ODESSA, Texas – Graduate Student Kenny Hrncir, graduate student Hayden Kelly and senior Dominique Varela have been named to the 2023 Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America team.

Kelly was named to first team defense while Hrncir and Varela earned honorable mention. Kelly had 68 solo tackles with 46 assists for 114 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, recovered a fumble and forced a fumble.  He had six double-figure tackles games including four in  a row.  Kelly also became just the third player in program history to have 200 career tackles.

Kelly was a two-time Lone Star Conference (LSC) Defensive Player of the Week, LSC Linebacker of the Year, All-LSC first team, Dave Campbell's Texas Football All-Texas Non-FBS team, NCAA DII Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) All-Super Region 4 first team, Associated Press All-American second team and D2Football.com Elite 100 Squad Team.  He finished fifth in solo tackles per game (5.7) and 13^th in total tackles per game (9.5) for NCAA DII.

Hrncir completed 55.37% of his passes for 2878 yards and 30 touchdowns while adding 682 yards and eight scores on the ground for 3560 yards in total offense.  He earned the J.W. Rollins Award, given to the Offensive Player of the Year in the Lone Star Conference.

Hrncir was a four-time LSC Offensive Player of the Week, All-LSC first team, 2023 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) All-Super Region 4 second team and set the single-season school records for passing touchdowns, passing yards and total offensive yards.  He finished ranked  eighth in total offense (296.67 ypg), 11th in passing TD's and 23rd in passing yards per game (239.83) for NCAA DII.

Varela has 23 solo tackles with 12 assists for 35 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks.  He is third in the LSC for sacks. 

Varela was the Lone Star Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year, All-LSC second team and 2023 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) All-Super Region 4 second team.

- UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PERMIAN BASIN -