Junior Cody Lovejoy wins prestigious Elite 89 Award in Wrestling for second consecutive year

By Tim Glon

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Ohio Northern junior Cody Lovejoy was named the 2014 NCAA Division III Wrestling Elite 89 Award winner Saturday night at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Lovejoy, a pharmacy major, becomes wrestling's first-ever repeat winner of the prestigious award, given annually to the student/athlete with the highest grade point average at each of the NCAA's 89 Championships events.

He also won the award as a sophomore in 2013.

Lovejoy had the highest GPA among the 180 wrestlers that competed at the 2014 NCAA III Wrestling Championships this weekend.

He also earned All-America honors earlier in the day on Saturday with a seventh place finish in the heavyweight division.

He posted a 3-2 record and finished his season with a 43-5 record.

"This is pretty cool, winning the award for a second consecutive year," Lovejoy said. "Hopefully it will look really good on my resume once I graduate. To get this award again and earn All-America honors on the same day is something I will always remember."

He also brings the fourth Elite 89 Award trophy to Ohio Northern's campus, as Nate Fleming won the award in Division III Men's Soccer in the Fall of 2012 and Nate Rosenbaum won the award in Division III Men's Cross Country this past fall.