MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Wartburg College senior defensive lineman Conner McDonald has been named a First-Team Preseason All-American by D3football.com, as announced by the organization.

McDonald (Congerville, Ill./Eureka) enters the 2026 season following a standout junior season in which he earned D3football.com First-Team All-American, All-Region and All-Conference honors. He led the Knights' defensive line with 13.0 tackles for loss, including a team-high seven sacks.

McDonald becomes the 16th Knight in program history to earn D3football.com Preseason All-American recognition.
 
WARTBURG'S D3football.com PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
2001 - Joel Demro (Second-team)
2014 – Chris Brinkmeier (First-team)
2015 – Logan Schrader (First-team)
2019 – JoJo McNair (Second-team)
2020 – JoJo McNair (Third-team)
2021 – JoJo McNair (Second-team)
2022 – Antonio Santillan (Second-team)
2023 – Owen Grover (First-team), Hunter Clasen (Second-team), Tucker Kinney (Second-team), Jordan Downing (Second-team), Riley Konrardy (Second-team), Parker Rochford (Second-team)
2024 – Tucker Kinney (First-team), Parker Rochford (Second-team)
2026 -- Conner McDonald (First-team)
 
No. 9-ranked Wartburg will open the 2026 season on the road against Monmouth at 7 p.m., on Sept. 5 at April Zorn Memorial Stadium in Monmouth, Ill.

 

First team offense
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown
QB	Garret Wilson	North Central	Jr.	Edmond, Okla.
RB	Harrison Hensley	Coast Guard	Sr.	Riverview, Fla.
RB	Drew Miller	Heidelberg	Sr.	Portland, Mich.
WR	Albert Rundell	Bethel	Sr.	Watertown, Minn.
WR	Cole Crotty	Johns Hopkins	Sr.	Hermosa Beach, Calif.
TE	Logan Frederick	Utica	Sr.	Little Falls, N.Y.
T	Cortez Jones	North Central	Sr.	Lansing, Ill.
G	Joe Pruchnic	Adrian	Sr.	Macomb, Mich.
C	Quentin Lehman	Ohio Northern	Sr.	Dalton, Ohio
G	Andrew Belford	Christopher Newport	Sr.	Chesapeake, Va.
T	Michael Bougie	St. John's	Sr.	South St. Paul, Minn.
First team defense
DE	Galen Limantour	Susquehanna	Sr.	Durham, Pa.
DT	Conner McDonald	Wartburg	Sr.	Congerville, Ill.
DT	Phil Conant	Bethel	Sr.	St. Francis, Minn.
DE	JP Chaney	Aurora	Sr.	Batavia, Ill.
LB	Jason Bateman	Eastern	Sr.	Upper Darby, Pa.
LB	Kaiden Roden	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	Quinlan, Texas
LB	Nolan Hartsel	Baldwin Wallace	Sr.	Lodi, Ohio
CB	Nazair Jean-Lubin	Cortland	Sr.	Freeport, N.Y.
S	Ethan Burrows	Adrian	Sr.	Essexville, Mich.
S	Joe Spirra	Ithaca	Jr.	Bridgewater, N.J.
CB	Kenyon Johnson	Linfield	Sr.	Vancouver, Wash.
First team specialists
K	Pedro Altamirano	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Clyde, Texas
P	Cade Johannsen	Linfield	Sr.	Eugene, Ore.
RET	Joel Perez	Delaware Valley	So.	Woodland Park, N.J.
Second team offense
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown
QB	Mikey Maloney	Mount Union	So.	Concord Township, Ohio
RB	Noah Currier	Alfred State	Sr.	Oakfield, N.Y.
RB	E.J. Taylor	Hobart	Sr.	Salon, Ohio
WR	Eli Aston	Mount St. Joseph	Jr.	Lawrenceburg, Ind.
WR	Jack Janke	UW-La Crosse	Sr.	Ellsworth, Wis.
TE	Jalen McCullough	Maryville	Jr.	Morristown, Tenn.
T	Wesley Howenstein	Washington and Lee	Sr.	Clifton, Va.
G	Aiden Byrne	Wheaton	Jr.	Oldsmar, Fla.
C	Jaegar Ash	Bethel	Sr.	Milaca, Minn.
G	McCormack Langford	Berry	Sr.	Guntersville, Ala.
T	Myles Bridges	Randolph-Macon	Sr.	Henrico, Va.
Second team defense
DE	Jorge Aquino	Bridgewater State	Sr.	Bergenfield, N.J.
DT	Giaini Derameaux	Rowan	Sr.	Burlington, N.J.
DT	Will Seibert	Johns Hopkins	Sr.	Carpentersville, Ill.
DE	Thomas Arcaroli	Delaware Valley	Sr.	Cherry Hill, N.J.
LB	Zeke Harris	Wheaton	Jr.	Clermont, Ga.
LB	Luke Paff	Mount St. Joseph	Sr.	Cincinnati, Ohio
LB	Carson Schnurstein	Calvin	Jr.	Portage, Mich.
CB	Trent Mullen	UW-La Crosse	Sr.	Appleton, Wis.
S	Taylor Sussner	UW-River Falls	So.	Chaska, Minn.
S	Colin Moore	Wheaton	Sr.	Wheaton, Ill.
CB	Zelmarious Banks	Lakeland	So.	Fort Wayne, Ind.
Second team specialists
K	Iden Bone	Whitworth	Sr.	Moses Lake, Wash.
P	Cooper Tracy	Adrian	So.	Lewis Center, Ohio
RET	BJ Stewart	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Shreveport, La.
Third team offense
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown
QB	Cooper Drews	Bethel	Sr.	Princeton, Minn.
RB	George Linberger	Baldwin Wallace	Sr.	Barberton, Ohio
RB	Mekhi Wilson	Mass-Dartmouth	Sr.	Narragansett, R.I.
WR	BJ Stewart	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Shreveport, La.
WR	Alejandro Tavarez	Trinity (Texas)	Sr.	San Antonio, Texas
TE	Palmer Samuels	DePauw	Sr.	Muncie, Ind.
T	Aaron Hunter	LaGrange	Sr.	Dothan, Ala.
G	Grant Lefeld	Washington & Jefferson	So.	Northfield, Ohio
C	Aidan Toomey	Franklin & Marshall	Sr.	Cedar Grove, N.J.
G	Brady Cavan	WashU	Sr.	Glen Ellyn, Ill.
T	Ily Muoio	University of New England	Jr.	Trumbull, Conn.
Third team defense
DE	Angus Leary	Bowdoin	Jr.	West Roxbury, Mass.
DT	Tyler Sordillo	Springfield	Sr.	Hull, Mass.
DT	Billy Brosko	Hobart	Jr.	Newtown Square, Pa.
DE	Xander Murray	King's	Sr.	Waretown, N.J.
LB	Matt Janiak	North Central	Jr.	Plainfield, Ill.
LB	Joey Alvarez	Rockford	Jr.	Rockford, Ill.
LB	Daniel Atsou	Lycoming	Jr.	Capitol Heights, Md.
CB	Parks Cromwell	Hampden-Sydney	Jr.	Charlotte, N.C.
S	Dante DeRubbo	Washington & Jefferson	Jr.	Washington, Pa.
S	Andre Hall	UW-River Falls	Sr.	Cambridge, Minn.
CB	Noah Wheeler	Grove City	Jr.	McKinney, Texas
Third team specialists
K	Walter Kilgore	Chicago	Jr.	Houston, Texas
P	Josiah Smith	Wheaton	Sr.	Zionsville, Ind.
RET	Cree Ross	Centre	Sr.	Panama City, Fla.