NORTHAMPTON – on Sunday night, the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame held their 64th Annual Scholar-Athlete dinner at Northampton Community Center.
The dinner recognizes 34 high schools and six local colleges from the Poconos and Lehigh Valley region.
This year’s main speaker was Lafayette football coach John Troxell, who was the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the Leopards to a 9-3 record, a co-championship, and an FCS playoff berth.
After his speech, the president of the Chapter, Tony Cocca announced the winners.
First up was the Mike Gurdineer Memorial “Coach Guut” Lineman of the Year Award. The winner of the Lineman Of the Year Award was Nazareth’s Sean Kinney. And what a weekend for Kinney.
On Saturday, he was named outstanding wrestler and won his fourth regional title at the PIAA Northeast 3A Regional tournament. He is the 13th District 11 wrestler to accomplish the feat. Kinney will be wrestling for his third state title later this week. He is an all-state lineman and committed to Lafayette for football.
The Small School Scholar Athlete award went to Palmerton’s Matt Machalik. Matt finished his career passing for 6,055 yards and rushing for 5,447 yards. He became the first player in Pennsylvania history to eclipse 5,000 yards in both passing and rushing. Matt is committed to Lehigh University.
The Big School Scholar Athlete award went to Parkland’s Trey Tremba. Trey, an all-state running back, led the Trojans to a 12-1 record. He rushed for 1,844 yards and 30 total touchdowns his senior year. Trey is committed to Army.
Here is the list of high school and college athletes.
High School Scholar Athletes Of The Lehigh Valley
Allen – Jackson Matos-Baez
Bangor Area – Noah Hillis
Bethlehem Catholic – Sammy Ayache
Catasauqua – Ian Juica
Central Catholic – Nathan Schultz
Dieruff – Jordey Guzman
East Stroudsburg North – Edyen Perez
East Stroudsburg South – Jeremiah Derival
Easton Area – Collin Torres
Emmaus – Mario Landino
Executive Education Academy – Ackylis Oyola
Freedom – Gabriel Scotto-Dicesare
Jim Thorpe Area – Noah Rosahac
Lehighton Area – Dylan Moyer
Liberty – Silas Licsko
Nazareth Area – Sean Kinney
Northampton Area – Alex Slivka
Northern Lehigh – Chase Michael Moffitt
Northwestern Lehigh – Devon Hildebrand
Notre Dame – Daniel Darno
Palisades – Kyle Kirsch
Palmerton Area – Matt Machalik
Parkland – Trey Tremba
Pen Argyl Area – Kael Elias Grim
Phillipsburg – Marvelous Shabi
Pleasant Valley – Aaron Rehrig
Pocono Mountain East – Ethan Zheng
Pocono Mountain West – Ryder Bray
Salisbury – George Spann
Saucon Valley – Prince Aris
Southern Lehigh – John “Jack” Inglis
Stroudsburg – Stoney Fuller-Bey
Whitehall – Trey Dogmantis
Wilson Area – Marcel Days
College Scholar Athletes Of The Lehigh Valley
East Stroudsburg University – Daryn Blackwell
Kutztown University – Tyler Whary
Lafayette College – Justin Mitala
Lehigh University – Jalen Burbage
Moravian University – Colin Conway
Muhlenberg College – Griffin Zobel
