is the oldest of the couple's four children.

"Matthew and I are so close and have a great relationship, but we are also different in some respects," said Stephanie "When he was little, he would throw things, not being ornery, but throw things at targets. He was a very good baseball pitcher and struggled to decide which sport to play in college.

"He always had very high expectations for himself and those around him and he led by example," she continued. "He played all kind of sports, and you could tell was very good and a very athletic kid. When he started demonstrating intelligence, decision-making, and his maturity with the emotional side and how he handled pressure, I knew there was something really special there."

Stephanie is certain that at least one off-the-field experience helped shape Matt into the steady leader he is today. Matt was just a child when his little sister Megan was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent more than two years of chemotherapy and treatment at the University of Iowa, a nearly-60 mile trek from the family's home in Eldridge. It was through this experience that Matt and the rest of the family were first introduced to Dance Marathon, a student-led organization that raises money for hospital's affiliated with the Children's Miracle Network. University of Iowa student volunteers would bring the family bagels and coffee while Megan was in the hospital and even played with Drew, the youngest Sacia sibling, who was just a newborn at the time. 

"We felt so indebted for all the respite and support we received," said Stephanie. "We always participated in the big Dance Marathon at U of Iowa. The new children's hospital wasn't on the radar yet. We were on a parent advisory committee before it was built and offered a lot of input on what we'd like to see in a new hospital.

"Through it all, Matthew tried to keep things normal at home for his younger brother Adam; he was fearful, but never let it show. I really think that factored into his personality and his temperament, just how he has things under control and doesn't get rattled under stress. I think he was scared to death, but felt like he had to keep it under control for everyone else."
  Matt became involved with Wartburg's Dance Marathon his freshman year and continues to serve in the organization. Last year, the group raised more than $115,000, smashing its $90,000 goal.

Though his parents are alums, they didn't want Matt to feel obligated to come to Wartburg and were deliberate in encouraging him look at other institutions. He visited several other schools, but Wartburg's tradition in athletics and the sciences proved tough to beat. For Matt, the toughest decision was choosing which sport to specialize in.

"Baseball actually had always been my favorite sport. I got a little more attention for football, and I realized I maybe had more of a niche where I could do things in football and stand out more than I could in baseball."

Sports have always been a part of the Sacia family, with each of the four children involved in several different ones. His brother, Adam, a sophomore at Wartburg this year, plays on the baseball team.
  "I knew both my parents were athletes and really like sports. Being around it a lot and from hearing their own stories, I knew they were successful and I wanted to push myself to uphold that," Matt said. "My mom shares more about her college athletic career than my dad does, though. They talk about things that stood out to them, how a coach taught them a good lesson, or something that happened in a game where they learned something. It's been more about experiences that they've had that has stuck with them more than their personal achievements."

In fact, Matt didn't even know about his mom's MVP honor until the interview was scheduled for this story.

"When I mentioned it to him that we were going to be interviewed, he asked what we were going to talk about?" said Stephanie. "I try not to toot my horn too much."

Stephanie was presented with her MVP award at her conference championships, but she, Eric, and Matt all learned of Matt's honor on Twitter.

"Eric and I were meeting for lunch that day and I saw the tweet right before heading in," she said. "I walked in and was a blubbering mess. That's the beauty of it, Matthew doesn't play to that, awards aren't what drives him. When it happens, it's truly so unexpected. I am so proud. He's very deserving; obviously I'm very biased as his mom."

When told that they were the first mother-son duo in NCAA Division III to receive conference MVP honors, Stephanie was very humbled. "It's a unique thing that we get to share," she said. "Our love for sports and our love for competition and team. He's been a team-first guy his whole life. Respect. All those things that teams and sports bring out in people.

"Having this achievement together means a lot; I care about him so much and it's something special that we now share on top of everything else," she said. "I'm not one of those nurturing, kiss your boo-boos kind of moms; I've been a pretty tough mom, and I think my experience has led me to be that way with him in sports. Eric was probably more nurturing than I was when it came to sports. Matthew has never been complacent; he's always been a very hard worker. Over the years I've learned more from him than what I've been able to teach as he has always been wise beyond his years. He's taught me a lot about patience, the process, taking things as they come, controlling what you can control, because I can get focused on the end goal, rather than the steps we need to take to get there. So to hear something like this, I think it just kind of highlights our polar opposites that complement each other."

Matt also was somewhat surprised to learn they shared the honor, but said, "It's a really cool thing to have. My mom has always been the one who has pushed me the hardest in all aspects of my life. Understanding how she's been a competitor and how she knows from her experiences of what works and what you need to do and pushing me to get to that level, is really cool to me."
  Congratulations to the Sacias on this unique achievement.