Click here for complete 2006-2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Men's At-Large Teams as selected by CoSIDA Seniors Ben Wildman-Tobriner of Stanford University and Bill Gaul of the University of Missouri-Rolla head the 2006-2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Men's At-Large Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The Men's At-Large program for the Academic All-America program includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
Wildman-Tobriner, a native of San Francisco, Calif., was selected as the Academic All-America of the Year in the University Division. A two-time Academic All-America selection after earning a spot on last year's first team, the 2007 Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year possesses a 3.68 GPA in biomechanical engineering and set the American record in the 50 freestyle (18.87) at the 2007 NCAA Championship. He won seven Pac-10 titles in this year and also captured two gold medals (50 free, 4x100 free relay) at the 2007 FINA World Championships.
Gaul, a native of West Des Moines, Iowa, is a repeat selection as the Academic All-America of the Year in the College Division, having also claimed the honor in 2006. A three-time Academic All-America pick, he is an 11-time All-America swimmer for the Miners, earning his latest accolade in the 200-yard medley at the 2007 NCAA Division II Championships. In the classroom, Gaul has posted a perfect 4.00 GPA as a Chemical Engineering major and is also the recipient of an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship.
Joining Wildman-Tobriner on the University Division Academic All-America first-team squad are Stanford classmates Dylan Carney (Gymnastics) and Tanner Gardner (Wrestling). Alabama and Cornell also placed a pair of student-athletes on the first team with the Crimson Tide's Vlad Polyakov (Swimming) and Joseph Sykora (Golf) as well as Cornell's Mitch Belisle (Lacrosse) and Matt McMonagle (Lacrosse) earning the nod. Also earning spots on the team were Dartmouth's Nick Bonacci (Lacrosse), Georgia Tech's Roberto Castro (Golf), Louisiana State's Kevin Dessauer (Tennis), Ohio State's Kellen Harkness (Swimming), Oklahoma's Sam Hazewinkel (Wrestling), Eastern Illinois' Anthony Imburgia (Golf), Baylor's Michal Kokta, New Mexico's Lars Loeseth (Skiing), Oklahoma State's Pablo Martin (Golf), Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum (Wrestling) and IUPUI's Justin Wenger (Golf). The second team University squad is led by a pair of NCAA champion skiers Adam Cole (slalom, giant slalom) and Rene Reisshauer (classical) from the University of Denver. Also earning spots on the second team were Army's Patrick Beverly (Golf), Edinboro's Alex Clemsen (Wrestling), Duke's Ed Douglas (Lacrosse), Georgia Tech's Ofer Finkler (Swimming), East Carolina's Geoff Handsfield (Swimming), IPFW's Colin Lundeen (Volleyball), Navy's Chris Renninger (Golf), Air Force's Kyle Schafer (Water Polo), Brigham Young's Daniel Summerhays (Golf) and Alabama's Apostolis Tsagkarakis (Swimming).
The third team University squad is comprised of Northern Iowa's Nick Baima (Wrestling), UC-Davis' Louie Bishop (Golf), Notre Dame's Ted Brown (Swimming), Minnesota's Igor Cerensek (Swimming), VMI's Thomas Cunningham (Wrestling), Florida's Luca De Matteis (Swimming), Nebraska-Omaha's Mike Eickman (Ice Hockey), Loyola's Brian Guntli (Volleyball), Connecticut's Tristan Jones (Swimming), Missouri's Tyler McCormick (Wrestling), Florida's Kevin Nead (Swimming), Johns Hopkins' Paul Rabil (Lacrosse), Coastal Carolina's Richard Redding (Tennis), Syracuse's Greg Rommel (Lacrosse), Virginia's Ben Rubeor (Lacrosse) and Nebraska's Stephen Tetrault (Gymnastics).
Joining Gaul on the College Division Academic All-America first team are Western New England's Travis Brown (Lacrosse), Virginia Wesleyan's Eric Caudill (Tennis), Rensselaer's Gregory Derevianko (Swimming), Case Western Reserve's John Erickson (Swimming), Albion's Neil Forster (Tennis), Embry-Riddle's Mislav Hizak (Tennis), Hardin-Simmons' Roy Lehman (Tennis), Olivet's Dustin Meisner (Swimming), Otterbein's Andrew Miller (Golf), Ferrum's Wilson Paine (Tennis), St. Norbert's tennis teammates Aaron Sunday and Andrew Winters, Colorado School of Mines' Mark Vallee (Golf) and Wheaton's (Ill.) Josh Williams (Tennis). Gaul, Caudill and Erickson repeat as first team Academic All-America selections from last year.
The second team College Division squad is comprised by Drew's Gil Arbitsman (Lacrosse), Barry's Dirk Benninghaus (Tennis), Wartburg's Brian Borchers (Wrestling), Gustavus Adolphus' Andy Bryan (Tennis), Western New England's Adam Cherry (Lacrosse), Seattle University's Christopher Coley (Swimming), Redlands' Trevor Harp (Swimming), Augustana's (S.D.) Cody Henriksen (Wrestling), Muhlenberg's Matt Loesch (Wrestling), Wisconsin-La Crosse's Jason Lulloff (Wrestling), Bethany's (W. Va.) Greg Mowrer (Tennis), Emory swimming standouts Tim Newton and Andrew Roos, Hobart's Matt Silver (Tennis), Milwaukee School of Engineering's Brian Soik (Ice Hockey) and Maryville's (Mo.) Tyler Tate.
The third team is comprised of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Tom Dohlman (Tennis), Rochester's Stephen Goodridge (Golf), Wisconsin-River Falls' Derek Hansberry (Ice Hockey), Lebanon Valley's Zach Kaufman (Tennis), Union's (Ky.) Ivan Mardones (Tennis), Barry's Patrick Ritenauer (Tennis), Shenandoah's Theodore Rogers (Lacrosse), John Carroll's Paul Schroder (Golf), Missouri-Rolla's Andy Shelley (Swimming), Calvin's Rafael Siebenschein (Tennis), Carson-Newman's Preston Sneed (Tennis), Assumption's Matt Stopp (Tennis), Greensboro's David Sutton (Tennis) and Lebanon Valley's Erik Vargo (Tennis).
The Academic All-America program annually honors over 1600 student-athletes who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA (the College Sports Information Directors of America), a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
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For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com or e-mail rlipe@bentley.edu.