photo by GoMocs.com
The Southern Conference announced its 10 postgraduate scholarship recipients for the 2016-17 academic year Monday. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior wrestler Jared Johnson was among those who earned the honor.
The 10 student-athletes will be recognized for their accomplishments at the Southern Conference Honors Dinner in Hilton Head Island, S.C., on Wednesday, May 31.
This year's honorees include: Dave Hart Graduate Scholarship recipient Nick Colvin (Wofford); Dorothy Hicks Graduate Scholarship recipient Anna Allen (Samford); Insurance Office of America Scholarship recipient Javion Lee (Samford); David Knight Graduate Scholarship recipient Jon Vandenberg (Furman); Bob McCloskey Insurance Graduate Scholarship recipients Anton Wahrby (Wofford) and Haley Harrington (Samford); William Moore Graduate Scholarship presented by McMillan Pazdan Smith recipient Jared Johnson (Chattanooga); Southern Conference Presidential Scholarship recipients Kristen Favre (ETSU) and Taylor Rodgers (Mercer); and Mike Wood Graduate Scholarship recipient Duncan Fletcher (Furman).
The recipients are nominated by their schools and selected by the Southern Conference Graduate Scholar Committee.
The scholarships, worth $2,000 each, are awarded to student-athletes about to receive their undergraduate degrees who intend to pursue advanced degrees in graduate or professional school. The student-athletes are evaluated on academics, athletics and community service.
"Jared is the epitome of what it means to be a student-athlete," stated head coach Heath Eslinger. "He was a top-10 wrestler all year, while working towards an M.B.A. This is a well-deserved honor for him and I am very proud of all of his accomplishments during his time in our program."
Jared Johnson, Chattanooga – William Moore Graduate Scholar presented by McMillan Pazdan Smith
Chattanooga wrestler Jared Johnson is the 2017 recipient of the William Moore Graduate Scholarship presented by McMillan Pazdan Smith. The heavyweight from Jefferson City, Missouri, was a three-time NCAA qualifier in his career, earning spots in the championship field in each of the last three seasons. He was the No. 13 national seed in 2016 and the 11 seed in 2017 and has been ranked in the top 15 nationally for the last three years. Johnson has spent nearly 900 hours serving as an instructor/counselor at the UTC and Jefferson City wrestling camps throughout his five-year career and volunteered with the UTC Wrestling Golf Tournament, the FCA 5K, two blood drives and the Hydrocephalus Association's WALK to End Hydrocephalus. In the classroom, he is a two-time National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Academic selection, was a CoSIDA Academic All-District pick in 2015-16 and is a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society. Johnson graduated with honors with a degree in chemical engineering in 2016 and spent this academic year working toward an MBA. Upon completion of his academic career, he would like to work as a chemical engineer and eventually move into project management.
ABOUT THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
The Southern Conference, in its 96th season of intercollegiate competition, is a national leader in emphasizing the development of the student-athlete and helping build lifelong leaders and role models. The conference has been on the forefront of innovation and originality in developing creative solutions to address issues facing intercollegiate athletics. From establishing the first conference basketball tournament (1921) to tackling the issues of freshman eligibility (1922) to developing women's championships (1984) to becoming the first conference to install the 3-point goal in basketball (1980), the Southern Conference has been a pioneer. The Southern Conference is the nation's fifth-oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association.
The conference currently consists of 10 members in six states throughout the Southeast and sponsors 21 varsity sports and championships that produce participants for NCAA Division I Championships.