Penn State's Bryan Pearsall, left, and Chattanooga's Dean Pavlou, right, compete for seventh place in the 141 pound finals.Dean Pavlou is a four-time Academic All-American.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior from Bradley Central High School was chosen for the 2012-13 team by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
"Dean has been the perfect example of what it means to be a student-athlete," UTC coach Heath Eslinger said. "There is a hyphen in that phrase because those two words go together to make up a single noun, and Dean has been everything that noun represents. Much of our academic success lies in guys like Dean being a great example to our younger student-athletes."
The wrestling team just set an academic benchmark in the spring semester by posting a 2.98 grade point average. The Mocs also had a team-record 16 wrestlers on the dean's list and 19 on the athletic director's honor roll.
Pavlou was a strong student at Bradley, where he won two state championships, yet he said he had matured in his years with the Mocs. He talked about the little things from making up his bed every day to keeping his apartment shipshape.
"I go to bed at 10 p.m. and get up at 5 a.m. I'm smarter about my social life," he said. "It feels good to do the right things, to make A's on tests, to volunteer in the community. As small as those things sound, they have become important parts of my life."
Pavlou bought into Eslinger's total-package philosophy.
"He's the total package," the coach said. "He's a worker, he's a great teammate, he's a great student and he has a great reputation on campus. He sets a great example from team meetings to the classroom."
11 teams have 3.0s
While the wrestling Mocs just missed, UTC matched its record from the fall semester by having 11 teams with 3.0 or better GPAs. The men's cross country squad led with seven 4.0 individuals and a record 3.84 aggregate.
Women's cross country combined for a 3.67 in the spring semester, while men's track and field had a 3.56, volleyball a 3.50, women's tennis a 3.43, women's golf a 3.38, women's track a 3.30, soccer a 3.23, men's golf a 3.20, women's basketball a 3.06 and men's tennis a 3.01.