June 10, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - Curtis Owen (Polson, Mont.) has garnered his third All-America honor of the 2002-03 season, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Tuesday. Owen, a member of the 2003 Pac-10 Champion Arizona State wrestling team, earned a place on the Verizon Academic All-America At-Large First Team and was the lone Pac-10 representative on the first team.
Owen, who capped his career in Tempe with a fourth-place finish at the 2003 NCAA Championships to earn his first All-American accolade, earned his second academic honor of the year. Following the conclusion of the season, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) selected Owen to its Academic All-America First Team for his achievement in the classroom.
The Verizon Academic All-America honor is the first for the Sun Devil wrestling program. In May, Owen also became the first ASU grappler to earn a spot on the first team of the Verizon Academic All-District VIII and NWCA Academic All-America teams. Several other Sun Devils in the past years have earned NWCA honors on the second and honorable mention squads.
On the mat, Owen compiled a 27-9 record and won his first Pac-10 Championship at 174 pounds before earning his first All-America honor. Owen also was named the team's Co-Top Senior along with Kellan Fluckiger (Sr., Preston, Idaho).
The first, second and honorable mention Verizon teams were formed from first team members from each of the districts around the United States. Owen, one of just three wrestlers to earn a spot on any of the three teams, joined Hawaii's Costas Theocharidid (volleyball) as the only members from District VIII on the first team. The student-athletes that comprised the academic teams competed in fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
2003 Verizon Academic All-America At-Large First Team
Shilo Ayalon (Georgia Tech) * Swimming
Emil Bove (Univ. at Albany) * Lacrosse
Michael Burton (Tennessee) * Swimming
James Cameron (Furman) * Tennis
Cesar Garcia (Auburn) * Swimming
Martin Kariya (Maine) * Ice Hockey
Art Kulans (George Mason) * Volleyball
Troy Matteson (Georgia Tech) * Golf
Stephen Mohr (North Carolina) * Swimming
Vincent Ng (Ohio State) * Tennis
Curtis Owen (Arizona State) * Wrestling
Victor Sapezhnikov (Marist) * Tennis
Jake Sinclair (Southern Illinois) * Swimming
Costas Theocharidis* (Hawaii) * Volleyball
Zach Wilcox (Florida) * Swimming/ Diving
* indicates Academic All-America Team Member of the Year