Five Polar Bears named NWCA Scholar All-America in Wrestling for 2017-18
By Tim Glon
| NWCA Scholar All-America Team (.pdf) |
ADA — Five Ohio Northern student-athletes were named Scholar All-America in wrestling for 2017-18 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
Seniors Gavin Nelson (Oregon/Clay) and Alex Bair (Centerville), junior Clayton Davidson (Kirtland), sophomore Seth Transue (Plain City/Dublin) and freshman Alex Kowal (Cincinnati/Bishop Fenwick) all earned the honor.
The five honorees is the most in ONU program history and brings the total to 56 over the history of the program.
The Polar Bears were also named a Scholar All-America team and ranked 19th nationally with an impressive 3.47 team GPA.
It marks the ninth time since 1999 that the team has been recognized as a top 25 Scholar All-American Team.
Nelson is now a two-time Scholar All-American and was an NCAA III Championships qualifier this season at 157 pounds.
A mechanical engineering major, Nelson placed third at the NCAA III Central Regional and participated in the NCAA III Championships last weekend.
He is also a two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree, earning First Team honors last season and was a Second Team All-OAC pick this season.
This season, Nelson finished with a 25-10 with six pins. He wrapped up his career with a 69-35 record with 16 pins.
Bair finished third on the team with a 30-13 record and was second with nine pins on the season, wrestling primarily at 184 pounds.
He was also named the OAC Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 15 this season.
A civil engineering major, Bair finished his career with a 71-57 record and 24 pins.
Davidson placed fourth at the NCAA III Central Regionals at 174 pounds and finished the season with a 31-13 record and nine pins.
He is a mechanical engineering major and will enter his senior season with a career record of 85-40 with 24 pins.
Davidson was named the OAC Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 2 this season.
He was also named a Scholar All-America as a sophomore in 2016-17.
Transue is a civil engineering major and posted a 20-13 record with three falls at 125 pounds.
In his two seasons as at ONU, Transue is 39-31 with seven pins.
Kowal had a solid 18-7 record in his first season as a Polar Bear, wrestling primarily at 157 pounds.
He is a nursing major at Ohio Northern.
Honorees must have at least a 3.2 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) for the previous full academic year.
Transfers and freshmen are eligible if they've been in residence at their current institution beginning in the fall of 2016.
On the competition side, wrestlers must be a national qualifier in 2016-17 and have a minimum win percentage of at least .500.
Additionally, wrestlers can also be considered if they placed in the top six at their respective regional tournament, a win percentage of .500 or better and competed in half of the institution's scheduled competition in NCAA championship events.
A wrestler can also be considered if they have a win percentage of .670 or better and competed in half of the institution's scheduled NCAA events.
Ohio Northern finished with a 9-10 overall record, were fourth in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 3-3 record and finished 6th of 18 at the NCAA III Central Regionals under 30th-year head coach Ron Beaschler.