Eight Wolverines Named NWCA Scholar All-Americans

MANHEIM, Penn. — The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) named its 2021 Division I Top 30 Scholar All-American Teams and Utah Valley University finished ninth in the nation with a 3.45 team GPA. UVU also had a program-record eight grapplers named Scholar All-Americans in Kekana Fouret, Jaxon Garoutte, Cameron Hunsaker, Taylor LaMont, Kase Mauger, Demetrius Romero, Ty Smith and Danny Snediker.

The eight NWCA Scholar All-Americans ties the for the second-most in the nation, as Drexel led the way with 10, while UVU, Stanford and Hofstra tied for second with eight. This year also marks the the 12th time in the past 13 seasons that UVU has earned a spot on the NWCA Division I Top 30 Scholar All-American Teams list. It also marks the fourth-straight year that UVU has found itself ranked in the top-10.

"We are proud of the effort our wrestlers are putting into their studies. We take the term Student-Athlete seriously and our team's performance reflects that," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "There is a level of buy-in and pride this team possesses and they are taking our program to new heights."

By finishing ninth, UVU also posted the second-best team GPA of any Big 12 Conference institution, as fellow wrestling affiliate North Dakota State led the way by finishing second with a 3.54 GPA. South Dakota State was 14th with a 3.42 GPA, while Northern Colorado was 20th (3.32), and West Virginia 24th (3.26). Long Island led the nation with a 3.56 GPA.

This year marks the third time that both the 174-pound redshirt senior Romero and the 125-pound redshirt junior LaMont have earned the prestigious honor. It also marks the first time that sophomore Hunsaker (149 pounds), redshirt freshman Smith (133), and freshmen Fouret (165), Mauger (125), and Snediker (157) have been recognized.

Both LaMont and Romero were also crowned All-Americans for the first time of their respective careers at the 2021 NCAA Championships in March. LaMont led the way by placing fifth at 125 pounds, while Romero finished sixth at 174. Romero also won the second Big 12 Championship of his career this past March, while LaMont was the Big 12 runner-up. Both grapplers will be back on the mat for the Wolverines in 2021-22.

To be considered for the NWCA Scholar All-American squad, individuals must have qualified for the NCAA Championships or won more than 60% of their matches on the season as well as maintained above a 3.2 GPA in the classroom (above a 3.0 GPA if crowned an All-American).

In all, 191 individuals representing 59 institutions earned Scholar All-American honors this season and the list also included 126 NCAA National Qualifiers, 37 All-Americans, five Finalists, and two National Champions.