COSTA MESA -- The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced the 2025-26 All-Academic Teams today, and Vanguard had five women's wrestlers and six men's wrestlers land on the lists. In addition to the MPSF announcement, the VU men's program was recently honored for its academic success by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. VU took home seven Scholar All-Americans and the second-best team GPA in Division II.
For the MPSF, a student-athlete must have a 3.00 or better cumulative GPA, be at least a sophomore academically, completed one full academic year at the institution, and have competed in at least fifty percent of the competitions. The women had
Lily Avalos (Jr., Psychology),
Alexis Garza (Jr., Business, 2024-25 honoree),
Marina Hernandez (So., Biology),
Loretta Lopez (Jr., Accounting), and
Elena Ramirez (Sr., Engineering Physics) as members of the All-Academic squad. The program had two more honorees in 2025-26 than last year.
On the men's side,
Marquize Brown (Jr., Nursing),
Mason Hernandez (So., Criminal Justice),
Keagen Kroeger (Jr., Business Administration),
Randy Lockwood (R-Jr., Business Administration),
Caidence Turner (Sr., Criminal Justice), and
Robert Villegas (So., Physics Engineering) were all on the MPSF list, with Brown and Kroeger repeating in 2025-26 for the Blue and Gold, which upped its total from five last year to six. VU tied Menlo on the men's side for second-most honorees in the MPSF this season.
The NWCA annually releases a roll call of the top team GPAs for men's programs in NCAA DII, and the Lions made their first appearance this year. VU posted a team GPA of 3.597, just .001 off of first-place Northern State University (Aberdeen, South Dakota). Vanguard cleared third-place Nebraska-Kearney, who had a 3.548, while no other MPSF schools placed in the top 25.
On the individual front, the NWCA requires a student-athlete to have a 3.50 GPA with a threshold of at least four or more competitions in the book, while national qualifiers need a 3.25 GPA, and All-Americans a 3.00 GPA. The Blue and Gold had
Sid Barron (So., Business),
David Baxter (R-Fr., Liberal Studies), Brown, Hernandez,
Zachary Klarcyk (Fr., Psychology), Lockwood, and Villagas net this laurel in a program-first.
"This team's commitment to excellence in all aspects was clearly shown in their amazing performance in the classroom," said Head Coach
Caleb Flores. "Finishing as national runner-ups as a team in GPA is the highest we have finished in our history as a program. They continue to raise the standard!"
