Ryan Stuffelbeam, a two-sport standout who was a four-year football and three-year baseball starter, graduated from Knox in 1998. He won several awards and is listed in the record books numerous times for his accomplishments in both sports.
Ryan’s football career includes five all-time top 10 rushing marks, including three in the top five. He has the second highest average yards per carry in a career at Knox with 5.51 between 1994 and 1997. He’s also second for highest yards per carry in a season all-time, with 6.11 in 1996 and #2 on the career list for fewest carries to 1,000 yards rushing with 177.
In addition, Ryan ranks ninth for highest average yards per carry in a season all-time at Knox with 5.31 in 1997, 10th for highest average yards per carry in a season all-time with 5.29 in 1994, and he’s 11th all-time for career rushing yards with 1,544. He was also among the team leaders in touchdowns all four years he played.
Ryan was named Second-Team All-Midwest Conference as a running back in 1997.
He left his mark on the baseball program at Knox as well, setting four offensive records. Ryan is the career leader in home runs (19), runs batted in (89), total bases (191), and slugging percentage (.768). His slugging percentage is also #3 all-time in Midwest Conference history.
Ryan had a career batting average of .391, including a .494 average in 1998, which ranks third all-time at Knox. He’s second all-time at Knox for RBIs in a season with 37 in 1997, tied for fifth all-time with 32 RBIs in 1998; his 10 home runs in 1998 ranks third for the most in a season; his seven home runs in 1997 is tied for fifth all-time; he’s second all-time with 13 doubles in 1998; and his three triples in 1997 ties for fourth all-time in a season.
Ryan was named the Midwest Conference South Division Co-Player of the Year as an outfielder in 1998, and he was named First-Team All-Midwest Conference South Division as an outfielder in both 1997 and 1998.
A Lincoln Scholar, Ryan was the recipient of many awards as a student-athlete at Knox. He was the Country Companies Knox College Male Athlete of the Year as a senior; won the Midwest Conference’s prestigious Roy W. LeClere Award for Academic Excellence his senior year; was named the Knox College Outstanding Senior and the Burger King Scholar Athlete as a senior; and won the Zetterberg Trophy for Men, the K Club Award, and the Hunter Trophy his senior year. He was an Academic All-American and Academic All-Midwest Conference selection in both football and baseball.
Following graduation from Knox, Ryan went on to earn his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Iowa. He was a visiting professor at Boston College and Ohio State University before accepting a tenure track position at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.
