CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Virginia wrestling program once again has been honored as one of the top academic teams in college wrestling, as the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) has announced its annual Division I All-Academic Top 30 Teams and Individual All-Academic wrestling team for the 2012-13 wrestling season.

Virginia placed eight of its wrestlers on the 2012-13 NWCA All-Academic Team – twice as many as any other program in the nation. As a team, Virginia recorded the fifth-highest grade-point average of any Division I wrestling program, finishing with a cumulative team GPA of 3.239.

“We are so thrilled that our guys are being recognized for their hard work in the classroom,” Virginia head coachSteve Garland said. “Our team has been striving for academic excellence for a long time so to see it all come together like this is very rewarding. All of the guys on this list have given every bit of themselves for our University and our University should be proud. The mission when they got here was simple – to become a better version of yourself by the time you leave. Well, mission accomplished.” .. read more »

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Caroline Miller (women’s soccer) and Jarmere Jenkins(men’s tennis) were honored as Virginia’s top female and male athletes for the 2012-13 academic year at UVa’s annual awards dinner on Wednesday (May 1) at John Paul Jones Arena. Miller received the IMP Award as the top female athlete and Jenkins garnered the WINA Award as the top male athlete.

The 2012 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, Miller set single-season school records with 20 goals and 47 points this season. The conference leader in goals and points, Miller was a 2012 NSCAA first-team All-American and became the first Cavalier to be named a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, the nation’s top individual women’s soccer award.

The Rockville, Md., native ended her season on a school-record eight-game goal-scoring streak and was named first-team All-ACC for the second consecutive season as well as being selected to the ACC All-Tournament team when Virginia won the 2012 ACC Championship. Miller ended her career with 45 goals and 109 points, both ranking second in school history. She was selected 10th overall by the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League and is currently playing her rookie season with the club. .. read more »

At a time where wrestling is vulnerable at many Universities, we are fortunate that Mason has publicly re-stated it’s commitment to the Wrestling program.  Actions speak louder than words. The list below summarizes a number of successes “off the mat” from a collaborative effort between Mason’s Athletic Department, Wrestling program and Alumni over the course of the past two seasons:

-          Complete update of the Wrestling room to include new mat, wall mats and painting.

-          Additional Assistant Wrestling Coach.

-          Athletic Department support to host 2013 NWCA All Star Classic.

-          Addition of Pre-Match fan and alumni socials. .. read more »

The George Mason wrestling team and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics welcomes distinguished journalist Jim Lehrer to campus. Lehrer will be speaking in the Meese Conference room on Wednesday, April 10th from 3-5 p.m.

With over fifty years of experience in the field of journalism, Lehrer has covered such events as the events surrounding the Watergate Scandal and the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Lehrer has also moderated 12 presidential debates including this past year’s debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.

The Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jack Censer, will speak informally with Lehrer about his distinguished careers and his impressions on the patterns he’s seen develop in American journalism and in American government.

Lehrer is the great uncle of Mason wrestler Matt Stull. “Matt was kind enough to invite his uncle to speak in an effort to embrace the mission and values of the university by linking athletics and academics,” commented wrestling head coach Russell. “We are excited to share this event with the rest of the campus community and I believe all will benefit from Mr. Lehrer’s life experiences and lessons.”

For more detailed event information go to: http://chss.gmu.edu/events/3255

George Mason University will host the 48th annual All-Star Classic on November 2, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. The Classic will be held in the 10,000 seat Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.

“This premier event will provide something for everyone. We will have a full day of events leading up to the All-Star Meet. Amongst other things, we will hold a wrestling clinic at the Field House and a VIP reception at the Patriot Center,” said George Mason University head coach Joe Russell.

The event will feature many of the nation’s top Division I wrestlers who will participate in a dual meet format. The participants will be selected in October 2013 and each wrestler will be announced as they commit.

“Fans can expect to see high paced, action packed wrestling matches that many times have been the precursor to the year-end NCAA finals bouts,” said Russell. .. read more »

Released March 25th, 2013.

Today George Mason announced that it will become a member of the Atlantic 10 and will compete in 2013-14.

Athletic Director Tom O’Connor on Conference affiliation for Mason wrestling:

“Like Mason, the Atlantic 10 maintains a broad range of sports for its student-athletes with championships offered in 21 sports. Mason sponsors 22 sports, 20 of which will compete in the A-10. The only exceptions are wrestling, for which we will remain committed to finding a new league in which to compete, and men’s volleyball which will continue its membership in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

My first priority after the announced move to the Atlantic 10 is the future conference affiliation for our wrestling program. We have been preparing and are currently engaged in preliminary discussions with several conferences that are interested in our program. We are committed to finding the right fit to give our student-athletes the best avenue to success in the NCAA. We have nothing but confidence that Mason wrestling will end up in a great situation.”

Head Coach Joe Russell:

“We are excited about the new chapter for George Mason Wrestling. We will miss being part of the CAA and the traditional rivals the CAA conference provided. Nevertheless, we are now in a unique position to choose a new home. Our administration, key stakeholders, alumni, coaches and team will work diligently to find a new conference that best fits our program today and one that will help us grow.

We are appreciative and excited to continue building a program that will make the George Mason Nation proud.”

Coach Bill Swink will be blogging at the NCAA Championships held at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA March 21-23. He will be concentrating on the VA teams and individuals. Access his blog here.

Virginia Tech qualified qualified all 10 wrestlers with 4 of them earning seeds. At 125, Jarrod Garnett earned the No. 5 seed, while Nick Brascetta at 149 picked up the No. 8 seed, Jesse Dong was seeded No. 7 at 157,and at 165 Pete Yates earned the No. 3 seed. At 133: Erik Spjut, 141: Zach Neibert, 174: Austin Gabel, 184: Nick Vetterlein, 197: Derrick Borlie, and 285: David Marone are all unseeded.

University of Virginia qualified 9 individuals, 4 of the earning top 12 seeds. Matt Snyder and Nick Sulzer each claimed No. 8 national seeds at 125 and 165 pounds, respectively. Freshman George DiCamillo nabbed the No. 11 seed at 133 pounds, while Jedd Moore notched the No. 12 seed at 157 pounds.

Joe Spisak, Derek Valenti, Jon Fausey, Stephen Doty and Mike Salopek also automatically qualified for the championships at 141, 149, 174, 184 and 197 pounds but are not seeded.

Old Dominion University sends 4 to the Des Moines. Chris Mecate earned the No. 12 seed at 141. Rob Deutsch 125, Alexander Richardson 149, and Billy Curling at 174 also made the championships in Iowa.

George Mason University is sending Sophomore Jake Kettle after receiving an at-large bid at HWT.

Click here for the NCAA brackets.