May 21, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the guidance of head coach Cael Sanderson, continued to collect national laurels with the announcement of the NWCA's (National Wrestling Coaches Association) National All-Academic First Team. The 2013 NCAA Champions have four NWCA first team Academic All-Americans as the squad placed in the top ten in total team GPA.
All four of Penn State's honorees were national finalists, led by four-time All-American Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.). Joining Wright is David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) and Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.).
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). Wright graduated this May with a double major in management and labor relations and posted a 3.25 GPA. The honor was Wright's third first team All-Academic nod (he was also a four-time first team Academic All-Big Ten honoree).
Three-time All-American and NCAA Champion Taylor earned his third first team All-Academic honor. 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. Taylor, who returns for his senior campaign next year, also graduated earlier this month with a degree in Recreation, Park and Tourism Management and has enrolled in graduate school. Taylor had a 3.55 GPA this year and has been a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.
Sophomore All-American Brown followed up an outstanding season by earning his first NWCA All-Academic 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. Brown is criminology major with a 3.97 GPA and was an Academic All-Big Ten selection as well. He recently earned CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District laurels, making him eligible for another national Academic All-America honor (CoSIDA's men's at-large team) later this spring.
Two-time All-American Megaludis earned his first NWCA All-Academic honor 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. Megaludis, a true sophomore, has a 3.54 GPA in business administration and was an Academic All-Big Ten selection as well.
There were a total of 10 teams showing up on the All-Academic squad that finished in the top 30 at this year's NCAA Division I Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Leading the way was three-time defending NCAA Champions Penn State, which placed 10th nationally with a team GPA of 3.15. Harvard was tops among all programs nationally at 3.418.
All four of Penn State's first team Academic All-Americans were national finalists. The student-athlete with the highest GPA was Brown with his 3.97 GPA, followed by Virginia's Matt Snyder (3.95). Virginia had the most individuals on the list as eight of their student-athletes finished on the All-Academic team while Penn State and Ohio University were tied for second with four each.
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.