FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

Complete Division II All-Academic Team

SOMERS, Wis. (May 16, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside wrestling squad landed six student-athletes on the 2012-2013 All-Academic Wrestling Team selected by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association while the Rangers placed 19th nationally in team grade point average.

Matt Gille and James Malechek land first team honors while Arik Yde earns a selection to the second team. Dave Edwards, Jake Papke and Brandt Welcher all earned honorable mention status.

Gille, a three-time All-American, makes his third appearance on the All-Academic team. The 181-pounder finished his senior campaign with a 28-14 record, recording nine pins and scoring 128 points for the team. Gille was honored by the UW-Parkside athletic department on Monday, earning the Ranger Award at the year-end banquet.

Joining Gille on the first team is 285-pounder James Malechek. The senior earns a spot on the squad for the third time in his career, also claiming the honor in 2008-09 and 2010-11. Malechek qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships this season, finishing one win shy of earning All-American honors for the second time in his career. He closed the season with a 25-8 record on the mat, collecting seven pins and scoring 111 points for the Rangers.

Yde lands a spot on the All-Academic second team for the second consecutive season. The 141-pounder posted a 15-21 record for the Rangers this season, earning three pins and collecting 52 points for the team. Yde was named UW-Parkside's Academic Athlete of the Year, compiling the highest GPA of all male senior student-athletes.

141-pounder Dave Edwards lands honorable mention accolades for the second straight season while 133-pounder Jake Papke and 149-pounder Brandt Welcher claim honorable mention status for the first time in their careers.

As a team, UW-Parkside finished in the Top 20 in academic performance compiling a team GPA of 3.010, ranking 19th among NCAA Division II institutions.

The 2012-2013 All-Academic Wrestling Team consists of 168 student-athletes from 38 institutions. 35 members earned first team honors, 48 earned second team accolades while 85 were honorable mention selections. In order to be nominated, student-athletes needed to have a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale. The wrestler must also be in at least his second full year at his school and be a varsity member on the team or a key reserve. The team GPA is calculated by averaging the cumulative GPA's of ten wrestlers from which at least eight must have competed in their team's NCAA Regional Tournament.

The Rangers placed 17th at the NCAA Championships in March with Dillon Bera and Davien Willis earning All-American honors. UW-Parkside posted a 6-4 record during the dual match season, earning an 18-13 victory over then No. 1 and eventual national champion University of Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 12 en route to a fourth place finish at the annual Cliff Keen National Duals. UW-P capped off its dual schedule on Feb. 6, downing the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 22-16 to reclaim the Sake Bottle Trophy.