Wheaton College goalkeeper Jack Krahel is the top male student-athlete in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, the league announced Tuesday, July 7.
Krahel, who played every minute of all 18 Thunder men's soccer games during the 2025 season, becomes the fifth Wheaton athlete to claim the CCIW Men's Student-Athlete of the Year award. No other conference school has won it more than four times in the award's 18-year history, according to Wheaton College Athletics.
He is also the first men's soccer player from any CCIW school to earn the honor since North Park's Tim Ahlberg in 2012-13.
A dominant season between the posts
Krahel's conference-play numbers led the league in multiple categories. He saved 89% of shots faced and posted a 0.63 goals-against average, both league bests. His five clean sheets in CCIW matches were the most by any conference keeper since 2013. For the full season, he recorded seven shutouts and a 76.4% save percentage.
On Senior Night against Millikin University, Krahel made 10 saves, the highest single-game total by a Thunder goalkeeper since 2021. In the CCIW tournament semifinals, he stopped a North Park penalty kick.
Krahel was the first men's soccer player in CCIW history to earn three consecutive Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week awards, taking the honor on Oct. 7, Oct. 14, and Oct. 21, 2025.
The CCIW named him Goalkeeper of the Year for 2025, and United Soccer Coaches selected him to its Division III First Team All-Region.
Scholar and leader
Off the pitch, Krahel earned a master's degree in leadership from the Wheaton College Graduate School in December 2025, after completing his bachelor's in business and economics in May 2024. He was named to the College Sports Communicators Division III Men's Soccer Academic All-America First Team in fall 2025, the program's first player named to that top squad since Stephen Golz in 2014 and only the 10th Academic All-American in Thunder men's soccer history.
Krahel also coached at Wheaton Legacy Soccer Academy and United FC, served as a Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader at Batavia High School, and traveled to Brazil with the Thunder squad on a sports ministry trip in May 2024.
Award history
The CCIW Men's Student-Athlete of the Year award, established in 2008, is voted on by the conference's Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives. It honors senior male student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership.
Wheaton's five winners: Leif Van Grinsven (2018-19, track and field), Corey Kennedy (2019-20, football), Anthony Fitzgerald (2023-24, swimming), Giovanni Weeks (2024-25, football), and Krahel (2025-26, men's soccer).
Krahel has exhausted his eligibility.
