CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) office announced the 2024-25 Athletes of the Year earlier today, where Corban University's David Rubio from the men's wrestling program was honored as the Male Athlete of the Year after being selected from a pool of highly decorated student-athletes from across the Pacific Northwest. Rubio caps off the most successful career in Corban men's wrestling history on top of all CCC sports as the men's representative for the conference's highest honor, which was voted on by the conference's athletic directors. He is the third male in Corban Athletic Department history to be selected for the CCC Athlete of the Year award, the first Warrior to win the honor since Valerie Schmidt (Olson) was honored on the female side in 2021-22, and first male honoree in over twenty years since Taurai Daka from the Corban men's soccer program was honored in 2002-03.
"We're excited for David and this recognition of his commitment to his craft," Corban men's wrestling head coach Nolan Harris shared when he learned of Rubio's most recent honor. "He's been blessed with talents that have led to his successes on the mat, and it's been fun to see his dedication and development throughout his career be honored by those looking on. He has been a great leader for the Corban wrestling program and this is an exclamation point ending to his great career!"
A four-time NAIA All-American award winner, Rubio most recently completed the nation's most grueling gauntlet of perfection by securing a 5-0 record during the 2025 NAIA National Championship Tournament, where he finished as the first individual national champion in program history after defeating the top-seeded wrestler at 157lbs this past March in Wichita, Kansas, outscoring his opponents 52-10 in the process. He defeated Central Methodist University's Donald Griffin via an 11-1 major decision on the national stage to conclude his collegiate wrestling career at the peak of NAIA competition while being dubbed the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the NAIA Championships following a 26-4 overall season.
Rubio was named the 2025 CCC Wrestler of the Year shortly after his dominant run through his national competition, another first for the Salem native before collecting on the second of two Academic All-American honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). After a four-year stretch of representing the Navy and Gold locally, regionally, and nationally at the highest extent possible, he will depart from the Corban men's wrestling program as the all-time leader in wins (102) while ranking third in pins (25) and second in winning percentage (.857). In four and a half seasons of competition, Rubio suffered only 17 losses, half of which came during his redshirt freshman campaign.
Other male nominees from the CCC include University of British Columbia's Dylan Uhrich, Bushnell University's Kaleo Wellman, College of Idaho's Daniel Butler, Eastern Oregon University's Justin Krabbenhoft, Lewis-Clark State College's Charlie Updegrave, Northwest University's Josiah Jaquith, Oregon Tech's Tyler Horner, University of Providence's Sawyer Hobbs, and Southern Oregon University's Carson Le Bel.
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