MANHEIM, Pa. (March 16, 2010) – The Thiel College wrestling team has recently been announced as a recipient of a 2009-10 Scholar Team Award by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The Tomcats turned in the 16th-highest GPA in the country with a 3.255. Thiel is the only Presidents' Athletic Conference school to appear in the rankings.

Pacing Thiel in the classroom and on the mats was 133-pound sophomore All-American Corey Brown (Greenville, Pa./Reynolds) (Greenville, Pa./Reynolds) who also earned the individual distinction on being named an NCWA Scholar All-America selection.

A criminal justice major, Brown has compiled a 3.81 GPA and was one of only three PAC grapplers to garner the award.

“We are very proud to be recognized as one of the top scholar teams in the country,” said head coach Craig Thurber. “Our guys have worked very hard in both the classroom and on the mats. Obviously, our main goal is to perform well academically; the guys being honored have been committed to their books as well as their training. It takes an enormous amount of dedication and hard work to be successful at both.”

The NWCA calculates a team's GPA by averaging the top ten individual GPAs on each team. At least six of the ten athletes chosen must have competed in the NCAA qualifying tournament, and the other athletes must have competed in 50 percent of the team's scheduled contests.

Also contributing to the Tomcats' ranking were sophomore Matt Lowry (Smithfield, Pa./Albert Gallatin) (Smithfield, Pa./Albert Gallatin) (3.907); senior Devin Todd (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (3.800); freshman Matt Butler (Garrettsville, Ohio/Berkshire) (Burton,Ohio/Berkshir) (3.687); sophomore Jeff Marianetti (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) (3.682); sophomore Kraig Smith (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) (2.977); sophomore Adam Householder (Murfreesboro, Tenn./Oakland) (Murfreesboro,Tenn./Oakland) (2.812); sophomore Alec Miller (Transfer, Pa./Grove City) (Transfer, Pa./Grove City) (2.714); sophomore Jeff Rockenstein (Houston, Tex./Cypress Ridge) (Houston, Texas/Cypress Ridge)(2.658) and freshman Dan Gainey (Girard, Ohio/Girard) (Girard, Ohio/Girard) (2.500).