Wayne State University Athletics

Men's Fencing 6/17/2025 12:15:00 PM Cooper Weidenthaler, Sports Communications Specialist

Two Fencers And One Golfer Earn Men's At-Large Academic All-District Recognition

Gneuhs and Heim from men's fencing, and Smith from men's golf honored for work in the classroom.

DETROIT -- Three Wayne State University men's student-athletes were recognized with College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors as announced by the organization this afternoon. WSU sports in the "At-Large" category include fencing and golf.

Nomination criteria includes:

Student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically.
An undergraduate student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).

Receiving Academic All-District accolades were sophomore foilist Sam Gneuhs (Mason, Ohio / William Mason) and junior in the epee Bryce Heim (Oconomowoc, Wis.) from the fencing squad (Division 1), as well as redshirt senior Ian Smith (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth) from the men's golf team (Division 2).

Gneuhs, who was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team in his first-year eligible, appeared in six events as a sophomore, while finishing with a 22-41 overall record. He went 1-6 at the CCFC Championships (2/22-23) and finished with a 3-13 mark at the NCAA Midwest Regional (3/8).  The Ohio native also registered a 2-3 entry at the NFC Championships (11/23-24), a 4-4 record at the Danosi Open (1/11), a 7-3 ledger at the DeCicco Duals (1/25), and a 5-12 mark at the Schiller Duals (2/1-2).  Gneuhs carries a 3.81 cumulative GPA in Sport Management.

Heim, now a two-time member of the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team, appeared in six events during his third season at WSU with an overall record of 40-36.  He went 6-6 at the CCFC Championships and finished with a 1-4 mark at the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Wisconsin product also acquired a 6-4 entry at the NFC Championships, an 8-1 record at the Danosi Open, a 13-7 ledger at the DeCicco Duals, and a 6-14 mark at the Schiller Duals.  Heim has maintained a 3.91 cumulative GPA in Chemistry Honors.

Smith continues to impress academically as his classroom resume includes four times on the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team, three D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards, three CSC Academic All-District distinctions, and a GCAA All-America Scholar honor. Named Honorable Mention All-GLIAC for the second instance this past spring, Smith competed in 12 of the team's 13 tournaments and did so with a 74.23 scoring average (2,227 strokes in 30 rounds). Those 12 events included three finishes in the top 10 and eight among the top 25, the best of which was a tie-for-third out of 110 golfers at the Ken Venturi Invitational (10/8).  The two other top-10 showings were sixth of 48 at the GLIAC Championship (4/18-19) and a tie-for-sixth of 43 in the event before it, Wayne State's Motor City Meltdown (4/14). Smith concluded his Green and Gold career with a 3.53 cumulative GPA in Marketing.

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Players Mentioned

Ian Smith: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

Sam Gneuhs: Foil; 5' 10"; Sophomore

Bryce Heim: Epee; 6' 3"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Ian Smith
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

Sam Gneuhs
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: Foil

Bryce Heim
: 6' 3"; Junior
: Epee