MANHEIM, Pa. (April 21, 2022)  – The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) announced its 2022 Scholar All-America team and individual honorees for Division III and nine members of the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team were lauded for their academic performance. 

First-year Harrison Hinojosa joined sophomore Luke Hoerle, juniors Hunter Gutierrez, Stefan Major, Frank Medina, Kyle Slendorn, Akhil Vega, and Pasquale Vizzoni, and graduate student Brett Kaliner in earning the national recognition. The prestigious honor is the first for Hinojosa, Major and Medina, while Gutierrez, Hoerle, Vega and Vizzoni earned the award for the second time. Slendorn joins a select group of Ducks in receiving the accolade for the third time, while Kaliner is the first student-athlete in program history to earn the honor five times. 

As a team, the Ducks finished second in the team standings, with a team GPA of 3.845, marking the highest finish for the program. After placing fifth at the NCAA DIII Championships, the Ducks were one of two programs, along with Augsburg University, to finish in the top five in both the NCAA team championship standings and the Scholar All-American team standings. Both Stevens and Augsburg were two of four programs, along with RIT and Baldwin-Wallace to place in the top 10 on each leaderboard. 

"On behalf of the NWCA Board of Directors, it is my honor to recognize these exceptional student-athletes," Executive Director Mike Moyer said in the NWCA's official release. "Wrestling takes much focus and sacrifice and we are proud to honor these wrestlers for their obvious commitment to their academic pursuits."

A total of 325 student-athletes representing 87 institutions were recognized by the NWCA. Augsburg led all teams with a 3.879 GPA, while Johnson & Wales University had the most Scholar All-Americans with 13. Stevens was one of two institutions to represent the Middle Atlantic Conference in the top-30 team standings, and the Ducks' nine honorees were tops among the eight MAC schools that sponsor men's wrestling. 

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