STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford came in fourth on this year's National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-American Team list, the organization announced Thursday.
For the 13th consecutive season the Cardinal placed in the top 16 in the nation with a 3.501 team GPA. Long Island topped the list with a 3.558 team GPA, while North Dakota State (3.544) and Cleveland State (3.533) sat ahead of the Cardinal. George Mason (3.481) rounded out the top 5.
Representing Stanford as individual Scholar All-Americans were redshirt seniors Nathan Traxler (computer science) and Requir van der Merwe (management science and engineering), redshirt sophomores Shane Griffith (science, technology and society) and Real Woods (psychology), redshirt freshman Jaden Abas and true freshmen Elijah Cleaver, Jason Miranda and Nick Stemmet.
Drexel led the nation with 10 individual NWCA Scholar All-Americans, while the Cardinal joined Hofstra and Utah Valley with eight apiece.
Traxler (285 pounds) is a four-time honoree, Griffith (165 pounds) and Woods (141 pounds) collect their second career recognition. van der Merwe (157 pounds), Abas (149 pounds), Cleaver (174 pounds), Miranda (133 pounds) and Stemmet (197 pounds) are all being recognized for the first time.
The Cardinal led the Pac-12 in individual honorees. Joining Stanford's eight from the conference were Arizona State's Cory Crooks, Anthony Valencia and Trent Munoz, Little Rock's Paul Bianchi and Oregon State's Brandon Kaylor, Jason Shaner and Ryan Reyes. Stanford (4th) and Oregon State (26th) were the only Pac-12 institutions listed in the Scholar All-America Team top 30 list.
Awarded annually, the NWCA All-Academic Team contains 191 student-athletes from 59 different schools. The list also included 126 NCAA national qualifiers, 37 All-Americans, five finalists, and two national champions, including Stanford's Griffith.