(UND Athletics) KFGO, GRAND FORKS, ND. – With North Dakota kicking off the 2023 season in 10 days, the Fighting Hawks announced the team captains for the season on Wednesday morning. As voted by their peers, Bo Belquist, Ted Mullin, Tommy Schuster, C.J. Siegel and Donny Ventrelli were all selected as team captains.

Belquist has appeared in 28 games as a Fighting Hawk with 15 starts at wide receiver. In the UND Division I record books, Belquist ranks fifth in career receptions with 140. His mark also ties for ninth in the overall program records section. In 2022, Belquist saw action at receiver in every game and started eight of them. He finished the year ranked No. 3 in the MVFC in receptions per game (5.2), while hauling in a team-highs in receptions (63), receiving yards (811) and receiving touchdowns (6). He tied for No. 4 in the MVFC with his six receiving touchdowns. Belquist recorded two games with at least 100 yards receiving, putting up 100 yards receiving in the 34-31 win over Abilene Christian and 102 yards at No. 4 North Dakota State. He also returned four punts for 78 yards, highlighted by a 61-yard punt return against No. 1 South Dakota State. At the end of the year, he garnered Second Team All-MVFC honors. Coming into 2023, Belquist received recognition as a First Team Preseason All-MVFC selection and as a Phil Steele Second Team Preseason All-MVFC honoree.

Mullin was a team captain in 2022 and returns as a captain in 2023. Last season, he started all 12 games at inside linebacker and piled up 29 total tackles. He was fifth on the team in tackles-for-loss with 3.5 for nine yards and piled up a season-best seven stops at Nebraska to go with a half a sack for five yards. On the year, he was credited with three quarterback hurries and broke up a pass in the 34-31 win over Abilene Christian. Entering the 2023 season, Mullin was UND’s nomination for the 2023 Allstate Good Works Team.

Schuster has started every game at quarterback the last three seasons for North Dakota after seeing action in three games as a true freshman. Last season, he cemented his place in UND history as the all-time record holder for passing yards in a career (6,819), all-time completions (635) and Division I touchdown passes thrown (44). In 2022, he ranked No. 2 in the MVFC and No. 8 nationally in completion percentage, completing 68.8 percent of his passes. He also averaged 20.92 completions per game to rank second in the conference in that category. Last year, he was 251-for-365 passing for 20 touchdowns while only throwing five interceptions. He threw at least one touchdown pass in every game in 2022 and threw for a season-high 297 yards in the 29-27 win in the Potato Bowl USA Game over No. 24 Northern Iowa. He also gained MVFC Co-Offensive Player of the Week accolades on Nov. 14 after going 24-for-28 passing for 223 yards and three scores in the 28-19 win over South Dakota. At the end of the season, he was named honorable mention All-MVFC, earned the MVFC President’s Council Academic Award, was named to the NFF Hampshire Honor Society and had Second Team MVFC All-Academic honors. Coming into 2023, Schuster has a career completion percentage of 66.3 percent, which ranks third all-time at UND. He was named Third Team Preseason All-MVFC by Phil Steele and received recognition as a Preseason All-MVFC honorable mention selection. He enters the year as one of 35 players named to the Walter Payton Award Watchlist.

Siegel returns as a team captain in 2023, after serving as a captain in 2022. He has 40 starts at defensive back in his UND career, while also appearing in 44 contests. In North Dakota’s Division I record books, Siegel is tied for sixth in career interceptions with five and sits tied for seventh in career pass breakups with 21. Last season, he started all 12 games at defensive back and piled up 46 total tackles to rank fifth on the team. He led the team and tied for No. 4 in the MVFC in pass breakups with eight, while also intercepting two passes. Siegel racked up 79 interception return yards to rank No. 3 in the conference, highlighted by a 50-yard interception return for touchdown in the 27-24 win at Northern Arizona. He also returned 15 kickoffs for 436 yards, averaging 29.07 yards per kickoff return. His kickoff return yardage not only led the conference but also sat No. 7 nationally. He has a nose for the football and blocked two field goal attempts on the season and garnered Second Team All-MVFC status at the end of 2022. Entering 2023, Siegel was named a Third Team Preseason All-American by Phil Steele, while also being named First Team Preseason All-MVFC by the publication as both a defensive back and as a return specialist. Siegel also received Second Team Preseason All-MVFC nods as a defensive back and return specialist.

Ventrelli also returns as a team captain in 2023. He started every game at left tackle in 2022 and has received 38 starts in his career, while appearing in 40 contests on the offensive line. In 2022, Ventrelli’s blocking helped UND’s quarterbacks to a completion percentage of 67.1 percent to rank No. 2 in the MVFC and No. 11 nationally. He helped the Fighting Hawks lead the league and sit No. 8 in the country in time of possession with 33:23 minutes of clock per game. With the help of his blocking, the Hawks scored 91.5 percent of the time when in the red zone, which ranked No. 6 in the nation in 2022. He was named the MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week on Nov. 7 after the 42-7 win at Indiana State and garnered Second Team All-MVFC accolades at the end of the season. Coming into 2023, Ventrelli was named First Team Preseason All-MVFC and was also a first team selection by Phil Steele.