WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – West Liberty University national wrestling champion Cole Laya received yet another prestigious honor on Thursday when he was named to the 2021 NCAA Division II Academic All-District® Two At-Large Team.
    Selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the 2021 Academic All-District® Teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined achievements on the field and in the classroom. The At-Large category encompasses numerous men's and women's sports including wrestling, tennis, golf, lacrosse, swimming, water polo, crew, gymnastics, fencing, field hockey, ice hockey and men's volleyball.
    A junior from Fairmont, W.Va., Laya cemented his status as one of the nation's top pound-for-pound wrestlers at any level this winter. After rolling to Mountain East Conference and NCAA Division II regional titles, Laya dominated the 125-pound division at the NCAA Nationals in St. Louis. He breezed into the championship match by pinning Central Oklahoma's Paxton Rosen in the semifinals before running away to a 12-2 major decision against UNC Pembroke's Nick Daggett in the finals. Laya posted a sparkling 18-1 record on the season with 12 of his 18 wins being bonus point victories.
    An Exercise Physiology major who posted a perfect 4.00 GPA during the spring semester, Laya is a three-time NCAA Division II All-American and NWCA Scholar All-American. He is the reigning Mountain East Conference Wrestler of the Year and was a finalist for the MEC's 2021 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Award.
    Laya becomes the sixth Hilltopper student-athlete to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors during the 2020-21 academic year.
    Dalton Bolon was honored as the NCAA Division II Academic All-American of the Year for men's basketball while Clay McDonald (football), Makenzie Amend (softball), Kat Donzella (softball), and Brian Campbell (baseball) were named to CoSIDA's Academic All-District Team in their respective sports. In addition, Abbey Bauer of West Liberty's acrobatics & tumbling team was one of only eight student-athletes named to the prestigious NCATA All-Academic Team.
    The 2021 Academic All-District® Two At-Large Team includes student-athletes from the Mountain East Conference (MEC), Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). As a first-team Academic All-District® selection, Laya is now a candidate for the 2021 NCAA Division II Academic All-America® At-Large Team. Academic All-America® voting begins later this month.
  Sport               Student-Athlete                 School                       Yr          GPA                   Academic Major
Golf                 Samuel Cudjoe                    Saint Augustine's     Sr.         3.75                   Sport Management
Golf                 Owen Elliott                         Shepherd                   Gr.        3.57/3.50         Accounting (UG)/MBA (G)
Golf                 Abe Holmes                         Gannon                      Jr.         3.86                   Sport Marketing & Management
Lacrosse         Bryce Johnson                     Mercyhurst               So.        3.90                   Finance
Swimming      Arthur Assfeld                     W.Va. Wesleyan      Sr.         3.78                   Physics
Swimming      Colton Schnars                    Bloomsburg              Jr.         3.60                   Health Sciences
Tennis             Unai Amilleta Gonzalez     Mercyhurst               Sr.         3.67                   Biochemistry
Tennis             Ben Fellman                         Millersville                 Sr.         4.00                   Meteorology
Tennis             Joao Martins                        Fairmont State         Sr.         4.00                   Mechanical Engineering Technology
Wrestling       Damon Greenwald             Seton Hill                   Gr.        3.85/3.95         Biology (UG)/Healthcare Administration (G)
WRESTLING  COLE LAYA                           WEST LIBERTY         JR.        3.31                   EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY
Wrestling       Joel Leise                              Gannon                      Sr.         3.79                   Mechanical Engineering