Matt Levins - The Hawk Eye
Sam West never claimed to be the greatest wrestler in the world.
In fact, West scored more points in the classroom than he did on the mat during his four years with the Central College men’s wrestling team.
West put it all together for his senior season with the Dutch.
West, a graduate of Notre Dame High School, not only qualified for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships last weekend at Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, he won the most prestigious award given by the NCAA for his work in the classroom.
West was named recipient of the Elite Scholar-Athlete Award, which recognizes the true essence of student-athletes by honoring the individuals who have reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. The Elite Scholar-Athlete award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships.
For West, there was no better way to end his wrestling career than receiving the award on championship night.
“It’s pretty cool,” West said. “I wasn’t expecting that. I was just going to watch the finals and then they said I was receiving an award. It’s nice to be recognized by the NCAA. They told me I was up for the award, but I really didn’t pay much attention to it. It’s cool to be the one person in all of Division III wrestling to get it.”
West, who is majoring in business management and has a 4.0 grade-point average, plans to return to the Burlington area to help his father run the family business.
West finished his season with a 19-7 record, going 2-2 at 197 pounds at the national tournament to end his career.
That didn’t detract from his outstanding career at Central.
“Qualifying for nationals was one of my goals. I beat a couple kids I lost to during the season to get there, so that was nice,” West said. “I didn’t end the season where I wanted to, but I enjoyed being on the team. I started the year kind of rough, but (coaches) Landon (Williams) and Dylan Blackford really helped me a lot.”
West said one of his biggest thrills at Central was being on the same team with his brother, Carter, and former Notre Dame-West Burlington teammate C.J. Davis. Both Carter West and Davis came up just short in their bids to qualify for nationals this year.
“Central is a great place to be all the way around,” Sam West said. “It was fun being on the same team with Carter and C.J. again. They are both going to do great things next year.”
West said that he plans to stay involved in wrestling. It’s something he has done all of his life and he wants to give back to the sport that has taken him so far.
“I’m planning to help out coaching D.C. Elite next year,” West said. “I also hope to be an assistant coach for Notre Dame.”