UNLV REBELS

Nov. 5, 2009

LAS VEGAS - Ryan Wolfe (Santa Clarita, Calif.) is already his school's and league's all-time receptions leader. Now, the UNLV record-breaker could become Rebel football's first-ever CoSIDA Academic All-America winner.

Wolfe, who heads into Saturday's game vs. Colorado State ranked 13th in college football history with 275 catches in his career, earned one of two receiver spots on the first team of the 2009 CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Eight Team on Thursday. The Hart High School graduate now advances to voting for Academic All-America. No Rebel football player has ever been named to a national CoSIDA academic team, which is scheduled to be released this year on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Currently holding a 4.0 grade point average in graduate school, Wolfe is pursuing a master's in sports education leadership after already earning his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from UNLV with a cumulative 3.55 GPA. He currently leads the Mountain West Conference and stands 11th in the nation with 7.33 receptions per game for a total of 66 through nine weeks. His 3,417 career receiving yards are just 217 short of the MWC all-time record held by CSU's David Anderson.

Thursday's announcement also marked a big honor for head coach Mike Sanford's program as the Rebels have now had at least one district winner in four straight seasons for the first time ever. Former defensive lineman Jacob Hales (Las Vegas) won in 2006 and former receiving great Casey Flair (Anchorage, AK) was honored in both 2007 and 2008 to become the first Rebel gridder to earn the district award twice in a career.

The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) selects Academic All-America teams in 12 programs throughout the year. Players who are starters or important reserves on their teams and are at least in their second year at a school and hold at least a 3.30 career GPA are eligible for the academic awards, which are voted on by sports information directors from across the nation.

UNLV's district includes four-year institutions from the states of California, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Idaho and Nevada.

2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Football Teams
District 8 University Division First Team
POS   PLAYER           SCHOOL           YR   GPA   MAJOR(S)
P     Robert Malone    FRESNO STATE     Sr.  3.51  Kinesiology
QB    Drew Hubel       PORTLAND STATE   Jr.  3.84  Criminology and Criminal Justice
WR    Ryan Wolfe       UNLV             Gr.  4.00 (grad) Sports Education Leadership
                                             3.55   Kinesiology (earned BS 2009)
WR    Ryan Whalen      STANFORD         Jr.  3.43   Science Technology and Society
TE    Vince Pascoe     FRESNO STATE     Jr.  4.00   Mechanical Engineering
RB    Richie Brockel   BOISE STATE      Gr.  3.70, 3.41 (grad) Accounting
RB    Owen Marecic     STANFORD         Jr.  3.32   Human Biology
OL    Chris Thomas     EASTERN WASH.    Sr.  3.78   Biology/Pre-Med
OL    Andrew Jackson   FRESNO STATE     Jr.  3.92   Business Administration
OL    Zane Beadles     UTAH             Sr.  3.54   Mechanical Engineering
OL    Ryan Henry       IDAHO STATE      Sr.  3.91   Physical Education
OL    Micah Hannam     WASHINGTON STATE Jr.  3.59   Civil Engineering
OL    Mark Boskovich   CALIFORNIA       Jr.  3.73   Political Science
PK    Kevin Goessling  FRESNO STATE     So.  3.46   Business Administration
DB    Beau Hadley      WEBER STATE      Sr.  4.00   Technical Sales
DB    Chima Nwachukwu  WASHINGTON STATE Jr.  3.79   Political Science
DB    Scott Johnson    BYU              Sr.  3.82   Exercise Science
DB    Moses Harris     FRESNO STATE     Gr.  3.56   Business Finance
LB    Mike Nixon       ARIZONA STATE    Sr.  4.00   Political Science
LB    Matthew Bauman   BYU              Sr.  3.91   Finance
LB    Mike Mohamed     CALIFORNIA       Jr.  3.43   Business Administration
DL    Jacob Kragt      EASTERN WASH.    Sr.  3.88   Biology
DL    Casey Hamlett    WASHINGTON STATE Jr.  3.72   Management and Operations
DL    Brett Denney     BYU              Sr.  3.54   Finance
DL    Aaron Lavarias   IDAHO            Jr.  3.35   Accounting