(Editor’s Note: Montana Athletics release)
MISSOULA – Dante Olson<https://gogriz.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4581> has added another trophy to the case. The prolific junior linebacker landed his fourth first-team All-America honor in the past week on Wednesday by online FCS news outlet HERO Sports.
Olson has been named a first-team All-American on every major FCS list published so far this year, and is one of only two defensive players on Hero Sports’ first or second-team from the Big Sky Conference.
The Buchanan Award finalist completed his junior year with Grizzlies tallying a national-best 151 total tackles in the regular season, 24 of which were earned in a single game against the Cal Poly Mustangs. He also tallied double-digit tackles in nine of his 11 games last season. He also posted 11 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 pass breakups, and 2 interceptions last season.
In the process, Olson shattered UM’s record for most tackles in a single season, previously held by Kendrick Van Ackeren<https://gogriz.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1677> (130), and was only 26 tackles shy of the Big Sky Conference record.
He is set to attend STATS FCS national awards banquet in January in hopes to become Montana’s third Buck Buchanan Award winner.
Earlier this week, Hero Sports added three other Grizzlies to its All-American lists. Receiver Samuel Akem<https://gogriz.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4527> and linebacker Jace Lewis<https://gogriz.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4565>were named sophomore All-Americans, while Robby Hauck<https://gogriz.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4643> was named freshman All-American.
Olson’s 2018 Post-Season Honors:
* STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award Finalist
* HERO Sports First-Team All-American
* STATS FCS First-Team All-American
* Walter Camp Foundation All-American
* Associated Press First-Team All-American
* First-Team All-Big Sky
* Steve Carlson Team MVP
* Grizzly Defensive MVP
Hero Sports FCS All-American Team (2018)
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
NOTE: AP – All-Purpose; ATH- Dual-threat QB; RS- Return Specialist on Special teams; ST- Special teams standout; LS- Long Snapper
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
QB Easton Stick Sr. North Dakota State
QB Devlin Hodges Sr. Samford
RB James Holland Sr. Colgate
RB Marquis Terry Sr. SEMO
RB Ryan Fulse Sr. Wagner
FB Joe Protheroe Sr. Cal Poly
WR Kelvin McKnight Sr. Samford
WR Keelan Doss Sr. UC Davis
TE Donald Parham Sr. Stetson
OL Tytus Howard Sr. Alabama State
OL Oli Udoh Sr. Elon
OL Matt Pyke Sr. ETSU
OL Tanner Volson Sr. North Dakota State
OL Dan Cooney Sr. San Diego
ATH Chandler Burks Sr. Kennesaw State
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
DL Isaiah Mack Sr. Chattanooga
DL Darryl Johnson Jr. North Carolina A&T
DL Derick Roberson Sr. Sam Houston State
DL Ahmad Gooden Sr. Samford
LB Jabril Cox Soph. North Dakota State
LB Dante Olson Jr. Montana
LB Zach Hall Jr. SEMO
LB LeGrand Toia Sr. Weber State
DB Isiah Swann Jr. Dartmouth
DB Nasir Adderley Sr. Delaware
DB Jimmy Moreland Sr. James Madison
DB Jordan Brown Sr. South Dakota State
AP Shane Simpson Jr. Towson
FIRST TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
PK Roldan Alcobendas Sr. Eastern Washington
P Alex Pechin Sr. Bucknell
RS D’Angelo Amos Soph. James Madison
RS Malik Honeycutt Jr. Murray State
ST Brady May Sr. Weber State
LS Steven Wethli Sr. Youngstown State
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
QB Anthony Lawrence Sr. San Diego
QB Taryn Christion Sr. South Dakota State
RB AJ Hines Jr. Duquesne
RB James Robinson Jr. Illinois State
RB Tevin McCaster Sr. Youngstown State
WR Josh Pearson Jr. Jacksonville State
WR Michael Bandy Jr. San Diego
TE Charlie Taumoepeau Jr. Portland State
OL C.J. Collins Sr. Kennesaw State
OL Garrett Bowery Sr. Lamar
OL Micah Shaw Sr. North Carolina A&T
OL Zack Johnson Jr. North Dakota State
OL Iosua Opeta Sr. Weber State
ATH Troy Andersen Soph. Montana State
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
DL Nick Wheeler Jr. Colgate
DL Randy Robinson Sr. Jacksonville State
DL John Daka Jr. James Madison
DL Greg Menard Sr. North Dakota State
LB Troy Reeder Sr. Delaware
LB Sterling Sheffield Sr. Maine
LB BJ Blunt Sr. McNeese
LB Pete Swenson Sr. Western Illinois
DB James Allen Sr. Charleston Southern
DB Manny Patterson Jr. Maine
DB Robbie Grimsley Sr. North Dakota State
DB Marvin Tillman Sr. Western Carolina
AP Cade Johnson Soph. South Dakota State
SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
PK Austin Errthum Sr. Northern Iowa
P Chris Faddoul Soph. Florida A&M
RS Rashid Shaheed Soph. Weber State
RS Booker Chambers Sr. Miss. Valley State
ST Robert Carter, Jr. Sr. James Madison
LS Josh Brady Jr. Jacksonville State
THIRD TEAM OFFENSE
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
QB Tom Flacco Jr. Towson
QB Jake Maier Jr. UC Davis
RB Ra’Quanne Dickens Sr. Incarnate Word
RB Andre Stoddard Sr. Wofford
WR Alexander Hollins Sr. Eastern Illinois
WR Mitch Gueller Jr. Idaho State
WR Jazz Ferguson Jr. Northwestern State
WR Jesper Horsted Sr. Princeton
TE Charles Scarff Sr. Delaware
OL Max Hartzman Sr. Colgate
OL Alex Conley Sr. Duquesne
OL Noah Johnson Jr. Idaho
OL BJ Autry Sr. Jacksonville State
OL Drew Forbes Sr. SEMO
ATH Tyrie Adams Jr. Western Carolina
THIRD TEAM DEFENSE
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
DL Solomon Brown Sr. Charleston Southern
DL Sully Laiche Jr. Nicholls
DL Chris Agyemang Jr. Sacred Heart
DL Adam Rodriguez Jr. Weber State
LB Adrian Hope Fr. Furman
LB T.J. Holl Sr. Colgate
LB Dylan Weigel Sr. ETSU
LB Jonas Griffith Jr. Indiana State
LB Christian Rozeboom Jr. South Dakota St.
