WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The Pac-12 Conference has named CSU BAKERSFIELD’s Dalton Kelley as the 2014 Pac-12 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The award has been established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline. 

Kelley, a contender for the 149-pound class this year, has excelled both on and off the mat for the CSU Bakersfield Runners. In athletic competition, the redshirt senior has a career record of 63-54 and has won seven of his last 10 starts entering the Pac-12 Championships. This season, Kelley defeated the then-No. 1 ranked wrestler in the Pac-12. He has finished fifth at the last three Conference championships, including the 2014 Championships. 

Outside of athletics, Kelley serves as the president of both the CSUB and the Western Athletic Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committees. He has already earned a degree in political science, posting a 3.83 undergraduate grade point average (G.P.A.), and is working on a master’s in public administration with a graduate G.P.A. of 4.00. 

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 22 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling.

The Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards were established during the 2007-08 academic year.

Other nominees included Jake Swartz of Boise State and Kyle Meyer of Stanford.