Men's Wrestling | 8/5/2021 12:00:00 PM
WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – West Liberty University national wrestling champion
Cole Laya is the latest Hilltopper to earn NCAA Division II Academic All-America® honors for the 2020-21 academic year. The Fairmont, W.Va. native was a third-team selection when the 2021 Academic All-America® At-Large Team was announced on Thursday afternoon.
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.
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.
A three-time NCAA Division II All-American and NWCA Scholar All-American majoring in Exercise Physiology, Laya posted a perfect 4.00 GPA during the spring semester. 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 is West Liberty's fourth NCAA Division II Academic All-American® of the 2020-21 academic year, joining 2021 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Academic All-American® of the Year Dalton Bolon, NCAA Division II Football Academic All-American® Clay McDonald, and NCAA DII Softball Academic All-American Kat Donzella.
The Hilltopper athletic department has produced at least one Academic All-American® in each of the last nine years and earned a total of 20 Academic All-America Awards since transitioning to NCAA Division II membership during the mid-1990s.
CoSIDA 2021 Academic All-America At-Large Team
NCAA Division II
FIRST TEAM
Sport Name School GPA Yr. Major
Volleyball Tobi Azeez Mount Olive Jr. 3.98 Biology
Golf Andrew Beckler Washburn Gr. 3.66/3.80 Finance (UG) / MBA
Swimming Jerry Brown Lindenwood Sr. 3.97 Health Promotion & Wellness
Golf JJ Cooney Sioux Falls Gr. 4.00/4.00 MBA
Swimming Jan Delkeskamp Queens (N.C.) Jr. 4.00 Finance
Tennis Ben Fellman Millersville Sr. 4.00 Meteorology
Swimming Andy Huffman Missouri S&T Jr. 4.00 Engineering Management
Wrestling Tyler Kreith Maryville Sr. 3.83 Financial Services
Tennis Tobias Lentz Concordia (N.Y.) Sr. 4.00 English & New Media
Tennis Renato Lima Indianapolis Sr. 3.90 Finance & Business Admin.
Wrestling Noah Ottum Colorado School of Mines Gr. 3.93/3.96 Eng. Physics (UG) Mech. Eng. (G)
Volleyball AJ Risavy Lincoln Memorial Sr. 4.00 Business Management
Volleyball Francisco Salinger Cenzual Limestone Gr. 4.00/3.78 Business/Sport Mgt. (UG)/MBA (G)
Swimming Jonas Soerensen Wingate Jr. 4.00 Finance
Wrestling Garrett Vos St. Cloud State Sr. 3.66 Criminal Justice
Wrestling Jordan Will Minot State Sr. 4.00 Accounting, Finance, Mgt.
SECOND TEAM
Sport Name School GPA Yr. Major
Lacrosse Alex Aken Palm Beach Atlantic Sr. 3.99 Ministry
Swimming Andrew Assaleh Oklahoma Christian Sr. 3.97 Accounting
Swimming Lane Austin Colorado Mesa Jr. 3.79 Business Administration
Tennis Nicolas Bacella Saint Leo Jr. 3.99 Management
Golf Ian Barnes Central Missouri Gr. 3.92/4.00 Sport Management
Golf Dan Bradbury Lincoln Memorial Sr. 3.67 Management & Sport Mgt.
Volleyball Ryan Coenen Lewis Gr. 3.50/3.78 Business Administration
Swimming Mahmoud Elgayar Colorado Mesa Jr. 3.65 Mechanical Engineering
Wrestling Damon Greenwald Seton Hill Gr. 3.85/3.95 Bio.(UG)/Healthcare Admin. (G)
Golf Wesley Hanson Valdosta State Sr. 4.00 Management
Lacrosse Dan Lewis Pace Gr. 3.75/3.52 Corporate Finance
Lacrosse Mitchell Linklater Lenoir-Rhyne Sr. 3.98 Management
Tennis Joao Martins Fairmont State Sr. 4.00 Mechanical Eng. Technology
Lacrosse Zachary Ornstein Chestnut Hill Gr. 4.00/4.00 Organizational Leadership
Tennis Juan Ortiz Couder Embry-Riddle Gr. 3.78/4.00 Software Engineering
Tennis Sam Sippel Azusa Pacific Jr. 3.95 Business Economics
Tennis Roy Stepanov Wingate Sr. 4.00 Finance
Golf Ellis Yoder Bentley Gr. 3.97/3.91 Computer Info. Systems/Digital Innovation (G)
THIRD TEAM
Sport Name School GPA Yr. Major
Tennis Unai Amilleta Gonzalez Mercyhurst Sr. 3.67 Biochemistry
Swimming Jerry Birnbaum Colorado School of Mines Sr. 3.88 Chemical & Biochem. Eng.
Golf Tommy Ethier Bentley Sr. 3.65 Accountancy
Golf Abe Holmes Gannon Jr. 3.86 Sport Marketing & Mgt.
Wrestling Weston Hunt Colorado School of Mines Sr. 3.41 Mining Engineering
Wrestling Bryan LaVearn Tiffin Gr. 3.95/3.90 Homeland Security / Terrorism
WRESTLING COLE LAYA WEST LIBERTY JR. 3.31 EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY
Golf Oliver Mast University of Indianapolis Sr. 3.70 Business Admin. & Mgt.
Golf Jake Miller Anderson University Gr. 4.00/4.00 Business Administration
Lacrosse Myles Moffat Lenoir-Rhyne Sr. 3.92 Marketing & Management
Lacrosse Justin Napolitano Adelphi Gr. 3.55/3.85 Sport Management
Tennis Cedric Nitz Spring Hill Sr. 3.99 International Business
Tennis Jakob Schnaitter Azusa Pacific Sr. 3.81 Business Management
