University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
NWCA All-Academic Selections
Seven Mountain Cat Wrestlers Named
to NWCA All-Academic Wrestling Team;
Five Wrestlers Earn First Team Honors 03/29/05...Five Pitt Johnstown Mountain Cat wrestlers have been named to the 2004-05 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division II All-Academic Wrestling First Team, while another was a Second Team selection and one was an Honorable Mention selection. As a team, the Mountain Cats, finished 14th in the country with a 3.107 overall G.P.A.
Leading Pitt Johnstown's All-Academic First Team selections are three-time First Team member Ryan Ickes (Claysburg, Pa./Claysburg-Kimmel H.S.) and two-time First Team choice Matt Roncolato (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury H.S.). Ickes, a senior and two-time NCAA Division II All-American with fourth and eighth places finishes, has a 3.17 G.P.A. in Elementary Education, while Roncolato, a two-time NCAA National Qualifier, has a 3.53 overall G.P.A. in Engineering Technology. Joining Ickes and Roncolato on the First Team are junior National Runner-up Ryon Mazzocco (Cresson, Pa./Penn Cambria H.S.), sophomore All-American (6th Place) Eli Garshnick (Arnagh, Pa./United H.S.) and sophomore Mike Fowler (Carrolltown, Pa./Cambria Heights H.S.). Mazzocco, also a Second Team and Honorable Mention selection in previous years, has a 3.15 G.P.A. in Business Management. Garshnick has a 3.09 G.P.A. in Elementary Education and Fowler has a 3.92 G.P.A. in Math Education.
Roncolato and Ickes were named to one of the NWCA All-Academic Wrestling Teams for the fourth consecutive year, while Mazzocco was named for the third straight year. Both Garshnick and Fowler were Second Team NWCA All-Academic Team selections last year.
Pitt Johnstown red-shirt freshman Brandon Reasy (New Enterprise, Pa./Northern Bedford H.S.) is a Second Team selection with a 3.18 G.P.A. in Secondary Education, and Rob Sakmar (Johnstown, Pa./Richland H.S.) has earned Honorable Mention honors with a 3.33 overall G.P.A. in Secondary Education.
The University of Nebraska-Omaha was the top-ranked Division II team with a 3.388 G.P.A. Rounding out this year's top-five teams were West Liberty State (WV) College (3.350 G.P.A.), Chadron State (NE) College, the University of Nebraska-Kearney (3.333 G.P.A.) and the University of Findlay (OH) (3.300 G.P.A.). The team G.P.A. is calculated by averaging the cumulative grade-point average of ten wrestlers from each team of which eight of those wrestlers must have competed in their team's NCAA II National Qualifying tournament.
In order for a student-athlete to be nominated for the Division II All-Academic Team, he needed to have a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. He must also be in at least in his second full year at his school, be a varsity member on his team or a key reserve, demonstrate a degree of skill and have a minimum of two letters of recommendation submitted on his behalf.
Last Reviewed: March 31, 2005