The NCAA News - News and Features

May 26, 1997

Wrestling all-academic teams, individual honors announced

More than 200 wrestlers are listed on division all-academic teams for the past year.

Two national champions, Mark Branch and Eric Guerrero of Oklahoma State, lead the 50 Division I honorees. To be eligible, the National Wrestling Coaches Association requires that a varsity student-athlete have a 3.000 grade-point average or better (based on a 4.000 scale) and that he meet one of the following athletics criteria: (1) win at least 60 percent of his matches; (2) place in the top four at the respective conference meet; (3) qualify for the NCAA championships.

The Division I top 25 academic teams, led by No. 1 Princeton, are ranked by using the GPAs of 10 wrestlers who competed for that institutions in their NCAA qualifier, plus those of two student-athletes who wrestled in at least one varsity match. True freshmen and first-year transfer students are eligible.

The Division II team is led by 134-pound national champion George Thompson of North Dakota State. To be nominated for the team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.000 GPA. He also must be in at least his second full year of school, be a varsity member of his team, demonstrate a high degree of skill and have a minimum of two letters of recommendation (from his academic advisor and coach) submitted on his behalf.

Truman State collected the Division II academic team championship. The team grade-point average is calculated by averaging the cumulative grade-point average of the wrestlers from each team, eight of whom must have competed in their team's national qualifying tournament.

Two individual champions from Division III wrestling champion Augsburg -- 118-pound Henry Gerten and 190-pound Dan Lewandowski -- lead the Division III honorees. To make the Division III squad, student-athletes need a 3.200 GPA or better over the two previous semesters. Consideration also was given to those who did not meet this criterion, but had a 3.200 or better overall GPA. Athletically, wrestlers either must have achieved a season record of .500 or better and placed in the top six in their national qualifier, or won two-thirds or better of their matches.

No team ranking was conducted in Division III.

Following are the division listings of teams (with combined grade-point averages) and individuals who received academic honors in wrestling.

Division I teams

1. Princeton, 3.258; 2. Stanford 3.240; 3. James Madison, 3.143; 4. Central Michigan, 3.080; 5. Appalachian State, 3.040; 6. Wyoming, 3.007; 7. Pennsylvania, 3.000; 8. Duke, 2.894; 9. Brigham Young, 2.971; 10. Northwestern, 2.967.

11. Michigan, 2.960; 12. Minnesota, 2.939; 13. Virginia, 2.928; 14. Oklahoma, 2.912; 15. Penn State, 2.903; 16. Air Force, 2.8833; 17. Maryland, 2.887; 18. Buffalo, 2.844; 19. West Virginia, 2.843; 20. Navy, 2.830.

21. Drexel, 2.815; 22. Oklahoma State, 2.806; 23. Columbia, 2.764; 24. Purdue, 2.744; 25. Army, 2.740.

Division I individuals

First team: Mark Branch, Oklahoma State; Eric Guerrero, Oklahoma State; Steven Schmidt, Oklahoma State; Stephen Neal, Cal State Bakersfield; Tim Hartung, Minnesota; Coby Wright, Cal State Bakersfield; Cody Sanderson, Iowa State; John Withrow, Pittsburgh; Carl Keske, Cornell; Andrei Rodzianko, Pennsylvania.

Second team: Jared Coleman, Brigham Young; Jason Foresman, Virginia Military; Scott Munson, Nebraska; Michael Garofalo, Buffalo; Dane Valdez, Oklahoma; William Reisman, Northwestern; Patrick Coyle, James Madison; Ken Rossi, James Madison; Brian Picklo, Michigan State; Zachary Feldman, Virginia.

