The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) has announced the 2025-26 CCHA Student-Athlete of the Year and Lucas Wahlin (St. Thomas) has been recognized. The winner of the annual award is voted on by the conference's Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs).

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Wahlin (Woodbury, Minn.), a senior forward and three-time captain for the Tommies, volunteers for a local hockey club in the Twin Cities, introducing kids to the sport during J-terms and summer. He also runs a separate series of shooting clinics for kids in the summer. Recently, he spoke at the Minnesota Wild Leadership Summit to young student-athletes about what it means to be a student-athlete and a leader. He also has organized his teammates to volunteer as readers at JFK Elementary, to help kids that have fallen behind. 

“Lucas embodies our culture on and off the ice," said Tommies head coach Rico Blasi. "His ability to navigate his rigorous coursework while continuing to lead our team is impressive.”

Beyond his excellent academic record (every semester he was on the Dean’s list), which includes a 3.85 GPA in Business Management, Wahlin is the all-time D1 program record holder at St. Thomas in goals, assists, and points. He was the first Tommie in program history to 100 points, and the the first to 50 goals. He currently leads the CCHA with 18 goals and is tied for fifth in the nation at 0.69 goals per game. He reached 30 points last weekend for the third time in his career, a program best. A two-time CCHA Forward of the Week this season along with Forward of the Month for January, he has two Forward of the Month honors and four Forward of the Week honors during his career. 

In 129 career games, Wahlin has 53 goals an 72 assists for 125 points. He is a +26 with seven power-play goals, five shorthanded tallies and eight game-winners.

Previous CCHA Student-Athlete of the Year honorees include: Alex Tracy (Minnesota State in 2024-25), Blake Pietila (Michigan Tech in 2023-24), Brendan Furry (Minnesota State in 2022-23) and Ben Newhouse (Northern Michigan in 2021-2022).

Perry Laskaris 

Director of Strategic Communications & Brand Advancement 
Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) 
Laskaris@ccha.com 
(651) 308-1065