ROSEMONT, Ill. – Penn State Athletics saw 91 student-athletes earn Academic All-Big Ten honors from its winter programs. Kellen Ryan (men’s gymnastics) and Lucas Cochran (wrestling) each had perfect 4.0 GPAs.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selections, students must be on a varsity team and have been enrolled full time at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
Among the honorees is wrestling’s Mitchell Mesenbrink, who is set to compete for a second NCAA title this weekend with the wrestling team in Columbus, Ohio. Mesenbrink just won his third Big Ten Championship in the Jordan Center by going 3-0 with two majors and a tech fall. Mesenbrink is a two-time All-American and national finalist and won the NCAA title last season. Making his third trip to NCAAs, Mesenbrink is 12-0 vs. the field and 9-1 all-time at nationals.
Women’s swimming and diving and wrestling topped the list this season, with 16 honorees each. Women’s swim and dive ranked atop the list for an eighth consecutive year.
Team-by-Team Honorees
Men's Basketball – 3
Women's Basketball – 6
Men's Gymnastics – 9
Women's Gymnastics – 12
Men’s Ice Hockey – 14
Men’s Swim and Dive - 15
Women’s Swim and Dive – 16
Wrestling – 16
The latest 91 honorees bring Penn State's total academic honorees to 9,375 since 1991-92.
Penn State Highest Spring Academic All-Big Totals (3.0 GPA):
2021-22 – 123*
2020-21 – 106#
2023-24 – 103
2022-23 – 102
2024-25 – 94
2025-26 – 91
2018-19 – 91
2019-20 – 82
2015-16 – 79
* - School record
# - alternative grading due to COVID-19 pandemic
Penn State Among the Nation's Most Comprehensive and Successful Athletic Programs
Under the leadership of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Patrick Kraft, Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, featuring nearly 800 student-athletes across 31 varsity programs (16 men's, 15 women's). The Nittany Lions' 31 programs are tied for the fourth-highest number of sports sponsored by a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution.
Penn State student-athletes earned a record-tying 93% NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and 13 programs earned perfect 100% ratings in the 2025 report. This is the ninth consecutive year the Nittany Lions have posted a record or record-tying performance in the classroom. Penn State is one of only eight schools that have won at least 10 NCAA Championships since the 2015-16 academic year and earned at least a 90 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the 2025 NCAA report (Florida, North Carolina, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, Virginia).