Illinois Wesleyan

AT LINCOLN HS: Four year letterwinner in basketball ... One year letterwinner in cross country ... Earned Central State Eight All-Conference ... Named basketball team captain ... Assisted team to earning conference championship title as a senior ...

PERSONAL: Benjamin (Ben) Matthew Grunder ... Born April 28, 2000 ... Majoring in business (marketing) at Illinois Wesleyan ... Son of Eric and Rachel Grunder ... Ben's biological father, Brett Papoccia, played defensive end at Illinois State University and his uncle, Andrew Papoccia, also played football at ISU and is the head coach of the Parma Panthers, a professional football team in Italy ... Grandfather Mike Papoccia is a high school football coach football coach at Sterling Newman with five state championships and over 300 wins ... Other interests are fishing, hunting, trapping, hiking, drawing and reading ...