BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Bridgewater State College junior Zachary Bates has been honored by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) for combining academic and athletic success, as he was named an NWCA Division III Scholar All-American for the 2009-2010 season.

To qualify for the honor, wrestlers were required to maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or better and win 67 percent or more of their matches, place at their conference tournament or qualify for the national championship meet.

Bates, who competes in the 174-pound weight class, went 32-9 this season and placed second at the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Championships in February.  He also recorded 79 takedowns, 38 escapes, 13 near-falls, 12 reversals and eight pins. 

At the NEWA Championship meet, Bates posted one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.  Seeded fourth, he knocked off number one seed Colin Lenhardt of Johnson and Wales University not once but twice.  After going 3-0 in day one action, including the 11-9 victory over Lenhardt, Bates dropped a 7-1 decision to number three seed and eventual champion Greg Hurd of Wesleyan University in the winner's bracket final.  He then pinned Lenhardt to set up a rematch with Hurd in the finals.  Bates' tournament run would come to an end with a 6-4 loss.

Bates, who hails from Leyden, Massachusetts, sports an impressive 3.64 grade point average over his first five semesters at Bridgewater State.  An economics major, he was one of 145 Division III Scholar All-America selections this season and just the fifth in BSC wrestling history.