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UW's Tryon joins Molden, Onwuzurike as First-Team All-America selections

The University of Washington's vaunted defense has collected a lot of recognition in a short amount of time.
Dan Raley|
UW's Tryon joins Molden, Onwuzurike as First-Team All-America selections
UW's Tryon joins Molden, Onwuzurike as First-Team All-America selections

This latest University of Washington defense keeps getting better and better each week. If only the Huskies can get these guys together in a game situation in this pandemic world and show everybody what they can do.

Joe Tryon became the third UW defensive player selected as a first-teamer on one of the preseason All-America teams, the junior outside linebacker from Renton, Washington, turning up on Phil Steele's elite listing. 

He joins senior cornerback Elijah Molden, who earlier this summer was named to the first teams of the Walter Camp and The Sporting News preseason listings; and senior defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike, who was selected to Athlon Sports' first unit.

All three of these Huskies received some sort of Phil Steele All-American recognition, with Onwuzurike placed on the second team and Molden put on the third team. 

At the close of a season, the UW only twice in its history has had two defensive players finish as first-team All-Americans.

In 1991, defensive tackle Steve Emtman and inside linebacker Dave Hoffmann were chosen together as first-teamers by Playboy Magazine and the Football Writers Association.

In 2014, defensive tackle Danny Shelton and outside linebacker Hau'oli Kikiha both ended up on the first team of what is considered the holy grail of All-America teams — the Associated Press.

The 6-foot-5, 262-pound Tryon, who has changed his number from 9 to 7, comes off a standout season in which he was a second-team All-Pac-12 choice. In 2019, he finished as the UW leader in tackles for loss (12.5) and sacks (8.0). 

This was Tryon's second preseason honor after he earlier was picked to The Sporting News' second team. 

Molden from West Linn, Oregon, comes off a season in which he was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection, as was Onwuzurike, who hails from Allen, Texas. Molden led the Huskies in tackles in 2019 with 70 and interceptions with four. Onwuzurike had 45 tackles. 

On Monday, Onwuzurike and Molden were named to the preseason watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, while Molden is also a candidate for the Campbell Trophy.

On paper so far, this Husky looks fearsome. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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