Cal Lutheran Football Players Selected to All-Academic Team

Cal Lutheran football players Tom Pellegrino, Chris Sestito and Mike Sylvester have been selected to the GTE All-District VIII Academic All-American team in the college division by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

The three were outstanding players on a defense that ranked ninth in the nation against the rush (78.4 yards per game), helping the Kingsmen to their best finish in six years (5-5). The players also were outstanding in the classroom, maintaining better than 3.0 grade-point averages.

Pellegrino, a 5-foot-11, 235-pound junior lineman, is an English major with a 3.21 GPA. Pellegrino had at least four tackles in every game and 67 for the season, including 12 sacks. In a 21-10 win over Redlands in the season finale, Pellegrino had nine tackles (four unassisted) and three sacks for 18 yards.

Sestito, a 6-1, 205-pound junior linebacker, is a business administration major with a 3.26 GPA. Sestito was second on the team in tackles with 91 and had three interceptions.

Sylvester, a business administration major with a 3.58 GPA, has made the Cal Lutheran dean’s list for four semesters and was honored as a national scholar-athlete for small colleges by College Preview magazine earlier this year.

The 6-1, 190-pound senior defensive back intercepted four passes for 82 yards, broke up seven passes, forced three fumbles, recovered one and had 57 tackles (24 unassisted and three for losses).

The players will be considered along with selections from the country’s other seven districts for a national academic college division team. That vote is scheduled for Dec. 9.