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Wisconsin safety John Torchio named a Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree

Wisconsin safety John Torchio earns another Big Ten award after a stellar senior season with the Badgers.

Matt Belz

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Every year, each team in the Big Ten selects one player to represent the football program for their outstanding citizenship and sportsmanship in competition.

This week, the conference announced the 14 Big Ten Sportsmanship Honorees, and Wisconsin's starting strong safety, John Torchio, was chosen to represent the Badgers. The award is given to the student-athlete who best distinguishes themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior.

Playing in his final year at Wisconsin, Torchio put together the best season of his career on the field and became an integral leader off the field for the Badgers.

This is far from the only honor that Torchio has earned this year after finishing second in the conference in interceptions with five and also tallying 51 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and breaking up five passes. Torchio also tied for the Big Ten lead with two interceptions returned for touchdowns, with one return of 100 yards to begin the season against Illinois State.

Earlier this week, Torchio was recognized as a First-Team All-Big Ten pick by media members for his work on defense. While 11 other Wisconsin Badgers made an All-Big Ten team in some capacity, Torchio and outside linebacker Nick Herbig were the only first-team representatives on the roster.

Known for his ability to generate takeaways, Torchio is nicknamed the jewelry thief by his teammates and coaches. His propensity to create turnovers helped him earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors on October 24 for his two-interception performance versus Purdue.

In addition to being selected for this prestigious sportsmanship award, Torchio was one of 20 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award and one of 10 semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy, given to the top former walk-on in college football.

The California native began his career as a walk-on, forgoing scholarship opportunities from in-state Cal and others to instead join the Badgers, following his older sister Katharine who played soccer at Wisconsin.

A multi-year contributor, Torchio worked his way up from the scout team and earned playing time as a redshirt freshman, including an emergency start against Northwestern in 2019. Since then, Torchio has been a consistent presence in Wisconsin's defensive backfield and one of the more impactful safeties for the Badgers.

Set to graduate this spring, Torchio is a back-to-back Academic All-Big Ten in the classroom, and he will walk with a master's degree in real estate.

Beyond his strong work ethic, excellent academic standing, and strong play on the field, Torchio became one of Wisconsin's top leaders this season too. Jim Leonhard had this to say about the leadership development of Torchio and teammate Keeanu Benton this year in his final Monday press conference as head coach:

"As a coach, all you can ask for is growth and development. They've been making plays in this defense for a long time and anytime you see the off-the-field leadership, the consistency, bringing younger players along, that's what really gets you excited because that's going towards the future of the program. They're both guys who had strong leaders in their position groups for years when they were young. This year, very very aware that they had to be that person and wanted it, and asked advice. Wanted to know how to get it done. Even cooler, it's not naturally who they are. They are more, sit back let others lead, do my job, and to see them really get out of their shell, become more vocal, it's really exciting as a coach."

Congratulations to John Torchio on the award, and you can see the complete list of Big Ten Sportsmanship Honorees below...

  • Alex Palczewski (Illinois)
  • Aaron Casey (Indiana) 
  • Kaevon Merriweather (Iowa)
  • Jakorian Bennett (Maryland) 
  • Olu Oluwatimi (Michigan) 
  • Elijah Collins (Michigan State) 
  • Tanner Morgan (Minnesota) 
  • Matt Masker (Nebraska) 
  • Raymond Niro III (Northwestern) 
  • Kamryn Babb (Ohio State) 
  • Chris Stoll (Penn State)
  • Aidan O’Connell (Purdue) 
  • Noah Vedral (Rutgers) 
  • John Torchio (Wisconsin)  

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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