Honorable mention: Eric Gross, Buffalo; Christopher Carpino, James Madison; Brad Alderman, Wyoming; Michael Mason, West Virginia; William Lacure, Michigan; Clint Musser, Penn State; Douglas Detrick, James Madison; Jonathan Vaughn, Illinois; Samuel Kline, West Virginia; Angelo Zegarelli, West Virginia; Michael Roller, Oklahoma; Glenn Prtizlaff, Penn State; Brian Maguire, Columbia; Gary Sanderson, Brigham Young; Bryan Matusic, Pittsburgh; James McLean, Rutgers; Shilo Mathill, Wyoming; Brandon Paulson, Minnesota; Biff Walizer, Penn State; Arturo Mazzeo, Buffalo; Samuel Neider, Northwestern; Brad Fenske, Army; Brandon Eggum, Minnesota; Frank Swan, Oklahoma; Greg Schroeder, Brigham Young; Darin Giese, Nebraska; Anthony Mazzurco, Hofstra; Seth Brady, Illinois; William Wineberg, Purdue; Casey Cunningham, Central Michigan.

Division II teams

1. Truman State, 3.228; 2. Colorado School of Mines, 3.216; 3. Pittsburgh-Johnstown, 3.168; 4. Chadron State, 3.162; 5. Wisconsin-Parkside, 3.138; 6. Ashland, 3.059; 7. South Dakota State, 3.002; 8. North Dakota, 2.999; 9. Augustana (South Dakota), 2.946; 10. Western State, 2.942; 11. Fort Hays State, 2.940; Minnesota-Morris, 2.935; Shippensburg, 2.903; North Dakota State, 2.899; 15. Gannon, 2.882.

Division II individuals

First team: Tony Albertelli, Pittsburgh-Johnstown; Kevin Allison, Chadron State; Troy Barbush, Pittsburgh-Johnstown; Troy Brown, Western State; Jason Carter, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville; Shane Carwin, Western State; Joshua Gooch, Fort Hays State; Pat Kelley, Nebraska-Omaha; Brad Kieffer, Truman State; Rick Myers, Chadron State; Tim Pomfret, Ashland; Andrew Riegstad, St. Cloud State; Joshua Sammons, South Dakota State; Mike Schadwinkel, Adams State; Brad Shefchik, Wisconsin-Parkside; Scott Shipman, West Liberty State; Matt Skattum, Northern State; Matt Surber, Central Oklahoma; Roger Spear, Wisconsin-Parkside; John Strittmatter, Pittsburgh-Johnstown; George Thompson, North Dakota State; Jason Wagner, North Dakota.

Second team: Scott Braun, North Dakota; Jason Brilz, Nebraska-Omaha; John Colling, Nebraska-Omaha; Howard Fullhart, South Dakota State; Brent Henriksen, Augustana (South Dakota); Chris Johnson, Central Missouri State; Jaison Klingensmith, Pittsburgh-Johnstown; Andy Lancaster, Southwest State; Kristopher Lynk, Minnesota-Morris; Ryan Marx, St. Cloud State; Jason Moehlman, Central Missouri State; Wayne Mooney, North Dakota State; Todd Schlater, West Liberty State; Shane Schramm, Nebraska-Kearney; Travis Shives, Mankato State; John Simpson, Colorado School of Mines; Ryan Thorpe, Northern State; Joseph Veres, Ashland; Chad Wickman, South Dakota State.

Honorable mention: Brian Allender, Fort Hays State; Patrick Bergin, Minnesota-Morris; Joseph Capone, Shippensburg; Brian Friedrichs, Minnesota-Morris; Steve Furlong, Ashland; Brian Hanson, Fort Hays State; Jeff Himelspach, Minnesota-Morris; Derrick Hinkle, West Liberty State; Ryan Holgate, Colorado School of Mines; Jonathan Nichols, San Francisco State; Greg Pauling, Minnesota-Morris; Derek Plonka, American International; Mike Ross, Colorado School of Mines; William Rowell, North Dakota; Raymond Price, Fort Hays State; Michael Schultz, Shippensburg; Ted Smith, Mankato State; Kevin Sullivan, American International; Brandon Terry, Nebraska-Kearney; Richard VanOsdol, Indianapolis; Scott Wence, Truman State

Divison III individuals

118-pound class -- Jay Field, Buena Vista; Michael Fry, Simpson; Henry Gerten, Augsburg; Andrew Mundsinger, Cornell College; Jeremy Myers, Messiah; Greg Rinehard, Olivet; Neal Rodak, Chicago; Christopher Talmadge, North Central; Craig Vettori, Springfield; Jack West, Wisconsin-Whitewater.

