Etzel And Potts Named Scholar All-Americans
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson College senior Taylor Potts (Wellsburg, W. Va./John Marshall) and sophomore Josh Etzel (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) were named 2011-12 Division III Scholar All-Americans by the National Wrestling Coaches Association on Friday. In addition, the W&J wrestling team was one of 25 squads to earn the NWCA Division III Scholar Team Award.
Potts has accumulated a 3.3 GPA as a pre law and political science double major. He was named Presidents’ Athletic Conference MVP after claiming the second 285-pound league championship of his career. Potts’ 36 victories this winter set a new single-season team record and his 83 career wins are tied for fourth all-time at W&J.
Etzel, a chemistry and pre-med major, has earned a 3.6 GPA during his two years at W&J. He will be competing at the NCAA Division III National Championships in the 141-pound bracket beginning on Friday. Etzel, who owns a 31-4 career record, is the first W&J wrestler to earn a spot at the NCAA Tournament since Kevin DeJuliis ’03 and Byron Johnson ’04 both competed in the 2003 national championships. He enters the tournament with a 24-3 record this season and has recorded 13 consecutive wins after claiming both the PAC and NCAA Midwest Regional championships.
The Presidents’ 3.3 team GPA ranked 20th in Division III under first-year Head Coach Tommy Prairie. The team GPA is calculated as an average of the top ten students 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 at least 50% of the team’s scheduled contests.
W&J now has 10 NWCA scholars in its history. This is the first season in which two W&J wrestlers earned the honor. The Presidents have had one NWCA scholar in each of the last three seasons.
