Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Earn NWCA Team Academic Award, Hartman and Phipps Named to All-Academic Team
4/30/2020 2:18:00 PM | Wrestling
MANHEIM, Pa. – The Bucknell wrestling team earned a National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Team Academic Award for being among the top-30 programs nationally in team grade point average.
In addition, Zach Hartman and Drew Phipps represented the Bison on the NWCA All-Academic Team for their performance on the mat and in the classroom during the 2019-20 campaign. Phipps will graduate as Bucknell's second three-time honoree, as he was previously named to the 2019 and 2018 NWCA All-Academic Teams; Hartman, a sophomore, joined Phipps on the 2019 squad.
"I'm very proud of our team and individual academic accomplishments," said head coach Dan Wirnsberger. "The Bison continue to get the job done in the classroom and in the competition arena."
As a team, the Bison ranked 13th with a 3.28 GPA, up from 17th with a 3.25 GPA a year ago. They have now been slotted in the national 30 in six of the past seven years.
Hartman and Phipps were two of the 175 student-athletes who were honored on the 2020 NWCA All-Academic Team. To be eligible for this award, a wrestler had to either qualify for the NCAA Championships or win at least 60 percent of his bouts while competing in at least 60 percent of his team's schedule.
 Bucknell has nine NWCA All-Academic Team members, including five since the program was reinstated ahead of the 2006-07 season. Paul Petrov, a 2016 graduate, captured this award three times while Jay Hahn was honored in 2011 and Garrett Hoffman in 2017. In 1995, Bobby Ferraro, Robert Renn, Ty Rothermel and Michael Rush were named to the squad.
The team GPA was determined using a system that included 12 student-athletes from each program. A total of 10 had to be wrestlers who competed in their NCAA tournament conference qualifier.
Drexel was the top team in the NWCA All-Academic Team standings. The EIWA had 11 of its 17 member schools listed in the Top 30.
