UW Oshkosh senior punter Turner Geisthardt is one of 179 semifinalists for the National Football Foundation’s 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy, an award that recognizes the best football scholar-athlete in the nation.

The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally-recognized groups of media, college football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

Geisthardt has been UWO’s punter since his arrival on campus in 2015. The three-time All-WIAC second team selection has punted the football 159 times during his 44-game career for an average of 40.1 yards per kick, the fifth-highest mark among all active players in the NCAA Division III.
Geisthardt has averaged 43 yards on 20 kicks this season to rank second in the conference and fourth nationally.

Geisthardt averaged 40.4 yards on 37 punts in 2017 when he also received NCAA D-III All-West Region second team honors by D3football.com. He previously averaged 40.4 yards on 55 boots in 2016 and 38.1 yards on 47 kicks in 2015. Geisthardt recorded his longest career punt of 62 yards twice during the 2016 season as UWO registered wins over Finlandia University (Mich.) and UW-Eau Claire.

The Oshkosh North High School graduate earned All- WIAC first team recognition at placekicker in 2017 after converting 62 of 64 extra points and seven of 12 field goal attempts. Geisthardt, who scored his other two career points during the 2015 season, tallied a career-high 13 points during UWO’s win over UW-Whitewater in 2017.

Off the field, Geisthardt owns a 3.94 cumulative GPA as a kinesiology major. He is an eight-time University Dean’s List and three-time WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll member. Geisthardt has been involved with several campus and community organizations, including the St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry, Be The Match and the Oshkosh Police Department.

The NFF Awards Committee will announce the 12 to 14 finalists on Oct. 31, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4, where one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 29th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his post-graduate scholarship increased to $25,000.