All-Freshman Team and Freshman of the Year

The d3wrestle.com Freshman of the Year is Nate Giorgio of the United States Coast Guard Academy. Giorgio, who hails from Leesport, Pennsylvania, placed 4th in the NCAA Championships at 125 lbs. for the best finish of any freshman this year. He qualified for the tournament by winning the NEWA Championship where he was named Outstanding Wrestler and NEWA Rookie of the Year. He defeated 2011 All-American Brandon Gauthier of Rhode Island to win the NEWA title and defeated the 4th and 5th seeds at the NCAA tournament to reach the semifinals. He lost a close 4-3 decision to the eventual runner up before coming back through to the 3rd place match that he dropped 1-0. For his efforts, he has been named the d3wrestle.com Freshman of the Year joining the 2011 winner Chris Burdge of Centenary and 2010 winner and 2012 NCAA Champion Kyle Kwiat of Ohio Northern. Continue reading for the rest of the 2012 d3wrestle.com All-Freshman Team.

125 Nate Giorgio (Coast Guard) – 4th NCAA, 1st NEWA, 33-8

133 Kaleb Loht (Messiah) – 3rd Empire, 38-6

141 Alex Gomez (Ithaca) – 2nd Empire, 16-9

149 Drew Wagenhoffer (Wartburg) – 6th NCAA, 6th IIAC, 26-11

157 Terner Gott (John Carroll) – 1st OAC, NCAA Qualifier, 24-5

165 Zach Thomson (Gettysburg) – 2nd Centennial, NCAA Qualifier, 41-3

174 Jacob Lowry (Thiel) – 2nd Midwest, 29-6

184 Dan Manganaro (Ursinus) – 2nd Centennial, 17-11

197 Mario Palmisano (Chicag0) – 5th Great Lakes, 21-11

285 Joe Giaramita (Cortland) – 8th NCAA, 2nd Empire, 28-12