Mid-American Conference

MAC ANNOUNCES 2019 ACADEMIC ALL-MAC WRESTLING TEAM
Twenty-Five MAC students honored as the 2019 Academic All-MAC Wrestling Team
 
Cleveland, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced its 2019 Academic All-MAC Wrestling team today as 25 students were named to the team. Highlighting the 2019 Academic All-MAC Wrestling Team are seven three-time Academic All-MAC selections – Kyle Akins and Brett Perry of Buffalo, Isaac Bast and Tim Rooney of Kent State, John Erneste of Missouri, Caleb Gossett of Northern Illinois and Kade Kowalski of Ohio.
 
There were also four two-time Academic All-MAC honors earned by Jordan Atienza, Drew Hildebrandt and Dresden Simon of Central Michigan and Trevor Giallombardo of Ohio that were honored for the second time in their wrestling careers.
 
Central Michigan led the way with seven wrestlers (Jordan Atienza, Drew Hildebrandt, Collin Lieber, Drew Marten, Landon Pelham, Deven Perez and Dresden Simon) named to the Academic All-MAC Team.
 
Old Dominion (Killian Cardinale, Dean Drugac, Shane Jones and Michael McGee) and Northern Illinois (Will Feldkamp, Caleb Gossett, Bryce West, Drew West) had four honorees, while Buffalo (Kyle Akins, Brett Perry and Derek Spann) and Ohio (Trevor Giallombardo, Kade Kowalski and Mason Kroening) each had three named to the Academic All-MAC Team.
 
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics.  To qualify, a student must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for a particular sport.  First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.  Outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments for the current season are only considered.
 
2019 Academic All-MAC Wrestling Team (25):
^+Kyle Akins, Buffalo, Senior, 3.429 GPA, Communication (Sycamore, Ill.)
^+Brett Perry, Buffalo, Senior, 3.445 GPA, Mechanical Engineering (East Fishkill, N.Y.)
Derek Spann, Buffalo, Sophomore, 3.508 GPA, Social Sciences (Boonville, N.Y.)
^Jordan Atienza, Central Michigan, Senior, 3.21 GPA, Finance (Livonia, Mich.)
^Drew Hildebrandt, Central Michigan, Sophomore, 3.64 GPA, Finance (Granger, Ind.)
Collin Lieber, Central Michigan, R-Freshman, 3.81 GPA, Mechanical Engineering (Lexington, Mich.)
Drew Marten, Central Michigan, R-Freshman, 3.75 GPA, Biochemistry (Tecumseh, Mich.)
Landon Pelham, Central Michigan, Sophomore, 3.47 GPA, Finance (Tecumseh, Mich.)
Deven Perez, Central Michigan, Sophomore, 3.21 GPA, Entrepreneurship (Davison, Mich.)
^Dresden Simon, Central Michigan, Sophomore, 3.60 GPA, Sport Management (Dansville, Mich.)
^+Isaac Bast, Kent State, Senior, 3.379 GPA, Earth Science (Massillon, Ohio)
^+Tim Rooney, Kent State, Junior, 3.833 GPA, Exercise Science (Columbus, Ohio)
^+ John Erneste, Missouri, Senior, 3.706 GPA, MBA Program (Kansas City, Mo.)
Will Feldkamp, Northern Illinois, R-Freshman, 3.37 GPA, Undecided (Dexter, Mich.)
^+Caleb Gossett, Northern Illinois, Junior, 3.284 GPA, Leadership & Management (St. Charles, Mo.)
Bryce West, Northern Illinois, R-Freshman, 3.35 GPA, Undecided (Solon, Iowa)
Drew West, Northern Illinois, R-Freshman, 3.50 GPA, Health Sciences (Solon, Iowa)
Killian Cardinale, Old Dominion, R-Freshman, 3.71 GPA, Undecided (Bristow, Va.)
Dean Drugac, Old Dominion, Sophomore, 3.74 GPA, Criminal Justice (Hibernia, N.J.)
Shane Jones, Old Dominion, Junior, 3.27 GPA, History (Stroudsburg, Pa.)
Michael McGee, Old Dominion, Sophomore, 3.45 GPA, Sport Management (Bolingbrook, Ill.)
^Trevor Giallombardo, Ohio, Sophomore, 3.263 GPA, Bios Pre-Professional (Petoskey, Mich.)
^+Kade Kowalski, Ohio, Junior, 3.737 GPA, Management Information Systems (Nashport, Ohio)
Mason Kroening, Ohio R-Freshman, 3.476 GPA, Management and Strategic Leadership/Entrepreneurship (Aurora, Ill.)
Jacob Blaha, SIU Edwardsville, R-Freshman, 3.467 GPA, Undeclared (Collinsville, Ill.)
 
^ 2018 Academic All-MAC Wrestling Team
+ 2017 Academic All-MAC Wrestling Team
* 2016 Academic All-MAC Wrestling Team
~ 2015 Academic All-MAC Wrestling Team
 
 
MEDIA CONTACT:  Ken Mather, Assistant Commissioner/Media & Public Relations, 216-566-4622 x301