Brown is one of ten student-athletes -- and the only wrestler -- to be announced for the award, which will be presented at the Honors Celebration during the NCAA Convention in January 2016 in San Antonio.
Penn State's Matt Brown claimed the NCAA title with a victory over Pitt's Tyler Wilps (Photo/Rob Preston)Brown was cited by the NCAA for "his consistent performance over four years and leadership as a team captain (which) helped steer Penn State's wrestling team to three consecutive Big Ten titles and NCAA championships." The three-time All-American from West Valley City, Utah, also earned multiple academic honors, including the 2013 NCAA Elite 89 Award, presented to the student-athlete at a championship with the highest cumulative grade-point average, and three straight National Wrestling Coaches Association First Team All-Academic awards. Brown received back-to-back Capital One Academic All-America honors, and was selected the 2015 Capital One Men's Academic All-American of the Year At-Large. In addition, Brown served as a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard and went on a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In addition to Brown, other athletes who will be receiving this honor include swimmer Ana Bogdanovski of Johns Hopkins University; distance runner Lucy Cheadle of Washington University in St. Louis; John Coleman, basketball and baseball player at Clarkson University; gymnast Georgia Dabritz of the University of Utah; diver Kristin Day of Clarion University of Pennsylvania; swimmer Ruben Gimenez of University of Bridgeport; Kendra Harrison, track and field star at University of Kentucky; Colleen Quigley, track and cross country athlete at Florida State University; and running back Zach Zenner of South Dakota State University.
Brown joins a number of other past college wrestlers who have earned the NCAA Today's Top 10 Award, including Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui (2013), Wisconsin-La Crosse's Dan Laurent (2011), Henry Gerten of Augsburg (1999), Penn State's James Martin (1990), Indiana State's Bruce Baumgartner (1983), and Jarrett Hubbard of Michigan (1975).
If all this weren't enough, Brown has authored a brand-new book titled "Mission: Accomplished: Reflections of an NCAA Champion."
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