University of Northern Iowa Athletics
UNI wrestling earns fifth straight NWCA Scholar Team award
4/8/2026 11:09:00 AM | Wrestling
MANHEIM, Pa. --- UNI wrestling cracked the top-15 in team cumulative grade-point average (GPA), earning National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Team Scholar Award recognition for a fifth consecutive season.
Recording a team GPA of 3.55, Northern Iowa ranked 11th in Division I wrestling and ranked in the top-30 for the tenth time in team history. UNI is one of eight programs from the Big 12 Conference to crack the top-30, joining Arizona State (1st, 3.68), Missouri (4th, 3.66), Utah Valley (7th, 3.65), Cal Baptist (15th, 3.51), North Dakota State (26th, 3.39) and South Dakota State (27th, 3.39)
The announcement of the NWCA Scholar Team All-America honor comes after seven Panther wrestlers earned individual Scholar All-American recognition on April 2. UNI's seven individual selections were tied for fifth-most among Big 12 programs, and included four NCAA Championship qualifiers and one alternate:
- Trever Anderson, RS-Junior | 125 pounds | Management Information Systems / Marketing: Sales Management / Business Analytics
- Ryder Downey, RS-Junior | 165 pounds | Public Health
- Julian Farber, RS-Senior | 133 pounds | Business Administration
- Nick Fox, RS-Sophmore | 184 pounds | Management, Advertisement & Digital Media / Management: Business Administration
- John Gunderson, RS-Junior | 197 pounds | Kinesiology & Exercise Science
- Jared Simma, RS-Senior | 174 pounds | Sport Administration
- RJ Weston, RS-Senior | 157 pounds | Kinesiology & Sport Performance
NWCA DIVISION I TOP-30 SCHOLAR TEAMS
- Arizona State - 3.68
- Brown - 3.68
- Duke - 3.67
- Missouri - 3.66
- Harvard - 3.65
- Northwestern - 3.65
- Utah Valley - 3.65
- Hofstra - 3.64
- Little Rock - 3.60
- Kent State - 3.56
- UNI - 3.55
- Stanford - 3.54
- Penn - 3.53
- Wisconsin - 3.53
- Cal Baptist - 3.51
- Sacred Heart - 3.50
- Illinois - 3.48
- George Mason - 3.47
- Franklin & Marshall - 3.46
- Bellarmine - 3.45
- Virginia - 3.45
- Ohio - 3.42
- Drexel - 3.42
- Buffalo - 3.42
- Cal Poly - 3.40
- North Dakota State - 3.39
- South Dakota State - 3.39
- Pittsburgh - 3.37
- Michigan State - 3.37
- Davidson - 3.37
UNI wrestling action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (University of Northern Iowa Wrestling), X (@UNI_wrestling) and on Instagram (@uni_panther_wrestling). Check out the latest Panther news and information online at UNIpanthers.com.
Players Mentioned
