Two University of Montana football players, Brandon Fisher and Erik Stoll, have been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII (University Division) squad as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Their names are now forwarded to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration.

The Grizzlies also had three players named to the second team: Andrew Selle, Alex Verlanic and Bryan Waldhauser.

Fisher, a senior linebacker from Franklin, Tenn., has started seven games for the second-ranked Grizzlies and maintains a 3.92 GPA in business. He is UM’s third-leading tackler with 39 stops.

A junior strong safety from Sandpoint, Idaho, Stoll carries a 3.95 GPA in biology, and he was also an all-district academic selection last year. He has started all eight games for the 8-0 Grizzlies and is second on the team with 43 tackles.

From Billings, Selle has started six of eight games at quarterback and has a 3.73 GPA in math. He has passed for 1,385 yards and 14 touchdowns and is ranked fifth in the FCS in passing efficiency (159.59).

Verlanic, a Drummond native, has started all eight games for a Grizzly team that is ranked 10th in the nation in total offense (432.88 yards a game). Verlanic maintains a 3.61 GPA in business.

A sophomore defensive tackle from Worden, Waldhauser carries a 3.50 GPA in business. He has played in all eight games and is the Grizzlies’ 13th leading tackler with 19 stops.

Montana’s five first- and second-team selections were second only to North Dakota’s six in a region that includes the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado and Wyoming.

Five of the nine players that Montana had nominated to the prestigious ESPN The Magazine academic team were named to the first or second squad.

Other players nominated by UM included senior tight end Dan Beaudin (3.54 GPA in education), senior linebacker Shawn Lebsock (3.46 in business), sophomore linebacker Caleb McSurdy (3.41 in communications) and sophomore linebacker Alex Shaw (3.76 in business).