Academic All-America Teams

GOLDEN, Colo. - John Matocha is the Academic All-American of the Year and Mason Karp a First-Team Academic All-American in the College Sports Communicators' annual teams announced Tuesday. 

Both Matocha and Karp were named First-Team Academic All-Americans in recognition of their outstanding combination of academic and athletic achievement in 2022. Matocha becomes Mines' second Academic All-American of the Year in football (Clay Garcia won in both 2010 and 2011) and the sixth different Oredigger to receive the nation's highest scholar-athlete award in any sport.

Matocha is a repeat first-team recipient, while Karp is honored for the first time. Mines Football now has 27 all-time Academic All-America awards, including in 12 consecutive seasons. 

Matocha, a senior computer science major with a 3.61 GPA, becomes just the fifth player in history to win both Academic All-American of the Year and the Harlon Hill Award in the same season. He was also the D2CCA Ron Lenz National Offensive Player of the Year and both D2CCA and Associated Press First-Team All-America, and was both the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year and Academic Player of the Year. Matocha ended the season with a program-record 4,778 passing yards, 52 passing touchdowns, and five rushing touchdowns on 443 yards. He had a national-leading 23 total touchdowns produced in the postseason. His 5,221 total yards are the third-most ever in a seson in NCAA Division II, and his touchdown passes are tied for sixth-most. Matocha ended up leading NCAA Division II in passing yards, touchdowns, and efficiency as well as points responsible for.

Karp, a graduate student in engineering & technology mangement after earning his bachelor's in mechanical engineering with a 3.95 GPA. One of Matocha's favorite targets with 61 catches for 740 yards and six touchdowns in 2022, Karp was a key contributor out of the slot as he put up career numbers. Karp closed his Mines career with 1,805 receiving yards on 168 catches with 11 end zone trips, averaging 45.1 yards per game and 10.7 yards per catch in 40 career games. 

Academic All-Americans are selected by the nation's sports information directors. Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above while carrying a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average.