For Immediate Release
Friday, November 22, 2024
NSIC Media Relations

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Curtis Cox of the University of Minnesota Duluth was selected by the league football coaches as the 2024 NSIC Glen Galligan Award recipient. Cox becomes just the second Bulldog to earn the Glen Galligan award in its 75-year history, joining wide receiver Tim Battaglia in 2002. 

The award is presented to a student-athlete who participates at their institution for four years and is academically superior while making a positive contribution to the institution. The Galligan Award was initiated in 1948 to honor an outstanding senior football player in the NSIC. Galligan was the director of athletics at Winona State University from 1929-47 and head football coach from 1927-33 and 1935.

On the field Cox,  a kicker from Dodgeville, Wisconsin, was an All-NSIC First Team selection during the 2023 season. During his career he has earned multiple NSIC Special Team Player of the Week honors.  He connected on 35 field goals in 43 games with the Bulldogs. His career long was 51 yards back on October 15, 2021 and he also recorded two games with four field goals made. He has hit 162 point after attempts to amass 267 total points during his four years with the Bulldogs. 

Cox was nominated for the 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team for his life-saving bone marrow donation made through the Be the Match program this past winter. Cox was one of 400 UMD students to participate in the Be the Match drive, which consisted of a cheek swab to be entered into a digital registry for possible donation opportunities. Cox was a match for a young boy in need of a bone marrow transplant and in January of 2023 the life-saving procedure was conducted. Cox helped organize the Be the Match drive with the campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

Cox is majoring in chemistry and holds a 3.4 GPA as he pursues a career in medical sales.  He is a four-time member of the NSIC All-Academic Team and the 2023-24 recipient of the Shjon Podein Award, an annual award given to a UMD student-athlete who exemplifies leadership and humanitarian contributions in the Duluth and UMD communities.

Past Glen Galligan Award Winners
1948     John “Otto” Klug (RB), MSU Moorhead
1949     John “Otto” Klug (RB), MSU Moorhead
              Jim Richmire (RB), Bemidji State
1950     Bill Campbell (E), St. Cloud State
1951     Jack Buckley (RB), Bemidji State
1952     Manny Beckman (QB), St. Cloud State
1953     Mel Fischer (G), St. Cloud State
1954     Jerry Grebin (RB), Winona State
1955     Bob Kosel (QB), St. Cloud State
1956     Harold Drescher (T), Bemidji State
1957     Dave Mertes (C), Winona State
1958     Lowell Glynn (L), Mankato State
1959     No Award
1960     Andrew Jackson (C), St. Cloud State
1961     Gale Sprute (LB), Winona State
1962     Roger Meyer (OT), Mankato State
1963     Bruce Bausman (E), MSU Moorhead
1964     Don Thompson (HB), Bemidji State
1965     Ray Walsh (DB), Winona State
1966     Tom Csmarich (RB), Michigan Tech
1967     Jim Leitzke (LB), Mankato State
1968     Bill McNary (DT), Winona State
1969     Alex Pociask (C), Michigan Tech
1970     Jerry LaJeunesse (DB), Michigan Tech
1971     Larry Ras (RB), Michigan Tech
1972     Tom Bergner (QB), Minnesota-Morris
1973     Tim Mullaney (OG), Winona State
1974     Dan Rhude (OG), Michigan Tech
1975     Tom Van Wagner (OG), Michigan Tech
1976     Jim Van Wagner (RB), Michigan Tech
1977     Mark Williamson (OG), Minnesota-Morris
1978     Keith Nord (DB), St. Cloud State
1979     Bob Stouffer (LB), Winona State
1980     Mark Reed (QB), MSU Moorhead
1981     Dave Tuomi (DT), MSU Moorhead
1982     Pat Cox (OG), MSU Moorhead
             Todd Roden (OG), Minnesota-Morris
1983     Reggie Johnson (RB), Winona State
1984     Dan Koster (QB), Southwest State
             Mike Kraetsch (DT), Minnesota-Morris
1985     Dale Mehr (QB), Minnesota-Morris
1986     Mike Ross (RB), Minnesota-Morris
              Matt Wellumson (DT), Bemidji State
1987     Randy Knecht (TE), Northern State
1988     Mike Peterson (QB), Minnesota-Morris
             Bruce Saugstad (FS), Southwest State
1989     Brad Shamla (DE), MSU Moorhead
1990     Rod Leman (QB), Minnesota-Morris
1991     Wayne Wicka (DE), Winona State
1992     Marty Follis (QB), Bemidji State
1993     Matt Juhl (LB), Bemidji State
             Ed May (OT), Northern State
1994     Nate Gruber (SS), Winona State
1995     Preston Cunningham (WR), Southwest State
1996     Eric Lee (DE), Southwest State
1997     John Porisch (OL), Northern State
1998     Bart Johnson (DT), MSU Moorhead
1999     Jason Jacobs (DT), Southwest State
2000     Andrew Fleischman (OG), Concordia-St. Paul
2001     Steven Brandt (CB), Minnesota Crookston
2002     Bruce Carpenter (QB), Winona State
2003     Tim Battaglia (WR), Minnesota Duluth
2004     Blaine Thomas (OT), Bemidji State
2005     Nathan Sannes (QB), Bemidji State
2006     John Tackmann (LB), Winona State
2007     Tyler Fischer (LB), Southwest Minnesota State
2008     Tyler Reed (S), Southwest Minnesota State
2009    Silas Fluellen (QB), Wayne State
            Marcus Greatens (OL), Winona State
2010    Dan Schoen (OL), Augustana
2011    Casey Popenfoose (LB), Upper Iowa
2012    Richard Daniel (DL), Wayne State
2013    Phillip Klaphake (QB), St. Cloud State
2014    Ryan Gerts (LB), Winona State
2015    CJ Ham (RB), Augustana
2016    Jameson Parsons (WR), St. Cloud State
2017    Jacob Krause (OL), Bemidji State
2018    Jon Dicke (DL), Southwest Minnesota State
2019    Alex Goettl (LB), Minnesota State
2020    No Award
2021    Logan Swanson, Augustana
2022    Carter Duxbury, Winona State
2023    Clay Schueffner, Winona State
2024   Curtis Cox, Minnesota Duluth

About the NSIC
The NSIC is a 15-team, 18-sport, NCAA Division II conference with institutions located in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The NSIC is a model Division II conference that uses high-level athletics competition to develop champions in the classroom and community while empowering student-athletes to be impactful and positive leaders. Formed in 1992 by the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men’s league) and the Northern Sun Conference (women’s league), the NSIC has flourished over the past quarter century, maturing into a union of Upper Midwest colleges and universities. The NSIC has won 27 team national championships and crowned 116 individual national champions. For additional information, visit NorthernSun.org.

About NCAA Division II
The NCAA, the national governing body for college athletics, is a volunteer association of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that classify their athletics programs in one of three membership divisions. The 300+ institutions in NCAA Division II support a balanced approach in which student-athletes can earn scholarships based on their athletic ability, pursue their desired academic degree, and participate in all the campus and surrounding community have to offer. Division II student-athletes annually graduate at rates higher than their student body peers, and they have access to the best championships-participant ratio among the NCAA’s three divisions. Division II gives student-athletes the unique opportunity to compete in the classroom, on the field, in their career, for their causes, and on their terms. For additional information, visit NCAA.org.