126-pound class -- Mark Buckland, Olivet; Daniel Cliburn, Illinois College; Mark Dziedzic, Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Eric Gould, Springfield; Brent Henschel, Wisconsin-La Crosse; Jeff Hoopes, Delaware Valley; Jesse Kennedy, Augustana (Illinois); James Martin, Messiah; Rome Seifert, Wisconsin-Whitewater; Chad Tunink, Buena Vista; Timothy Tyler, Rochester Institute of Technology; Martin West, Williams; Matthew Young, Simpson.

134-pound class -- Emmett Blahnik, Wisconsin-Whitewater; Brad Bruhn, Wisconsin-La Crosse; Michael Bruden, Monmouth (Illinois); Leo Carney, Messiah; Quinn Elliott, Upper Iowa; Steve Jones, Cortland State; Tim Kelley, Springfield; Marc Mantell, Williams; Brandon Reichel, Augsburg; Martin Scarpato, Gettysburg.

142-pound class -- John Ashcraft, Oswego State; Anthony Dietrich, Washington and Jefferson; Daniel Geleta, Montclair State; Eric Kampert, Coast Guard; Kevin Lesoine, King's (Pennsylvania); Kevin Miller, Wartburg; Douglas Patete, Messiah; Kelly Patterson, Binghamton; Nathaniel Skaar, Luther; Adam Thronson, Augsburg; Steven Uydess, Wesleyan (Connecticut); Jon Wierzbicki, Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

150-pound class -- Tyler Bush, Wabash; Jeffrey Campbell, Olivet; David Devine, Elizabethtown; Robert Huang, Case Reserve; Benjamin Kulbartz, Coe; Joseph Maiani, Ohio Northern; Thomas Massaro, Rochester Institute of Technology; Christopher Nord, St. Olaf; Chad Olson, Augsburg; Seth Rementer, New York University; Bret Stamper, Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Eric Swensen, Springfield; Daniel Tschudi, St. John's (Minnesota).

158-pound class -- Robert Bruce, New York Univeresity; Frederick Galbraith, Oneonta State; Jason Gerondel, York (Pennsylvania); Michael Grandchamp, Scranton; Justin Hahn, Augsburg; Andrew Horrigna, Case Reserve; Jason Kessen, John Carroll; Ryan Kalman, Springfield; Clinton Koedam, Buena Vista; Matthew Ryan, St. John's (Minnesota); Mario Trafficante, Wisconsin-Whitewater; Aaron Truitt, Cornell College; Jacob Wenger, Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

167-pound class -- Matthew Armentano, Wabash; Steve Bilheimer, Springfield; Mike Hoskins, Lawrence; Phil Lazowski, King's (Pennsylvania); Nathaniel McElhaney, Ursinus; James Peterson, Augsburg; Jamie Yonkin, Lycoming.

177-pound class -- Greg Almy, Olivet; James Ayers, John Carroll; Ethan Brownback, Delaware Valley; Daniel Emerson, Wabash; Dan Garner, York (Pennsylvania); Benjamin Jobgen, Wartburg; Andrew Majetic, Monmouth (Illinois); Matthew Parrott, Oneonta State; Nathan Reiff, Concordia-Moorhead; Jason Venne, Norwich; Mark Winters, Cortland State

190-pound class -- Ryan Carr, Plymouth State; Michael Cruickshank, College of New Jersey; Mark Gonzalez, Binghamton; Matthew Kruger, Buena Vista; Eric Kubatzke, Augustana (Illinois); Dan Lewandowski, Augsburg; Thomas Murphy, Brockport State; Ryan Reasland, Cornell College; Mark Tinney, Baldwin-Wallace; Blake Williams, Wartburg; Corey Wright, Western New England; Ron Zukley, Delaware Valley.

Heavyweight class -- Kenneth Adams, Western New England; Scott Bayer, Monmouth (Illinois); Joe Gaboury, Springfield; Derick Lavake, Wisconsin-Whitewater; John Pena, Augsburg.