Brock Goehler '98 is one of the greatest linebackers in the history of the Ripon College football program. One of just two players in the 130-year history of the program to earn First Team All-Conference honors all four years, and the only defensive player to accomplish that feat, Goehler was named Third Team All-American in each of his final two seasons. Inducted into Ripon's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011, Goehler was named Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year during his junior season.

"Brock was one of the smartest linebackers that I've ever coached, and could run down a play from sideline-to-sideline while also being able to plug any hole between the tackles," Ripon Head Football Coach Ron Ernst said. "He played with intense emotion at all times, and opposing running backs certainly knew when it was Brock who made the tackle."

During Goehler's storied career, he amassed 348 career tackles, which is an average of 87 tackles per season. That stood as a school record for four years, and currently ranks second in school history, 23 years after his graduation. He is one of just two players in program history to record more than 300 career tackles, and is just 29 tackles shy of the current school record, while recording 71 more than the third-place total. Goehler is also one of just two players in school history to record at least 100 tackles in more than one season, accomplishing that feat in each of his final two years.

Goehler's finest work came as a junior in 1996 when he registered a career-high 118 tackles, which ranks third in school history for a single season. That season, Goehler led Ripon to the program's first MWC Championship in 14 years, which also marked the first conference title in the storied career of Coach Ernst, who is the all-time winningest coach in MWC history.

"Brock meant a lot to our defense on that 1996 championship team, combining quickness, toughness and smarts as the quarterback of our defense," Ernst said. "He played with tremendous passion and desire and he played for his teammates, who fed off each other."

In order to win that MWC Championship, Ripon needed to earn a victory against Cornell College, which had defeated the Red Hawks by 12 points in a game early that season. They would get their revenge when it mattered however, as Ripon got out to a 26-0 halftime lead in that contest, winning the rematch convincingly by a score of 26-8 in front of a packed house at the friendly confines of Ingalls Field. In that game, Goehler finished with a career-high 19 tackles, which still stands as a single game school record, and included 13 solo tackles. At the conclusion of that season, Goehler became just the second Ripon player to earn MWC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and is the last player to achieve that feat. That season also saw him earn his first of two consecutive NCAA Division-III All-American selections.

A History and Education major from Appleton, Wis., Goehler attended Appleton West High School. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Ripon College in 1998, Goehler went on to earn his Master's of Education in Educational Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2006. Goehler currently lives in the Richmond, Va. area, where he has served as Associate Principal at Holman Middle School for the past six and a half years.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CLICK HERE to view and read all of Ripon's archived '100 For 100' profiles, which will have each profile added to it once it is posted online.