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May 9, 2002
University of Minnesota senior wrestler Owen Elzen has been named a 2002 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) First Team Academic All-American. Elzen, a native of Eyota, Minn., garnered First Team honors in 2001 as well.
Elzen, the 197-pound 2002 Big Ten Champion, placed third and fourth at the 2001 and 2002 NCAA Championships, respectively. He is a four-time U of M Scholar-Athlete and member of the Academic All-Big Ten team, and the recipient of the 2000-01 Academic Counseling and Student Services Outstanding Achievement Award.
Elzen maintained a GPA of 3.402 with a major in health and wellness. He was awarded a $5,000 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship earlier this week. He has been accepted into the University's postgraduate accelerated nursing program.
Each year, the NWCA honors its Academic Top Twenty-five Division I wrestling teams, as well as a First Team, Second Team and Honorable Mention All-Academic Team. The All-Academic Team features wrestlers from 32 universities, 38 NCAA qualifiers, and 17 All-Americans. Sacred Heart University captured honors as being the top-ranked academic wrestling team with a team GPA 3.4.
"The results of the 2002 NWCA Academic All-American Rankings confirms the NWCA's belief that many of our nation's top collegiate wrestlers are committed to the highest level of achievement in the classroom as well as the wrestling mat," said Mike Moyer, Executive Director of the NWCA. "These results demonstrate that the sport of wrestling is building leaders for life as many of these athletes will go onto be our leaders of tomorrow."
|
NWCA Academic All-American First Team |
||||
|
Name |
School |
GPA |
Major |
Wrestling Honors |
|
Ryan Bertin |
Michigan |
3.907 |
Undecided |
6th NCAA Championships |
|
Owen Elzen |
Minnesota |
3.402 |
Health & Wellness |
4th NCAA Championships |
|
Joe Heskett |
Iowa State |
3.27 |
Speech Comm. |
165 NCAA Champion |
|
John Lockhart |
Illinois |
3.54 |
Kinesiology |
3rd NCAA Championships |
|
Otto Olson |
Michigan |
3.70 |
Education Technology |
5th NCAA Championships |
|
Eric Owen |
Northern Ill. |
3.61 |
Biology |
5th NCAA Championships |
|
Greg Parker |
Princeton |
3.50 |
Computer Science |
2nd NCAA Championships |
|
Rob Rohn |
Lehigh |
3.62 |
Accounting |
184 NCAA Champion |
|
Jessman Smith |
Iowa |
3.15 |
Psychology |
3rd NCAA Championships |
|
Bryan Snyder |
Nebraska |
3.272 |
Sociology/Comm. |
2nd NCAA Championships |