The University of Akron Athletics
Elliott Bates and Brian Wagner Named Academic All-MAC for Football
January 12 | Football
AKRON - University of Akron senior Elliott Bates and redshirt freshman Brian Wagner were named to the 2009 Football Academic All-MAC team Tuesday, as voted by faculty athletic representatives at Mid-American Conference institutions. A total of 32 student-athletes were named to the team.
Bates, a graduate student, has posted a 4.0 GPA in his post-graduate work in physical education. The Houston, Pa., native started all 12 games for the Zips at center and ended his career starting UA's last 24 contests. In addition to anchoring the Zips' offensive line, he was voted team captain by his teammates.
Wagner (Springfield, Ohio) puts an exclamation mark on his first season on the field for Akron. The linebacker carries 3.24 GPA in statistics and was one of the top defensive players in the nation. Wagner, with an average of 11.0 tackles per game, ranked second in the league in stops and seventh in the NCAA. (Wagner led the MAC in tackles through the regular season, but Ohio's Noah Keller had 17 tackles in its bowl game to allow him to overtake Wagner with an average of 11.7)
Wagner was tabbed second team All-MAC by the league's coaches and was a consensus Freshman All-American, receiving first team honors by Sporting News. He was tabbed MAC East Defensive Player of the Week once and was the only freshman in the NCAA to have three games with at least 15 tackles.
