CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – With all of Division III's wrestling elite gathered in Iowa this weekend for the NCAA Championships, several Ursinus wrestlers, and the team itself, was honored for their excellence off of the mat. 

A total of eight wrestlers were named Scholar All-Americans by the National Wrestling Coaches Association on Thursday night, while the team was honored as a Top 30 Scholar team as well.

To be eligible for the individual award, a student-athlete must carry a GPA of at least 3.20 (cumulative or last academic year) and meet one of the three criteria: qualify for the NCAA Championships, place in top six at the NCAA qualifier, or win more than 66 percent of matches and wrestle in 50 percent of scheduled dates. 

As far as the team award goes, the cumulative grade point average of 10 wrestlers, of which at least six must have competed at the NCAA Regional this year. The 10 GPAs are then averaged.  

Turning back to the individual awards, those honored were sophomores Keven and Christian Hoogheem (Deerfield, Ill.), senior Elisha Gaylor (West Reading, Pa.), freshman Alex Kramer (Reading, Pa.) and Derek Arnold (Centrevilla, Va.), junior Richard Jasinski (Sellersville, Pa.), junior Daniel Manganaro (Horseheads, N.Y.) and freshman Matan Peleg (Vadnais Heights, Minn.)

The team finished with a GPA of 3.352, which ranked 17th in all of Division III.

The Bears finished the year with a perfect dual record mark, their 11th Centennial Conference Championship and finished just one point out of first at the NCAA East Regional.