NDSU 149-pounder wrestler Clay Ream won the Elite 90 Award presented prior to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship matches March 19, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average at each of the NCAA's 90 national championships. Ream, a redshirt sophomore from Wentzville, Missouri, has a 4.0 GPA in biochemistry and molecular biology.
"I’ve just been working on what I need to do to accomplish my goal, that is to go to med school. Keeping a high GPA is what I need to do, so that is what I am focusing on," said Ream, who presently plans a career as a trauma surgeon.
"I believe that being a student comes first and our coaching staff believes in that as well. Wrestling, our sport, is important, but it isn’t a career. I love to go out there and compete for NDSU, but in the end I am going to need to have a career after this," Ream said.
Ream is the fifth NDSU student-athlete to earn the award. He joins quarterback Carson Wentz, who was a three-time winner at the 2014, 2015 and 2016 FCS football championship games. Others in the select group are women's golfer Amy Anderson and women's track and field competitor Whitney Carlson, who each won at the 2011 national championships, as well as linebacker Esley Thorton, who was the 2013 football recipient.
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