Eight of the student-athletes named to the 19-member 2011-12 All-ACC Wrestling Academic Team earned spots on the squad on at least one previous occasion. This year’s team includes six student-athletes that also earned All-ACC teams honors in 2012, including ACC Wrestler of the Year Devin Carter of Virginia Tech and Freshman of the Year Nick Brascetta, also of the Hokies.

 Six members of the team – Snyder, Carter, Maryland’s Kyle John and Virginia’s Jon Fausey, Matt Nelson and Nick Nelson – were also named to the 2011-12 NWCA All-Academic Division I team announced earlier this week.

 Snyder, a Kinesiology major from Lewistown, Pa., is a three-time All-ACC Wrestling Academic Team honoree who plans to enter the medical field upon graduation. Snyder was assigned a room on The Lawn at Virginia, one of the most prestigious honors at the University. In addition to this year’s classroom achievements, Snyder earned the Cavaliers’ Mike Krafchick Academic Achievement Award last season and was a Capital One Academic All-District Second Team honoree.

 On the mat, Snyder captured the ACC Championship at 125 pounds and earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Division I Championships at St. Louis, where he posted two wins. Snyder finished with a 24-5 overall record, including a 5-0 record in ACC dual competition.


Ranked as high as 10^th nationally in his weight class during the 2011-12 season, Snyder posted 10 wins against fellow wrestlers that reached the NCAA Championships. He owns a career record of 77-32, including 25 pins (fifth in school history). Snyder needs 14 wins next season to move into the top 10 on Virginia’s all-time list in that category.

 Snyder was one of a conference-leading seven Virginia student-athletes named to the 2011-12 All-ACC Wrestling Academic Team.  Five from Virginia Tech earned places on the squad.

The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters.

To be eligible for All-ACC Academic Team consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a minimum 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a minimum 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.

2011-12 All-ACC Academic Wrestling Team

Name, School                                               Year       Major

Brandon Gambucci, Duke                            So.          Undeclared

Brian Self, Duke                                             So.          Undeclared

****Peter Terrezza, Duke                             Sr.           History/Italian

***Kyle John, Maryland                                 Gr.          Master’s/Engineering Project Management

Frank Abbondanza, North Carolina           Fr.           Undeclared

Alex Utley, North Carolina                            Fr.           Business Administration

Steve Ramos, NC State                                So.          Economics

**Jon Fausey, Virginia                                  Jr.            Kinesiology

**Shawn Harris, Virginia                               Gr.          Higher Education

Ethan Hayes, Virginia                                   Fr.           Undeclared

Ryan Malo, Virginia                                       Gr.          Education Psychology

Matt Nelson, Virginia                                     Sr.           Economics

***Nick Nelson, Virginia                                Gr.          Commerce

***Matt Snyder, Virginia                                Jr.            Kinesiology

Nick Brascetta, Virginia Tech                      Fr.           University Studies

**Devin Carter, Virginia Tech                      So.          Biological Sciences

Chris Mears, Virginia Tech                          So.          Marketing

**Chris Moon, Virginia Tech                        So.          Electrical Engineering

Matt Stephens, Virginia Tech                      Fr.           Marketing

ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Matt Snyder, Virginia

* * – Two-time honoree

*** – Three-time honoree

Kettler has been at the U of M for the last three seasons, with the most recent being an Olympic redshirt year while placing sixth at the US Open and competed at the Olympic team trials in Greco.

Jake has been a back-up to NCAA Champion Tony Nelson and competed solely in open tournaments while at the U of M.

“I’m very excited about wrestling for George Mason. I’ve known Coach Russell since I started wrestling my freshman year of high school. I know that Joe is an incredible coach as well as an amazing person. I feel that he will be able to help me accomplish my goal of becoming an NCAA champion” says Jake Kettler about transferring to GMU.

Also May 19-20 the Junior Freestyle and Greco State Championships will be held at Henrico High School. More information can be found here.

Jeff “peanut” Bowyer, National Sales Manager for Brute Wrestling and Co-Founder, Executive Director for R.E.A.C.H.E.S., a national non-profit will be inducted into the Virginia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in April 2012, receiving the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award. The Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award recognizes individuals who have devoted a lifetime of service to wrestling, their communities and most importantly the young wrestlers they have coached, taught, motivated and inspired throughout their careers as coaches, officials and contributors. All of the honorees have more than twenty years of service to the sport of wrestling. In addition to being honored at the banquet, the recipients will have their names permanently enshrined in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

In addition to helping produce innovative new products to the market, Bowyer is heavily involved in the wrestling community and is committed to helping grow the sport of wrestling through the non-profit R.E.A.C.H.E.S. program.

Though he began his association with wrestling in the town of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, it was in the great state of Virginia that Jeff Bowyer began his rise to becoming an integral part of the National wrestling community. As an athlete, coach, volunteer, and philanthropist, Bowyer’s accolades and contributions have made major impacts at James Madison University, the National Wrestling Coaches Association, the Colonial Athletic Association, the Virginia Intercollegiate State Championship, Equity in Athletics, Henson Group Sports and the R.E.A.C.H.E.S. program. These accomplishments have made Bowyer not just a viable candidate for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, but a necessary recipient of this prestigious honor.

During his collegiate career he amassed countless accolades and accomplishments on his way to becoming the most victorious wrestler in James Madison’s history. He currently still holds the career (125) and season (43) wins record as a wrestler and aided the Dukes to two NCAA Eastern Regional Team Championships during his tenure. Individually, Bowyer was a two-time NCAA Eastern Regional Champion, two-time Virginia Intercollegiate State Champion, and a three-time participant in the NCAA Division I Championships.

