Wheeling, W. Va. – After announcing the 2025-2026 Play of the Year winner, the postseason awards continued for the Mountain East Conference (MEC) on Wednesday. The focus shifted to the classroom with the announcement of the nominees for the 2025-2026 Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards. Wheeling University Athletics was represented by men's wrestler Gavin Harper and women's lacrosse player Trinity Rose, both of whom represented the university well on the field and in the classroom.
Each of the MEC's 11 member institutions was asked to nominate one male and one female athlete for the MEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, with each of those students receiving a plaque from the conference. The criteria for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award are modeled after the Academic All-America qualifications, honoring both the student-athlete's work on the field and in the classroom. To be eligible, a student must have at least a cumulative 3.30 GPA and must have participated in at least 50 percent of their team's contests. The student-athlete must also have completed at least one calendar year at their current institution, making sophomores and above eligible for the award. In the case of transfers, graduate students, and two-year college graduates, the student-athlete must have completed one full calendar year at their current institution.
The first nominee for the Cardinals was Wheeling wrestler Gavin Harper, who has been a leader for the wrestling program during his two seasons with the Cardinals. On the mat, Harper continued his success in 2025-2026, finishing as a Second Team All-MEC honoree in the 285-pound weight class while becoming just the second Cardinal in program history to qualify for an MEC Championship match. He entered the year ranked No. 13 in the country in his weight class and never fell outside the top 15 throughout the season. He finished his run at the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Tournament, where he earned alternate status for the NCAA Division II Wrestling National Championships. His success continued in the classroom, where the sports management major holds a cumulative 3.83 GPA during his time at Wheeling. He has made the Dean's List in all four semesters at Wheeling and last season was honored as a National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-American in 2025-2026.
The second Cardinal nominee was women's lacrosse player Trinity Rose, who has helped revitalize the women's lacrosse program. She helped lead the team to the MEC Women's Lacrosse Tournament for the second consecutive season in 2026, leading the way with 52 goals and 72 points on the offensive side. That success carried over to the defensive end, where she finished as the team leader in both ground balls (49) and caused turnovers (36), while ranking second with 48 draw controls. For her efforts, she was named the 2026 MEC Midfielder of the Year for the first time in her career while earning her second career First Team All-MEC honor. In the classroom, she has posted a 3.77 cumulative GPA over her two seasons, earning Academic All-Conference honors in each year. She has also been a four-time Dean's List honoree at the university while majoring in biology.
The 2025-2026 Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners will be determined by a vote of MEC administrators and the league office. The awards will be announced in the coming weeks, so stay tuned to mountaineast.org for the results.