DB Tyler Castillo Sr. Colgate
DB Will Warner Jr. Drake
DB Jonathant Istache Sr. Duquesne
DB TJ Floyd Jr. Princeton
AP Josh Davis Fr Weber State
THIRD TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
POS PLAYER YEAR SCHOOL
PK JJ Jerman Sr. ETSU
P Alex Kjellsten Sr. McNeese
RS Jimmie Robinson Sr. Bethune-Cookman
RS Chris Rowland Jr. Tennessee State
LS Bradey Sorenson Soph. South Dakota State
MORE ON OLSON:
2018: Finalist for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award … STATS FCS First-Team All-American … Walter Camp Foundation All-American … Associated Press First-Team All-American … HERO Sports First-Team All-American … Led Division I football in total tackles (FBS and FCS) … Selected as First-Team All-Big Sky Conference by the league’s coaches … Awarded Montana Football’s Steve Carlson MVP Award … Awarded Montana Football’s Defensive MVP Award … Named ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the week on 9/3 … Named College Sports Madness Big Sky Defensive Player of the week on 9/3 … Repeated as ROOT Sports Big Sky Player of the Week on 9/8 … Was named STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week on 9/8 as well …. Also repeated as College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week on 9/8 … Named ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week for a third time on 10/1 after posting 24 tackles against Cal Poly … Against UNI (9/1), Olson led the Grizzly defense with 13 total tackles … Also recorded an interception which he returned 26 yards, a sack for a loss of 9 yards, one PBU and one QB hurry … Was named the ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week after the UNI game … Against Drake (9/8), Olson recorded 16 tackles, 2 sacks (career high), 3.5 TFL’s (career high), one forced fumble and one PBU … Olson recorded 11 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, half a sack, one QB hit, and an interception that he returned 25 yards in a well-rounded performance vs. Western Illinois (9/15) … Against Sacramento State (9/22) recorded 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 PBU, and a QB hit … Against Cal Poly (9/29) Olson earned Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for the 3rd time in 5 weeks putting up 24 total tackles (career high and 2nd best single-game tackling performance in UM history) … Against Portland State (10/6) put up 19 tackles, half a sack, 2 TFL’s and 2 forced fumbles … Olson put up 8 tackles and one half of a TFL in a matchup against North Dakota (10/13) … Olson added to his impressive season totals with a 13 tackle and one sack performance vs. #6 UC Davis (10/27) … Leading his team in tackling, Olson contributed to his team’s road victory over Idaho (11/10) with 10 tackles and a QB hit on the day … Olson completed his break-out season with an 18 tackle performance against rival Montana State (11/17)
2017: Second Team All-Big Sky on Special Teams… Academic All-Big Sky … Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year … Recorded 38 tackles, 16 of them solo … Had 2 TFLs and one sack against Idaho State for a loss of seven yards … Blocked a kick against Northern Colorado … Logged QB hurries against Savannah State and Eastern Washington … Played in all 11 games for UM … Once again awarded the William (Robi) Robertson Memorial Athletic Scholarship at the annual Lindsay Awards Banquet
2016: Academic All-Big Sky… Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year … Olson played in 11 games as a redshirt freshman at linebacker … Recorded 29 tackles, seven of them solo … Had two tackles for loss for six yards, also recorded a sack … Had back to back games with seven tackles against Miss. Valley State and Sacramento State … Recorded both tackles for loss and also his only sack in the Miss. Valley State game… Awarded the William (Robi) Robertson Memorial Athletic Scholarship at the annual Lindsay Awards Banquet.
2015: Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year … Was a redshirt freshman
HIGH SCHOOL: Olson was a four-year letterman in football at Cascade Christian HS, where his team won four conference championships (10-3 in 2011; 13-1 in 2012; 12-2 in 2013, and 8-3 in 2014) in a row… Three-year team captain and defensive player of the year…. Also led his team in tackles for three seasons…Voted defensive MVP of his conference and the state two times… His senior year he had 135 tackles, 5 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles; rushed for 583 yards and 8 TDs… named to the state’s All-Star Football Game… A three-time all-state selection at linebacker and tight end (as a senior) … His prep coach was Jon Gettman…. Also lettered in basketball and tennis.
PERSONAL: Olson carries a 3.87 GPA …. A Management major … His parents are Linda and Jeff Olson of Medford … His dad Jeff was the former head football coach at Southern Oregon University … Serves as a pen-pal mentor to a class of underprivileged kids in Northern California
