LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Colorado State University Pueblo redshirt senior receiver Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College) is among 36 nominees for the 2025 Harlon Hill Trophy, the NCAA Division II football equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.
 
Retzlaff, who was a finalist for last year's award, is one of 12 nominees from Super Region Four, which includes schools from the Great American Conference (GAC), the Lone Star Conference (LSC), the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) make up the 43-team NCAA Super Region Four this season.

The sports information directors at the 159 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions nominate and vote on the award. The 38 initial candidates will be placed on regional ballots, and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional voting concludes on Monday, December 1.

During the 2025 season, Retzlaff, who repeated as a First-Team All-RMAC selection, ranked second in the league in receiving yards (922), yards per game (92.2) and receiving touchdowns (15) and led the league in receptions (68), and receptions per game (6.8). He also ranks third in scoring with an average of 9.0 points per game and is fifth in all-purpose yards per game (92.2).

On the season, Retzlaff, who was the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week and NFF Colorado Chapter Player of the Week following the Colorado School of Mines game, set the school's career marks for receptions (183), receiving yards (2,955) and receiving touchdowns (39), along with setting new single-season school records this season for receptions (68) and touchdowns (15) and had a single-game school record 14 receptions in the regular season finale against 22nd-ranked Chadron State and is second on the school's all-time scoring chart with 234 points. He recorded two or more touchdown receptions in six games and had four games this season with seven or more receptions.

He leads all Colorado football receivers (all levels) in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Retzlaff, who is one of two players in school history to record 1,000 or more receiving yards in a season, had a team-best 16 plays of 20 or more yards, including three touchdown receptions of 20 or more yards. At the end of the regular season, Retzlaff, who was named the 2024 RMAC Offensive Player of the Year, is the active Division II leader in career touchdown receptions (39) and is third among active D-II players in career receiving yards (2,955) and is the D-II active leader in career receiving yards per game (92.3). Additionally, he is seventh among all active D-II players in career touchdowns with 39, which is fourth in the state of Colorado history. He also tallied 11 career games with 100 or more receiving yards, including a school record 241 yards in last season's opener at South Dakota Mines.
 
Last season, Retzlaff finished seventh in the voting for the 2024 Harlon Hill Award and is the lone finalist from last season to be nominated this season.

Retzlaff is one three receivers that have been nominated for this year's Harlon Hill Trophy, including one of two receivers nominated from Super Region Four.

The 36 initial nominees will be pared down to eight national finalists – two from each of the four NCAA Super Regions – before a winner is announced on Friday, Dec. 19

The trophy, which began in 1986, is named for the late Harlon Hill, a University of North Alabama star who went on to fame in the NFL with the Chicago Bears. It is sponsored and presented by the Little Rock Touchdown Club and Great American Conference.

In addition to Retzlaff, the other nominees from the RMAC for the 2025 Harlon Hill Trophy are Black Hills State junior receiver TJ Chukwurah, New Mexico Highlands freshman running back Jeffery Jones, South Dakota Mines senior safety Will Lester and Western Colorado senior quarterback Drew Nash.

The other nominees from Super Region Four are Southern Arkansas junior punter/kicker Jay Todd Baker, Henderson State senior quarterback Andrew Edwards, UT Permian Basin junior linebacker Tristian Exline, Central Washington junior quarterback Kennedy McGill, West Texas A&M senior quarterback RJ Martinez, Harding junior running back Andrew Miller, and Texas A&M-Kingsville senior quarterback Jack Turner.

Central Missouri's Zach Zebrowski repeated as the 2024 winner and became the fifth repeat winner in award history.

This year's initial list of 36 nominees features 20 seniors, 11 juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen. In addition, the list includes 16 quarterbacks, 10 running backs, three wide receivers, three linebackers, a defensive lineman, a safety, a tight end and a punter/kicker. In addition, 17 nominees played on teams that qualified for the NCAA D-II playoffs and 10 advanced to the second round.

Retzlaff helped lead the Pack football team to a 10-2 overall record and a 9-0 mark in the RMAC as the Pack repeated as RMAC Champions and earned its 10th all-time league title. The Pack, who is ranked No. 4 in the AFCA Division II Coaches' Poll, earned the No. 3 seed in the Super Region Four and fell 37-24 in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs last Saturday at home in the ThunderBowl to 10th-ranked UT Permian Basin.