The 2006-07 Top 30 teams has a new champion, as Duke University edged Stanford and last year's winner, Brown – with an overall team GPA of 3.3861. Coach Clar Anderson's squad has continually excelled in the class room.
Stanford came in second as second-year coach Kerry McCoy's squad sported a 3.368, followed by Princeton – one of two Ivy League schools in the Top 10. The Tigers scored a 3.1890 amongst its 12 combined entries.
Brown didn't fall too far from the top as Dave Amato's team came in third with a team GPA of 3.3649.
Northern Iowa rounded out the top five and is one of two West Region/Western Wrestling Conference teams in the Top 10. The Panthers came in fifth with a 3.1441 overall GPA.
Rounding out the Top 10 were: Duquesne (East Region, 3.1036), American (EIWA, 3.0950), Drexel (CAA, 3.0383), Northwestern (Big Ten, 3.0152) and North Dakota State (3.0151).
North Dakota State makes the list in its first full season as a Division I championship-eligible team.
A pair of NCAA Champions found their way onto the All-Academic Team in the form of Missouri's senior 174-pounder Ben Askren and Northwestern junior 184-pounder Jake Herbert.
Askren repped a 3.19 GPA in Geography to compliment his undefeated season, while Herbert's 3.06 in Communication Studies complimented his own undefeated season.
Business major Tyler McCormick of Missouri had the top GPA among wrestlers that were All-Americans in 2007. The junior sported an impressive 3.95 in Business Management
Among Bucky Maughan's North Dakota State wrestlers, 197-pounder Jacob Bryce came in third overall with a 3.93 in Business Administration. Brown had two wrestlers in the Top 10 individually – Shawn Kitchner (Mechanical Engineering, 3.92) and Levon Mock (Commerce, 3.75).
Boise State's Luke Smith had a 3.88 in Biology, good for fourth. The rest of the Top 10 were: Tanner Gardner, Stanford (Public Policy, 3.88); Dustin Tillman, Columbia (Political Science, 3.85); Max Dean, Indiana (Marketing Operations Management, 3.83); Wynn Michalak, Central Michigan (Mathematics, Physical Education, 3.81) and Jason Trulson, Arizona State (Biolgy, 3.74).
Overall, of the 57 wrestlers named to the All-Academic Team, 38 different schools were represented with American, Brown, Central Michigan, Duke, Duquesne, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, and Stanford all having more than one representative.
Northern Iowa led all schools with five wrestlers named All-Academic.
By weight class, 165 and 197 pounds had the most representatives, with 10 in each weight.
"This is something the NWCA, it's board members and staff are always pleased to announce," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "It's one thing to always talk about how good these guys are on the mat, but we must remember that academics are more important than any particular sport, and it's great to see these programs doing it in the classroom."
"What I'm most pleased about this year is the cross-section of teams in the Top 25," added Moyer. "It's not just your Ivy League teams or your highly-competitive academic environments, it's schools from the little conferences as well as the power conferences that are ensuring their wrestlers are becoming suited for life after college."
For teams to be eligible for consideration, teams comprise 12 student athletes, including the 10 wrestlers that were the entries in the NCAA tournament conference qualifier. If teams had less than 10 entries for their respective qualifier, they may fill those spots with wrestlers that competed in at least one varsity dual during the season.
Individually, 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. The other way to qualify for the All-Academic team is have a 3.0 cumulative and been an NCAA All-American.
All-Academic Teams and Individuals
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