MANHEIM, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University wrestling team captured the Division II Academic National Championship for recording the highest team grade point average among all Division II institutions with wrestling. Mercyhurst was honored with the award during the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championships this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama.
It marks the first time that Mercyhurst has achieved the honor in this, the 20th annual Division II All-Academic Wrestling Team competition.
The team GPA is calculated by averaging the cumulative grade point averages of ten wrestlers from each team. Eight of those wrestlers must have competed in their team's NCAA Division II National Qualifying Tournament - in Mercyhurst's case, the Super Region I tournament that was held on February 22 and 23 at Kutztown University.
Based on the parameters, Mercyhurst finished with a team GPA of 3.379, ahead of Western State-Colorado (3.334) and Ashland (3.296). Upper Iowa (3.258) and Indianapolis (3.251) rounded out the top five. All told, 19 institutions had team GPAs of 3.0 or better, with three of those schools - Mercyhurst, Gannon (3.164), and East Stroudsburg (3.067) coming from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
On a similar note, eight individual Mercyhurst wrestlers were selected to the 2012-13 Division II All-Academic Wrestling Team, which were selected by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association.
Redshirt junior
Tyler Berger, senior
Tony D'Urso, junior
Ian Grecco, and redshirt senior
Eric Lundgren were named Second Team members, while junior
Ian Abplanalp, redshirt senior
Jeffrey Pollard, junior
T.J. Stanton, and senior
Seth Stonis were named Honorable Mention selections.
Grecco was one of just four athletes named to the team to have a perfect 4.0 grade point average, joining Chayse Jackson of Grand Canyon University, Trevor Wentt of King College, and Cole Ludorf from American International College. Grecco is majoring in intelligence studies and posted a 6-15 record this season.
The next-highest GPA among Laker grapplers was D'Urso, who has a 3.94 GPA in pre-pharmacy. He finished his senior season with a 12-6 record and completed his career with an overall mark of 37-50. He was recently accepted into pharmacy school.
Berger has a 3.56 GPA in biology/pre-med and went 15-6 this season on the mat. Lundgren has a 3.30 GPA in criminal justice and had a 20-12 record in his final season at Mercyhurst.
Among the Honorable Mention selections, Abplanalp went 9-14 and has a 3.59 GPA in criminal justice. Stanton posted a 3-10 record and has a 3.43 GPA in criminal justice. Stonis has a 3.20 GPA in English and went 2-7, while Pollard has a 3.12 GPA in business/public financial planning and finished his final season with a 17-14 mark.
In order for a student-athlete to be nominated to the Division II All-Academic Team, he needed to have a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. He must also be in, at least, his second full year at his school, be a varsity member on his team, or a key reserve, demonstrate a degree of skill, and have a minimum of two letters of recommendation (academic advisor and coach) submitted on his behalf.
