ROSEMONT, Ill. – Graduate student
Nicholas Gravina of wrestling and junior
Kat Muzik of women's tennis were honored by the Big Ten Conference as Rutgers University's Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners, announced Wednesday.
One member of each varsity sports team on every campus was chosen by his or her institution as a Sportsmanship Award honoree, and two Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners were then selected from each institution.
All of the Sportsmanship Award winners have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, these honorees must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
Just the sixth four-time national qualifier in program history, Gravina collected 77 career victories during his collegiate career. Despite missing the first half of the 2018-19 season due to injury, the Allendale, New Jersey, native battled through a slew of ailments to wrestle in the final month of the season, as he finished with a 6-3 record.
As the 184-pound starter at the Big Ten Championships, Gravina wrestled to a sixth-place finish with wins over two ranked foes to secure his fourth trip to the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh. In the classroom, the counseling psychology major is a five-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.
Muzik was named the 2019 Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award DI Northeast recipient by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). This award which dates back to 1982, goes to players who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements. On the court, she led the team at the No. 1 doubles spot and No. 3 singles position this year.
The Mableton, Georgia, native recorded 19 overall singles wins, 11 dual singles wins, and four Big Ten singles wins in 2018-19. She also contributed to 17 overall doubles wins this season. The human resource management major was named an Academic All-Big Ten honoree for the 2019 spring semester.
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