MANHEIM, PA - For the fifth time in six seasons, the Saints of Maryville University sit atop the NWCA Scholar All-America Team listing for NCAA Division II. In addition, 321 individuals from 57 programs were also honored in the annual awards.

The Saints posted a GPA of 3.487 to top the team listing. Wisconsin-Parkside (3.466); Indianapolis (3.386); West Liberty (3.378) and Northern State (3.372) round out the top five teams.

"We are proud of our team for this," Saints Head Coach Mike Denney said. "The academic standards at Maryville are high and we want to be a positive force in that. Winning this award shows we are contributing to our campus in that way and I am really just so pleased and proud of our guys."

A total of 321 individuals were honored as 2023 Scholar All-Americans from 57 institutions. Of those 321, 97 of the 2023 NCAA Division II 180 National Qualifiers were honored, with 55 All-Americans making the list. Seven of this year's National Champions earned Scholar All-American status: Gavin Quiocho of Glenville State (133); Josiah Rider of Adams State (149); Nick Novak of St. Cloud State (157); Chase Luensman of Upper Iowa (165); Austin Eldredge of Nebraska-Kearney (174); Ty McGeary of West Liberty (184) and Dalton Abney of Central Oklahoma (197). In addition, four more National Finalists were also honored: Jaxson Rohrman of Augustana (125); Christian Small of Lake Erie (141); Logan Hall of Lander (184) and Derek Blubaugh of Indiananpolis (197).

Of the 318 honorees, 40 were honored with perfect 4.0 GPAs. There were 17 individuals that earned the Scholar All-American honor for the fourth time, while 11 earned the honor for the fifth time (due to COVID-19): Nick Young (Gannon); Joel Leise (Gannon); Joey Bianchini (St. Cloud State); Cole Laya (West Liberty); Eric Bartos (Mercyhurst); Donny Schmit (Upper Iowa); Jordan Baumler (Upper Iowa), Connor Manderfield (Upper Iowa); Taylor Jokerst (Maryville); Joel Cawoski (Seton Hill) and Robert Coyle (Northern State).

West Liberty had 16 individual honorees to lead all institutions. Indianapolis had 15 honorees, with Nebraska-Kearney and Mary both putting 12 on the individual honoree listing.

In order for a student-athlete to be nominated to the Division II Scholar All-American Team, he must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale, with that benchmark at 3.25 for those who qualified for the 2023 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships and a 3.0 for those who were All-Americans at the 2023 Nationals. Wrestlers must have competed in four dates of competition.