Even after the culmination of wrestling season, ˿ƵAPP’s Nate Rodriguez keeps pinning down awards and accolades.
Rodriguez just added the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award to his ever-growing trophy case when he was honored at a ceremony in St. Louis. The Paragon Award is awarded annually to one male and one female student-athlete, based upon academic excellence, athletic ability and achievement, character and leadership.
“It’s great to be recognized here,” says Rodriguez in an . “It’s even better that wrestling got promoted into the GLVC, and I think that’s the best thing.”
Rodriguez becomes the first ˿ƵAPPSaint to be honored with the conference athlete of the year award after becoming a national champion in the 141-pound class and graduating from college with a 3.97 GPA. He has been accepted into medical school at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.
“Nate has been an outstanding student athlete,” says Mark Lombardi, PhD, president of ˿ƵAPP, in an . “We are so thrilled to be able to salute him.”
Saints wrestling head coach Mike Denney says there are very few like Rodriguez who have that combination of being a great student and athlete.
“He comes in everyday and works hard,” says Denney. “He’s like that in the classroom, too.”
On the wrestling mat, Rodriguez became the second ˿ƵAPPstudent-athlete to become a national champion after he defeated Darren Wynn during the NCAA Division II wrestling finals in March.
“It feels pretty cool, and to do it for ˿ƵAPPis even better,” says Rodriguez. “My goal this year was to be an NCAA champ. It was on my symbol and it didn’t matter what was going to happen, I was going to reach it.”
*Rodriguez also accomplished the following during the 2016-17 academic year:
- No. 1 ranked wrestler all season and finished the season with a 32-2 record
- Won Super Region 3 title
- Voted the Super Region Wrestler of the Year
- All-American
- NWCA Academic All-American
- First-team All-GLVC selection
- ˿ƵAPPMale Student-Athlete of the Year
- GLVC Academic All-Conference honors
- ˿ƵAPPDean’s List
- GLVC Sportsmanship Award for wrestling
*Information provided by