The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) has announced its annual Division I All-Academic Top 30 Teams for the 2008-2009 season.
For the second straight year, American University pinned down top team honors. The Eagles, coached by Mark Cody, led the NCAA Division I wrestling teams with grade point average (GPA) of 3.283. The other teams in the top ten in terms of GPA:
2. Harvard University (with a 3.2585 GPA)
3. Stanford University (3.2574 GPA)
4. Duke University (3.2331 GPA)
5. Davidson College (3.1727 GPA)
6. Utah Valley State (3.1623 GPA)
7. Northwestern (3.1613 GPA)
8. Brown University (3.1466 GPA)
9. Princeton University (3.1099 GPA)
10. Cornell University (3.0978 GPA)
All eleven conferences were represented in the top 30 teams”¦ with the EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) leading the way with six teams.
Among the teams to place in the top ten at the 2009 NCAA Division I championships, only the Iowa State Cyclones earned a place on the NWCA All-Academic Top 30 Teams, placing 27th on that academic list.
For teams to be eligible for consideration, the team GPA is comprised of 12 student athletes, including the 10 wrestlers that were the entries in the NCAA tournament conference qualifier. If teams had less than 10 entries for their respective qualifier, they may fill those spots with wrestlers that competed in at least one varsity dual during the season.
“We are finding that year in and year out, coaches strive to have their team’s listed as an All-Academic Team. This is another measure of success for these programs,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “There is so much more to wrestling than what is done on the mat and we see just one part of that here with the All-Academic Team.”
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