March 29, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the guidance of head coach Cael Sanderson, followed up its third straight NCAA National and Big Ten titles by dominating the classroom as well. Just under half of Penn State's entire roster, 15 of 37, has been named to the Academic All-Big Ten list.
Led by four All-Americans, over 40 percent of Penn State's squad, all letter winners, met the criteria of being in their second academic year at Penn State and carrying a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. Penn State's total of 15 was far and away the most of any Big Ten school for wrestling and comprised almost 25 percent of Penn State's total of 64 Academic All-Big Ten honorees for the Winter sports season.
Four-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) was one of four 2013 All-Americans on the list. The honor is Wright's fourth. Wright closed out a stellar career by winning the 197-pound title in Des Moines to cap off Penn State's third straight team title and a 32-0 regular season. Wright leaves Penn State with final career record of 116-23. Wright is tied for 10th on Penn State's all-time wins list with former four-time All-American and national champion Phil Davis. He leaves Penn State as its sixth four-time All-American (1st in '13, 2nd in '12, 1st in '11 and 6th in '09).
Three-time All-American and NCAA Champion David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) earned his third Academic All-Big Ten nod. Taylor rolled to a 30-2 record this year and his third straight trip to the NCAA finals. The 2013 National Runner-Up at 165, Taylor was the 2012 165-pound champ and heads into his senior season with a stellar 100-3 career record. He is tied for second with Quentin Wright on Penn State's all-time pins list with 37.
Sophomore All-American Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) followed up an outstanding season by earning his first Academic All-Big Ten honor. Brown is the 2013 National Runner-Up at 174 and the 2013 Big Ten Champion. Brown ended the year with a 29-5 record after a 4-1 NCAA tournament run. He was also named the NCAA Elite 89 Award as the nation's top Division I wrestling student-athlete with the top GPA of all 330 championship competitors.
Two-time All-American Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) earned his first Academic All-Big Ten award as well. The two-time NCAA National Runner-UP at 125 has advanced to the national finals as a true freshman and true sophomore. He posted a 28-4 record this year and heads into his sophomore year with a 56-12 career record.
Senior James English (York, Pa.) earned his third honor. English posted a superb 14-4 overall record, including a 3-2 dual meet mark, this season. Classmate Andrew Church (Erie, Pa.) earned his second academic honor after a 12-7 season. Nick Fischer (Unionville, Pa.), another senior, grabbed his fourth Academic All-Big Ten award and went 17-5 this year. Senior Derek Reber (Lewisburg, Pa.) was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team for the first time as well.
Three sophomores earned the honor as well. Cameron Kelly (Pittsford, N.Y.), Kyle Moran (Oxford, Pa.) and Nate Morgan (McCook, Neb.) each earned their second Academic All-Big Ten awards. Kelly went 5-6, Moran posted a 7-8 mark and Morgan had his season cut short due to injury.
Four red-shirt freshmen were named to the Academic All-Big Ten list for the first time. Luke Frey (Montoursville, Pa.) posted a 13-4 record this year while classmate James Frascella (Carmel, Ind.) went 11-7. Rex Lutz (Easton, Pa.) went 12-2 as well. Classmate Dylan Dailey (Danville, Pa.) rounds out Penn State's 15 award winners.
Penn State is on a run of three straight NCAA titles and three straight Big Ten Championships. Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstateWREST and on Penn State Wrestling's facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2012-13 Penn State Wrestling season was presented by The Family Clothesline.