After incomes his undergraduate diploma at St. Cloud State with plans for a doctorate in dentistry, SCSU defenseman Josh Luedtke has been chosen the 2025 recipient of the NCHC’s annual postgraduate scholarship.
Luedtke is simply the second Husky to obtain the scholarship, with each coming within the final three years (Aidan Spellacy in 2023).
Luedtke accomplished his bachelor’s diploma in biomedical sciences from St. Cloud State this previous Could, ending with a 3.91 grade-point common. He was named an NCHC distinguished scholar-athlete all 4 years at school for sustaining at the very least a 3.5 GPA every season, whereas accumulating CSC educational all-district accolades after his sophomore and junior campaigns. The Minnetonka, Minn., native additionally earned dean’s checklist at SCSU all eight semesters for having achieved at the very least a 3.75 GPA.
Luedtke was tabbed a finalist for the NCHC’s senior scholar-athlete award and the NCHC sportsmanship award for the 2024-25 season. As well as, he was certainly one of 14 nominees for the Hockey Humanitarian Award in 2025.
“The convention is honored to current Josh with this yr’s NCHC postgraduate scholarship,” stated NCHC commissioner Heather Weems in a information launch. “Attaining a excessive degree of success in a troublesome biomedical sciences curriculum whereas main his hockey group exhibits the type of individual Josh is. I’ve little question Josh may have success in dental faculty and can proceed to make a distinction in his neighborhood by means of his responsive and compassionate strategy to affected person care.”
On the ice, Luedtke served as group captain for the Huskies in 2024-25 after sporting an ‘A’ as a junior. He completed his school profession with 43 factors from the blue line in 137 profession video games. Luedtke scored 12 objectives and added 31 assists as a Husky, together with three objectives and 5 assists as a senior. The captain blocked 143 pictures in his SCSU profession, together with a career-best 55 this previous season, and completed with a plus-24 plus/minus score. Luedtke additionally helped SCSU win the 2023 Frozen Faceoff as a sophomore.
Following his school profession, Luedtke signed with the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates, taking part in in 5 video games to shut the season in April.
“Throughout my time at St. Cloud State College, it has solidified my ardour for healthcare, significantly within the discipline of dentistry, the place I see the chance to make the most of team-oriented expertise and scientific data in a patient-centered care setting,” Luedtke wrote in his scholarship nomination. “My final dream is to attend dental faculty and change into a training dentist who contributes to enhancing oral well being in needy communities.”
Alongside together with his onerous work within the classroom and on the ice, Luedtke has constantly given again to his neighborhood and overseas. In highschool, he volunteered at Be the Change, serving meals to these in want. Final August, Luedtke and teammate Jack Reimann traveled to Hungary as a part of Hockey Ministries Worldwide, the place they helped lead a Christian hockey camp for youngsters. Luedtke additionally has expertise within the medical discipline, working as a private care assistant at MRCI for somebody with autism.
“Through the years, my religion, coronary heart to serve others, and my experiences have all led me to dentistry. I need to work at it with all my coronary heart to make a distinction in individuals’s lives, altering smiles with objective and compassion,” Luedtke stated.
The NCHC’s postgraduate scholarship is funded by a grant from the El Pomar Basis in Colorado Springs, which has additionally supported the NCHC by offering its workplace headquarters on the grounds of the Penrose Home and serving to cowl the price of the Penrose Cup, the NCHC’s regular-season trophy. Luedtke’s scholarship quantity can be $7,500.
“The NCHC membership is grateful for the continued help of the El Pomar Basis and its board of administrators.” Weems stated. “Together with our victories on the ice, it’s additionally necessary to acknowledge our success tales within the classroom. We’re completely happy to share in awarding this honor with El Pomar.”
“I view this chance not solely as an funding in my training but additionally as a duty to provide again to the neighborhood by means of future service and management within the dental occupation,” Luedtke concluded in his nomination.
To be eligible for the NCHC’s postgraduate scholarship, the student-athlete should be a senior or grad pupil on his group’s official NCAA hockey roster with at the very least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point common, who plans to proceed his educational research past his undergraduate diploma. The recipient should enroll in a postgraduate diploma program inside three years of receiving the scholarship to gather the monetary help. The winner is chosen by a vote of the NCHC’s college athletics representatives from among the many nominees submitted by every faculty’s FAR. 5 nominations have been submitted in 2025.
PREVIOUS NCHC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS2016 – Gabe Levin, Denver2017 – Aaron Hadley, WMU and Kirk Thompson, Omaha2018 – Joel Messner, Omaha2019 – Ryan Galt, Omaha2020 – Erich Concern, Denver2021 – Kale Bennett, Western Michigan2022 – Jason Smallidge, Omaha2023 – Aidan Spellacy, St. Cloud State2024 – Kirby Proctor, Omaha2025 – Josh Luedtke, St. Cloud State