Bowyer’s accomplishments as an athlete positioned him for selection as Head Coach at his alma mater in 1988. Coach Bowyer led the Dukes to 112 wins (a school record for wins as a coach), two Colonial Athletic Association titles, and a Virginia Collegiate Team State Championship during his leadership. His peers recognized his impact on the James Madison program and collegiate wrestling, twice electing him Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year (1999, 2000) and NCAA Virginia State Coach of the Year (1996, 1999). In April 2000, James Madison University honored Bowyer with their highest award by inducting him to the James Madison University Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 2002, Bowyer moved forward in his ongoing search to have a bigger impact on the sport of wrestling and became Director of Operations and Annual Giving for the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).

Within five years, Bowyer helped grow the NWCA from a volunteer-based non-profit to an organization that has become a leader in the advancement of wrestling, starting new programs, saving threatened ones, and having a proactive approach to making the NWCA a leader in coach’s Associations Nationwide.

During the spring of 2007, Bowyer took his wrestling expertise to The Henson Group as a Director of Sports Marketing and most recently has been promoted to National Sales Manager for Brute Wrestling. During his employment in the business world, he has not ventured far from his dedication to the growth of the great sport of wrestling.

He currently serves as President and Board Member for Equity in Athletics, and is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of a national non-profit R.E.A.C.H.E.S. (Rewarding Educational Athletic Choices Helping Each Sport) program. Additionally, Bowyer remains an active member of the NWCA.

Bowyer’s influence within the realm of wrestling continues to grow as his dedication and passion for his current projects lead them to fruition. Wrestling will continue to benefit from his dedication for years to come.

Bowyer joins three other members of the Henson Group ownership in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Stillwater, OK. Company founder and Olympic Bronze medalist Josiah Henson and Arthur Martori, Sunkist Kids are both Distinguished Members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Additionally, Henson Group CEO John Purnell was inducted into the Hall as the 2008 Pennsylvania Chapter’s Outstanding American.
Henson Group is located in Sinking Spring, PA and is the manufacturer for Brute Wrestling and NeuEdge Sportswear.

About Brute Wrestling
As the first U.S. company to sell wrestling products by mail order, Brute Wrestling originated in 1967 as the Henson Company, Inc. in the residence of its founder, Captain Josiah Henson. Today under the trade name, Brute Wrestling, the company continues to provide a complete line of top quality wrestling products and apparel to sporting goods dealers for amateur and professional athletic clubs and teams and buyers worldwide. For more information on Brute wrestling visit brute.com and follow Brute Wrestling on Facebook.

Meadows finished his senior year 46-1, with his only loss coming from the #1 ranked Kyle Snyder 3-2. He was a state champion his senior year and a 3 time state placer in his career.

Meadows also placed 3rd at the Ironman and took second recently at Flow Nationals. He is projected to wrestle 197 for Russell and Patriots.

Overview: this advanced summer camp will combine “live wrestling with heavy-hand drilling in a fast paced, individualized attention, instructional environment.” This isn’t a camp for the first year wrestler or the faint of heart but rather advanced athletes who already understand the fundamentals of wrestling. Rest assured that each athlete will be paired with others of similar experience and talent levels so development is all but assured.

From an instructor perspective the camp will have several World Class pinners helping the academy students move to the next level. Scott Moore – 2 time Schalles Award winner as the nations best collegiate pinner. Hudson Taylor – 3-time All American and one of the nations Top 5 collegiate pinners his senior year at Maryland. Steve Fittery – 4-time All American and record holder at American University for pinning. Quentin Wright – current NCAA Champion for Penn State and pinning legend. Plus camp Director Wade Schalles, NCAA record holder and Guinness Book of World Records for most pins.

* Just added to make the week even more special . . . Naval Academy graduate and World Champion Lloyd “Butch” Keaser will be joining us.

More information on EagleHawk Academy camps can be found here.

This years inductees include Joe Boone III from Poquoson HS, Jeff Bowyer from James Madison Univ, Jay Copp from James Wood HS, Jim Wayne Childress from Grundy HS, Mitch Sutterfield from Fairfax HS, and Michael Moore from Matoaca HS.

In addition, the Virginia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, will be honoring a Coach of the Year, an Official of the Year, and four Student-Athlete of the Year awards; one for each class plus the private schools.

For more information on how to purchase tickets for this event, click here.

Click here for more information on the Patriot Elite Wrestling Club.
George Mason will also be running camps this summer. Click here for more information on camps.

“This event has grown in the four years since its inception,” said Grubbs. “State Club Duals was added to the event this year and it was great to see the participation and quality of wrestling.”

Overall for the weekend two teams were dominant. Virginia Team Predator (central region) won all three events, and the SYA Matdogs (southern region) came in second. Of the individual states, there were 782 participants representing K-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8th grade.

“Virginia has not been known as a hotbed of wrestling in the past,” commented Grubbs. “However, that is all beginning to change as the talent level of these kids coming up is outstanding. Many of the kids in this event have been putting in the extra effort and participating in national caliber events such as this one to help prepare them for the next level.”

Read Youth1’s exclusive recap of the 5-6 and 7-8 individual states.

1:00-6:30 p.m. NCAA Fan Festival-Peabody Opera House
1:00- 6:30 p.m. Greatest Championship Matches – Fan Festival Video Lounge
3:00-4:15 USA Wrestling Exhibition Match – Fan Festival
4:30-5:15 pm Wrestling Hall of Fame Presentation
5:15-6:00 pm US Olympians/USA Wrestling Autograph Session

For a list of all the activities click here.