May 8, 2012
Carter named to NWCA All-Academic Division I Team
Sophomore All-American one of 87 honored nationwide

The National Wrestling Coaches Association has announced its annual Division I All-Academic Top 30 Teams and the NWCA Individual All-Academic wrestling team for the 2011-12 wrestling season. Virginia Tech sophomore Devin Carter, who finished fifth at 133 pounds this past season to earn All-America honors, is the lone Hokie on the squad. He carries over a 3.5 GPA in psychology.

The University of Nebraska - Lincoln is honored as the nation’s top academic wrestling program, while five NCAA Champions: Cornell’s 3X NCAA Champion Kyle Dake, Iowa’s Matthew McDonough, Michigan’s Kellen Russell and Penn State’s Frank Molinaro and David Taylor all headline the individual list.

The NWCA All-Academic Team records go back to 1991, which until 2011 the 2001 Princeton team held the highest team GPA of 3.43. For the second year in a row that record was broken by Nebraska with a 3.46 team GPA, earning the Huskers the third all-time highest team GPA. The 2011 Harvard team holds the highest all-time GPA with 3.51 and American the second highest with a 3.48 GPA.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers, lead by head coach Mark Manning had a team GPA of a 3.46 to take home top honors for the first time in the history of the program. The 3.46 GPA is also the third highest ever for a team.

Last year’s team champion Harvard University, finished a close second with a 3.37 GPA. This marks the ninth time that the Crimson, under the direction of head coach Jay Weiss that the team has finished in the top 10.

Finishing out the Top 10 Teams are: American, Utah Valley, Indiana, Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Lehigh, and Davidson.

Four of the top five teams from this year’s NCAA Division I Championships were recognized in the top 30 teams which includes team champion Penn State, Minnesota, Cornell and Ohio State.

The EIWA conference saw seven of their teams represented on the 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.

On this year’s Individual All-Academic Team there are 87 total athletes, five NCAA Champions, three NCAA Runner-Ups, 23 All-Americans and 77 NCAA Qualifiers.

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).

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