MANEIM, Pa. – Two-time national champion Gabe Johnson led a group of six Central Oklahoma wrestlers who were named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division II Scholar All-America Team.
Joining Johnson on the elite academic squad were Dylan Brown, Zane Coleman, Kaden Glass, Barrett Haemker, Adam Maki and Garrett Wells.
“It’s a great honor for these young men to be recognized for their academic work and we’re very proud of them,” head coach Todd Steidley said. “We want to compete for national championships, but our main goal is to help our guys graduate and become productive citizens.
“Wresting is a tough sport that takes a lot of hard work and dedication. We try to make sure that carries over to what it takes to succeed in the classroom and life in general and these guys are a great example of that.”
Johnson put together a spectacular junior season in capturing his second straight 157-pound national title and earning Scholar All-America honors for the second consecutive year. A marketing major from Choctaw, he finished 26-1 with 18 bonus-point wins and ended with a 13-match winning streak.
Johnson rolled to his third straight Regional IV title before winning the national championship with a four-match run through the field. He cruised into the finals with a fall, major decision and easy victory before avenging his only loss of the season with a dramatic 4-1 sudden-victory decision over St. Cloud State’s Joel Jesuroga.
Wells also became a two-time Scholar All-America pick after earning All-America acclaim for the second straight season.
A mechanical engineering major from Glenpool, the sophomore 184-pounder went 22-7 with 13 bonus wins and claiming a second Regional IV crown before finishing sixth at the national tournament.
Brown also earned Scholar All-America recognition for the second time. A senior nutrition dietetics major from Cleveland, Brown was a national qualifier this season after garnering All-America honors last year.
Coleman went 18-8 with a team-high nine falls this season as UCO’s starter at 174. A graduate student working on his master’s in business administration, he just missed qualifying for the national tournament with a fourth-place regional finish.
Haemker was a back-up at 197 and heavyweight this season. A senior kinesiology major from Albuquerque, New Mexico, he saw action in six duals.
Glass redshirted this season after transferring from Pratt Community College, where he was a national champion last year. A junior occupational safety major from Goddard, Kansas, he competed in four open tournaments in 2024-25.
Maki also redshirted this season while going 22-5 with four top-three finishes in five open tournaments. The freshman finance major was a two-time state champion at Andover, Kansas.
Division II Scholar All-Americans must have at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average while competing in at least four events, with that benchmark a 3.25 for 2025 national tournament qualifiers and 3.0 for All-Americans.
