Joey Davis (Photo/Notre Dame College)He became just the fifth Division II wrestler to win four national titles and the first to finish unbeaten, completing his career with a perfect 133-0 record.
Davis is the ninth recipient of the NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year award that was voted on by the Division II head coaches. He collected 28 of the 34 first-place votes cast and ended with 125 points to easily outdistance runner-up Nick Becker of Wisconsin-Parkside. California Baptist's Joe Fagiano and Lindenwood's Terrel Wilbourn were the other two finalists.
"I want to thank all of the college coaches that voted for me," said Davis, who was named Outstanding Wrestler at this year's national tournament. "I am very honored to be the Division II Wrestler of the Year. It's a great feeling to finish off my collegiate career with this award. I also would like to thank my family, coaches, teammates and Notre Dame for all the support over my four years."
Davis burst on the Division II scene in dramatic fashion as a freshman in 2012-13, going 33-0 en route to capturing the 165-pound national title. The Compton, Calif. native moved up to 174 pounds the next season and went 43-0 in claiming another gold medal before winning again at 174 in 2014-15 to cap a 36-0 campaign.
He joined Iowa State's Cael Sanderson (Division I) and Augsburg's Marcus Levesseur (Division III) as the only NCAA wrestlers to finish a career unbeaten.
"We are extremely proud of Joey's accomplishments," Notre Dame co-head coach Anthony Ralph said. "To go undefeated over the past four years is an amazing feat. Joey's work ethic is second to none and his dedication to be the best was inspiring to witness. I couldn't imagine being under the amount of pressure that he was in his final match, but he handled it like the true champion he is."
Previous winners of the award were Nebraska-Kearney heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev (2008), Nebraska-Omaha 157-pounder Todd Meneely (2009), Pittsburgh-Johnstown 133-pounder Shane Valko (2010), Western State 197-pounder Donovan McMahill (2011), Upper Iowa 133-pounder Trevor Franklin (2012), Grand Canyon heavyweight Tyrell Fortune (2013), Kutztown heavyweight Ziad Haddad (2014) and Central Oklahoma 165-pounder Chris Watson (2015).
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