CLEVELAND, Ohio – The National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administration (NATYCAA) has announced sophomore Dan Torres of the Jamestown Community College wrestling team as the 2019-20 Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award winner.
Torres is accompanied by Amy Woodham of Chipola College, winner of the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. Woodham was a pitcher at Chipola and is currently enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
"The NATYCAA Scholar-Athlete Awards are presented to student-athletes who have demonstrated their academic, athletics and leadership abilities while also serving their community," stated current NATYCAA President and Executive Director of Student Life and Athletics at The College of Southern Maryland, Michelle Ruble. "This national award is presented to a male and female selected from the nine NATYCAA District winners. All nominees have achieved excellence at the highest level and have volunteered their time to improve the lives of others. This year's recipients, Dan Torres and Amy Woodham, have achieved this and represented their institutions with distinction. Congratulations to Dan and Amy, and to all the district winners who earned their place on NATYCAA's Scholar-Athlete Team!"
To be eligible for the award, nominees must meet the following criteria: minimum 3.6 GPA on a 4.0 scale with a minimum of 36 semester hours or 45 quarter hours with a minimum of 24 semester/36 quarter hours at the nominating institution; participation in a minimum of one complete season of varsity competition at the nominating institution; outstanding athletics success; and outstanding qualities of leadership and citizenship.
"First off, I'd like to thank NATYCAA for accepting my nomination and recognizing me as the 2019-20 National Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year," said Torres. "It's an honor to be recognized by this organization for balancing my athletics, academics and all my community service while at JCC."
Torres, a native of Cassadaga, had an outstanding season for the Jayhawks, setting a new single-season win total with 42 wins. On his path of destruction, Torres place in five different opens and invitationals, capturing first-place finishes at the Brockport Open, Waynesburg Invitational and JCC Open. At the JCC Open, Torres faced competition not only from the NJCAA, but wrestlers from the NCAA Division I, II and III ranks as well.
Torres capped of his career as a Jayhawk with a second-place finish at the national tournament this past spring, competing in the 174-pound weight class and earning All-America honors.
Torres not only was dominant on the mats, he was dominant in the classroom as well. Torres maintained a 4.0 GPA through all four semester while studying criminal justice. During the 2018-19 season, Torres was awarded the 2019 NYS Chancellor Scholar in wrestling, awarded to the top student-athlete in all of the SUNY and CUNY school systems.
With a time consuming academic and wrestling schedule, Torres finds the time to give back to the community, notably with area youth wrestling camps and Kallie's Crusade events. On top of an already filled schedule, Torres worked at Advanced Septic Service, LL.
Torres will continue his academics and athletics this fall with the University at Buffalo where he has signed his national letter of intent to wrestle with the Bulls.
"I've had a lot of different things that pushed me to strive to perfection and one of the main things is wrestling itself," said Torres. "Just the amount of work you have to put in and in order to be a good wrestler, you have to strive for perfection. That has really carried over to the classroom, for work and every aspect of my life. I believe it will carry with my all the way to UB where I will be wrestling for the Bulls and majoring in criminology. I think that anything you do in life, you have to put in 100 percent effort in what you want to do."
"Dan is a tremendously balanced young man. In his two years at Jamestown Community College, he has shown consistent discipline throughout all of his commitments," said George Sisson, athletics director. "He is an honors student with a perfect GPA, All-American athlete and an outstanding young man. His strength is his ability to stay focused on his desired goals and objectives but well-rounded enough to be a man of character and a leader of his peers. We could not be more proud of Dan for the example he has set for our future Jayhawk student-athletes."
"Dan is the epitome of what it is to be a student-athlete," said wrestling head coach Kris Schimek. "Yes, we all love our sports and some of us only got to school for them, but to be able to maintain a 4.0 GPA for every semester and wrestle at an All-American level is nothing short of amazing. Dan deserves everything he's earned and he's just getting started. This is the most responsible young adult I have ever met and he will keep being successful with whatever he does in life."
Torres was named to the NATYCAA's Scholar-Athlete Team earlier this month for District I for all men's teams.
Jenna Caskey, sophomore outside hitter for the Jayhawk volleyball team, was named Honorable Mention for the award.