SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State men’s soccer standout Matthew Bentley was announced Monday (June 22) as the recipient of the university’s 2020 Virgil Cheek Award.
The annual honor is bestowed on the graduating Missouri State University male student-athlete best demonstrating high qualities in scholarship, character, attendance, leadership and athletic performance. The award has been presented annually since 1955 and is named in honor of the long-time Missouri State faculty athletics representative and business faculty member.
Voting is conducted by Missouri State’s six men’s intercollegiate athletics head coaches.
Bentley graduated magna cum laude in May with a 3.94 grade-point average in Economics. He was selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-America first team and was a semifinalist for the Mac Hermann Trophy in 2019.
The London native was named 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was an All-MVC first teamer. He also landed on the first team of the All-West Region after leading the MVC in goals (15), points (34), and game-winning goals (6) his senior season.
His six game-winning goals, including the clincher in the NCAA Tournament win over Denver, tied for the most in school history while his single-season total for goals and points ranked second and third, respectively. He closed out MSU’s perfect 2019 regular season with an eight-game scoring streak during which he scored 11 goals. At the conclusion of his collegiate career, Bentley was drafted by Minnesota United FC in the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft.
Other finalists for this year’s award were Keandre Cook (basketball) and Antonio Thomas (swimming and diving).
Bentley is the fourth soccer player in the last nine years – and sixth all-time — to earn this prestigious student-athlete honor.
#MSUBears
Past Virgil Cheek Award Recipients
• 1955 Jerry Anderson, basketball, track
• 1956 Ron Whitaker, football
• 1957 George Simpson, track
• 1958 Max Oldham, basketball
• 1959 Russ Robinson, basketball
• 1960 Charlie Finley, football, track
• 1961 Jerry Stockard, basketball
• 1962 Carl Wilks, basketball
• 1963 Edsel Matthews, basketball
• 1964 Rich Johanningmeier, football
• 1965 Jerry Boyer, football
• 1966 Dan Young, football
• 1967 Bill Douglass, football, track
• 1968 Dennis Scott, football
• 1969 Danny Cook, baseball
• 1970 Bill Lamberson, track
• 1971 Chuck Williams, basketball
• 1972 Bob Curl, basketball, track
• 1973 Eric Thompson, basketball
• 1974 Randy Magers, basketball, baseball
• 1975 Bob Grana, football
• 1976 Kent Stringer, football
• 1977 John Prasuhn, track, cross country
• 1978 Terry Kasper, football, baseball
• 1979 Ron Snider, baseball
• 1980 Mitch Ware, football
• 1981 Bobby Biser, golf
• 1982 Mark Daniels, football
• 1983 Darrin Newbold, football
• 1984 Anthony Boggs, basketball
• 1985 Brian Smith, basketball
• 1986 Phil Schlegel, basketball
• 1987 Scott Hickox, basketball
• 1988 Preston Estes, football
• 1989 Scott Hartwig, football
• 1990 Chris Stange, basketball
• 1991 Jeff Eiserman, golf
• 1992 Tim McDuffey, football
• 1993 Chad Lakin, baseball
• 1994 Jim Prendergast, wrestling
• 1995 Chad Gardner, cross country, track
• 1996 Dan Kneeshaw, football, baseball
• 1997 Brad Barnes, soccer
• 1998 Neal McNamara, tennis
• 1999 Derek Jensen, football
• 2000 Brad St. Louis, football
• 2001 Matt White, football
• 2002 Jason Ringena, football
• 2003 Blake Boldon, cross country, track
• 2004 Rishi Garbharran, tennis
• 2005 Brad Durham, football
• 2006 Nathan Platz, soccer
• 2007 Mike Radon, football
• 2008 David Tillman, football
• 2009 Chris Playter, baseball
• 2010 Justin Fuehrmeyer, basketball
• 2011 David Arkin, football
• 2012 Heath Melugin, soccer
• 2013 Daily Young, golf
• 2014 Trevor Spangenberg, soccer
• 2015 Caleb Schaffitzel, football
• 2016 Sam Perez, baseball
• 2017 Dylan Cole, football
• 2018 Christopher Heye, swimming
• 2019 Kyle Hiebert, soccer
- 2020, Matthew Bentley, soccer
