May, 22, 2020 - Yelena Makoyed and Amanda Martinez of the North Central College women's wrestling team were named National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-Americans on Thursday afternoon for their performance on the mat and in the classroom. 

To be selected for this award, student-athletes who earned the title of All-American for the 2019-2020 season must carry at least a 3.0 grade-point average (GPA), wrestlers who participated at the Cliff Keen National Collegiate Women's Wrestling (NCWW) Championships need at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA, or anyone who did not compete at Nationals but did participate in at least 50% of their school's scheduled matches, must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher. In total, the NWCA honored 60 individual Scholar All-Americans from 14 different NCAA institutions.

Makoyed, who is a psychology major, tallied an overall record of 26-3 at both the 170 and 191-pound weight classes while recording nine pins on the season. The Orangeville, Calif. native earned All-American honors at the Cliff Keen NCWW Championships by taking second-place. She also won the Adrian College Open and the Dr. Bob Kellogg Open during the season.

Martinez posted a combined record of 31-5 while wrestling at both the 130 and 136-pound divisions. The management major won 18 of her matches via tech fall and earned first-place at the North Central Invitational. The Riverside native also took second-place at the Cliff Keen NCWW Championships, making her an All-American.

The Cardinals capped off their inaugural season by earning five All-Americans and were ranked No. 7 in the latest NWCA tournament team rankings. North Central wrestler's combined for five different individual tournament champions and won four dual meets on the season.