Pac-12 Scholar-Athletes of the Year

Stanford redshirt senior Jaden Abas has been named the 2024 Pac-12 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Conference office announced during Sunday's Pac-12 Wrestling Championships in Corvallis, Ore. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

Abas, a graduate student from San Diego, California, majored in Psychology as an undergraduate student at Stanford and graduated with a cumulative 3.80 GPA. The ninth Stanford wrestler to win the award, Abas holds a 3.91 GPA in grad school while studying Sociology.  

Abas has once excelled on the mat again this season. The redshirt senior currently stands at 16-6 on the season, bringing his career record to 71-28, not including his true-freshman season where he went 23-4 wrestling unattached.  Abas picked up Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honors on February 13th, the 3rd time he's done so in his Stanford career, after knocking off then No. 5 ranked Chance Lamer (Cal Poly) 4-3 to help lead the Cardinal to a 30-9 dual victory over the Mustangs.  It was his second win over a ranked opponent this season, having beat then No. 27 ranked Noah Castillo (Chattanooga) on January 2nd in the Southern Scuffle.

The 2021 Pac-12 Champion at 149 lbs, Abas is a three-time NCAA qualifier (2021, 2022, 2023) and a 2021 NCAA All-American.  The 2021 Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year was also the runner-up at 149 lbs in the 2023 Pac-12 Championships.

Abas has appeared on the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll three times (2021, 2022, 2023) as well as earning NWCA Scholar All-American honors in each of those three seasons.  A three-time team captain, Abas was also named a 2023 ACE Participant, traveling to South Africa to contribute to self-empowerment and sustainable development projects in communities around Cape Town through educational and sports workshops, and supported local outreach and educational awareness programs.  He will participate in a Wu Tsai Performance Alliance Research Program this summer at Stanford, studying peak performance, with the goal of enabling all people to achieve optimal health and well-being.

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 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum 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 athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year is named annually in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, 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 award was first established during the 2007-08 academic year.

ALSO NOMINATED: Brandon Kaylor, Oregon State; Chase Tebbets, Little Rock