Wingate’s Caleb Bonesteel is an Academic All-America® second team selection
Greenwood, Ind.----Wingate University graduate student placekicker Caleb Bonesteel (Dawsonville, Ga.) is an Academic All-America® second team selection, College Sports Communicators (CSC) officials announce this week. Bonesteel earns CSC Academic All-America® laurels for the first time in his career.
Bonesteel made the most of his Wingate experience, earning an undergraduate degree in sport management in December 2024 and a master of arts degree in sport management in December 2025. As a graduate student, he made second team All-South Atlantic Conference and All-Super Region 2 as named by the D2CCA in 2025. The Bulldogs compiled a 37-11 record during his career with three NCAA playoff appearances and one SAC title.
What They Are Saying
Wingate University head football coach Rashaan Jordan
"Caleb Bonesteel is an outstanding student-athlete and an even better human being. His hard work on the field is reflected by his hard work in the classroom. We could not be happier for him to receive this incredible honor from the College Sports Communicators."
Wingate University long snapper Everett McLaughlin ('25)
"Caleb Bonesteel always strived for perfection when he was working on his kicking. He would constantly work on his technique and try and perfect it down to the exact inch. Caleb constantly getting SAC Player of the Week pushed me to want to be better for sure, because it gave me that push to want and help the team the way he did."
"I believe that Caleb is destined for great things, because he is always giving his best effort and taking control of the reigns. Everyone in our special teams' unit would always call him 'The Captain' because he was easily the most detail-oriented. I fully believe that he is deserving of this Academic All-America award…he's automatic when he's back there ready to kick."
The Caleb Bonesteel file ('24, '25 MASM)
- As an undergrad, Bonesteel posted a 3.837 GPA with his sport management major
- He earned a Wingate MASM degree one year later with a 3.900 GPA
- In 2025, the graduate student hit 16-of-24 field goals and 51-of-51 PATs
- He hit seven field goals of 40 yards or more with a long of 47 yards
- Earned D2Football.com national special teams POTW twice in his career
- Hit 17-of-25 field goals and 33-of-34 PATs as WU won the '24 SAC title
- Career numbers: 44-of-64 field goals and 121-of-122 PATs in three seasons
Wingate Academic All-America® notes
- With Bonesteel's selection, Wingate has 164 Academic All-America® selections all-time, with 155 since Jan. 1, 2000 (Wingate Academic All-America® history)
- The Bulldogs lead all North Carolina colleges and universities with their 155 Academic All-America® picks since Jan. 1, 2000
- Duke University is second on the aforementioned N.C. Academic All-America® list, while UNC Chapel Hill is third
- Wingate's 164 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among South Atlantic Conference schools
- Bonesteel gives Wingate Football 20 lifetime Academic All-America® awards
- Tucker Mullis and Andrew Strickland were WUFB's most recent AAA honorees
- Both Mullis (LS) and Strickland (OL) were first team AAA performers in 2021
College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® program
The College Sports Communicators (CSC) began the distinguished Academic All-America® program in 1952, and since then, have recognized thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America® scholar-athlete honors.
Currently, the CSC sponsors Academic All-America® programs for men's and women's soccer, football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's track and field/cross country. Many other sports are eligible through the at-large program.
The Academic All-America® program is comprised of divisional teams for NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. Added for the 2018-19 academic year was a separate at-large program for two-year schools and Canadian institutions. Members at two-year schools, Canadian institutions and any other institution not affiliated with the NCAA or NAIA nominate their student-athletes in all sports during the spring nomination period.
For more information about the College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® teams program, please visit AcademicAllAmerica.com or the Academic All-America® home page on collegesportscommunicators.com.
Wingate University
Wingate University is a lab of difference-making that serves more than 3,400 students in North Carolina and offers 60 degree pathways, including 37 undergraduate majors, 10 pre-professional tracks and five dual-degree programs. Graduate students choose from seven master's and five doctoral programs. The University is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences, the Levine College of Health Sciences, the Byrum School of Business, the Thayer School of Education and the School of Sport Sciences.
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a leader in healthcare education where nearly one in five undergraduate students is preparing to be a pharmacist, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist or nurse. Student-athletes on Wingate's 30 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award the past 17 times it has been awarded. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.
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