For just the 10th time in program history, the University of Wyoming wrestling team was named as one of 30 NWCA Division I All-Academic Teams in the nation. The Cowboys were just one of three teams from the Big 12 to earn the honor as UW recorded its best team GPA since 1995.
The Cowboys join 29 other teams in the nation to be honored this season by the National Wrestling Coaches Association for team academics, announced Monday by the organization.
The Pokes finished 29th in the nation in team GPA with a cumulative 3.083 mark. Harvard University led the way with a 3.412 team GPA. The Cowboys were first honored in 1992, and have been named to the list nine times since then. Prior to 2016, the last UW team honor came in 2013.
The team GPA was determined using a system that includes 12 student-athletes from each program. A total of 10 of these came from the wrestlers that were entries in the NCAA tournament conference qualifier.
Senior Tanner Harms earned a spot on the NWCA Individual All-Academic Team. He received the honor for the second time in his career, after being named to the team in 2014-15. He will graduate with his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. Earlier this spring, Harms was named Scholar Athlete of the Year by the Big 12 Conference. He is the 10th Cowboy to earn this honor twice in their career.
Harms was also named a finalist for The Annual Tobin award, which is based on academic excellence and achievement, service to the university, participation and leadership in the community and campus activities, and citizenship qualities and is given to UW’s outstanding graduating man. To be considered for the Tobin award, students were judged on academic excellence and achievement; contributions and service to UW; participation and leadership in co-curricular activities; and demonstrated character and citizenship.
Awarded annually, the NWCA All-Academic team is comprised of 116 student-athletes. For the second year in a row, half of the Division I champions made the team, while two additional runner-ups were included. In all, 36 All-Americans were All-Academic selections, which is up from last year’s 28.
Of the 116, 101 of the student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Division I championships, up from 96 in 2014-15 and an increase of 24 since 2013-14.
To qualify for the NWCA All-Academic team, wrestlers must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA, been an NCAA qualifier or won 60 percent of his total schedule and must have competed in at least 60 percent of said schedule. Wrestlers can also earn a spot on the team if they have a 3.0 cumulative GPA and been an NCAA All-American.
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