March 25, 2008
National Champs Also Make the Grade
Lopers Rank 2nd Nationally in GPA; Six on Individual Academic Team
Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team once again showed that it is very successful both on and off the mat.
The 2008 NCAA Division II national champions recorded the nation's second highest team grade point average (3.334) for the 2007-08 academic year. UNK's team GPA trailed only Truman State University of Missouri (3.394).
The NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association recently released its 15th annual All-Academic team, as well as the top 15 team GPA's nationally.
A team's GPA is calculated by averaging the GPA averages of ten wrestlers from each team, of which, eight of those wrestlers must have competed in their team's qualifying regional tournament.
In 2004, the Lopers led the nation in team GPA. Last year, the squad ranked sixth.
On the individual All-Academic team, UNK had six representatives. Making the first-team were seniors Tervel Dlagnev (3.08/Biology), Joe Ellenberger (3.58/Industrial Distribution) and Jeff Rutledge (3.58/Health and P.E.), junior Keenan McCurdy (3.62/Elementary Education) and sophomore Ryan Etherton (3.55/Exercise Science).
Finally, junior Paul Sutton (3.11/Exercise Science) was on the second-team.
All six of these wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships. Dlagnev (Arlington, Texas) and Rutledge (Lincoln East) are two of only seven individuals to make the team for a fourth time with Ellenberger (Millard South) is one of nine wrestlers on the squad for a third season.
2007-08 Division II All-Academic Wrestling Teams (Top 5)
1. Truman State (Mo.) 3.394
2. UNK 3.334
3. Fort Hays State 3.243
4. Limestone College 3.237
5. Central Missouri 3.236
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Contact:
Peter Yazvac
yazvacpa@unk.edu |