Thanks to Aaron Sweazy for directing me toward this article!
NWCA Division II
All-Academic Wrestling Team 2007-08
2007-2008 DIVISION II ALL-ACADEMIC WRESTLING TEAMS
TOP FIFTEEN TEAMS
Truman State recorded the highest team grade point average (GPA) in the fifteenth annual Division II All-Academic Wrestling Team selection and won the Academic National Championship. Truman State has now won the Academic National Championship a total of four times. Previous championships were won in 1996-97, 2001-02 and 2006-07. Only Colorado School of Mines has won more championships with five. Six other NCAA II schools have also won the National Championships. They include Wisconsin-Parkside, Fort Hays State, West Liberty State, Minnesota State-Mankato, Nebraska-Omaha and Nebraska-Kearney. In 2005, UNO hosted the NCAA II National Championships and won both the wrestling and the academic national titles. They are the only school to accomplish that feat. The Team GPA is calculated by averaging the cumulative grade point averages of ten wrestlers from each team of which eight of those wrestlers must have competed in their team’s NCAA II National Qualifying tournament.
RANK UNIVERSITY TEAM GPA
1 Truman State 3.394
2 Nebraska-Kearney 3.334
3 Fort Hays State 3.243
4 Limestone 3.237
5 Central Missouri 3.236
6 Findlay 3.231
7 Minnesota State-Moorhead 3.222
8 St. Cloud State 3.219
9 Wisconsin-Parkside 3.217
10 American International 3.192
11 West Liberty State 3.179
12 Ashland 3.175
13 Gannon 3.174
14 Carson-Newman 3.145
15 Colorado School of Mines 3.127
The 2007-2008 Division II All-Academic Wrestling Team consists of 133 student-athletes from 35 universities and colleges. Forty-one members were named to the first team, 37 to the second team and 55 were named as honorable mentions. The of Nebraska at Kearney placed six members on the first or second teams. UNO placed five members and West Liberty State, Findlay, Gannon and Limestone each placed four members. Seven student athletes were named to the team for the fourth time.
In order for a student-athlete to be nominated for the Division II All-Academic Team, he needed to have a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale. He must also be in at least his second full year at his school, be a varsity member on his team or a key reserve, demonstrate a degree of skill and have a minimum of two letters of recommendation (academic advisor and coach) submitted on his behalf.
First Team
ATHLETE
SCHOOL
CLASS
MAJOR
GPA
Career
Season
Cory Bloodgood (Spring Hill High School)
Central Missouri
JR
Finance 3.90
Career Record: 41-30
Season Record: 23-15
Jarrett Edison (Wichita Northwest High School)
Central Oklahoma
FR
Biology 3.34
Career Record: 27-12
Season Record: 27-12
Cody Garcia (Hutchinson High School)
Nebrask-Omaha
SO
Physical Education 3.37
Career Record: 43-10
Season Record: 18-4
Daniel Grater (Clay Center Community High School)
Fort Hays State
JR
Tech Education 3.43
Career Record: 45-20
Season Record: 19-8
Caleb Hulse (Kansas City Turner)
Central Missouri
JR
Finance 3.96
Career Record: 25-17
Season Record: 8-6
Ross Taplin (Abilene High School)
Nebraska-Omaha
JR
Speech Communication 3.28
Career Record: 94-31
Season Record: 23-4
SECOND TEAM
Shawn Kuhlman (Oakley High School)
Fort Hays State
SR
Physical Education
3.77
14-24
8-11
Robert Blake Malloy (Topeka Shawnee Heights High School)
Fort Hays State
JR
Physical Education
3.26
44-29
20-8
Jacob Marrs (Clay Center Community High School)
Nebraska-Omaha
SO
History
3.09
63-13
28-4
HONORABLE MENTION
Matthew Bailes (Kansas City Turner)
Central Missouri
SO
Business Management
3.32
Career Record: 14-18
Season Record: 9-9
Dylan Loyd (St. Francis High School)
Fort Hays State
FR
Sports Management
3.21
11-10
11-10
Dustin Martin (Labette Community College via Nixa, Missouri)
Fort Hays State
SR
Physical Education
3.14
29-26
13-7
Brian Patton (Wellsville High School)
Fort Hays State
SR
Physical Education
3.22
Career Record: 18-13
Season Record: 10-8
Joshua Peterson (Abilene High School)
Fort Hays State
SO
Math Education
3.24
Career Record: 8-17
Season Record: 2-6
Taiten Weatherbee (Hays Thomas More Prep)
Nebraska-Omaha
SO
Business
3.53
Career Record: 24-23
Season Record: 10-11