Former Shaker student - athlete, Jefferson Ajayi, class of 2009, continues to excel at the highest level both academically and athletically. Jefferson is a former MAC Scholar and Shaker Wrestling Captain. On March 9 & 10, 2012 at Wisconsin-La Crosse, he became an All-American as he placed seventh in the country in the Division 3 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Jefferson is the FIRST NCAA All - American Wrestler from Shaker Heights, Ohio! Jefferson is also doing great in the academic area; currently he is a Physician’s Assistant at Diamond Headache Clinic and majoring in Environmental Studies and Biology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. We are very proud of Jefferson and all of his accomplishments both in the academic and athletic areas.
This is someone that everyone in Shaker should be proud of!
Here is an article about Jefferson's recent achievement:
Jefferson Ajayi '13 (photo), making his first trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament after capturing a New England Wrestling Association title at 184 pounds, was victorious in three of his five matches during the Championships at Wisconsin-La Crosse Fri.-Sat., March 9-10. As a result Ajayi took All-America laurels as he took seventh place. The top eight finishers are deemed All-Americans.
Ajayi opened with a tough 6-4 loss in overtime to unseeded Tim Stewart of Messiah. Stewart had upset the #7 seed his opening match. In the consolations, Ajayi again found himself in overtime, tied 1-1 vs. unseeded Erik Schott of USMMA. This time, Ajayi got the takedown in overtime to secure a 3-1 triumph. He then advanced to the final eight when his next opponent had to forfeit due to injury. Next up for Ajayi was a battle with the #3 seed, Dylan Azinger of Wartburg. Azinger prevailed, 13-3, and went on to pace fourth. Ajayi then battled Greg Rhodes of Wabash, who had defeated Azinger, 4-3, in an earlier round, for seventh place. Ajayi got a take down in both the first and second periods, along with a second-period escape, to capture a 5-3 win.
Three other Cardinals attended Nationals as Joey Schwartz '14, who was chosen off the alternate list at 133 pounds, went 2-2, winning his opening match with a third-period pin before suffering a first-period fall in his second match. He then defeated 2011 All-American Tom Mirocha of Wartburg, 17-12, before losing to Dan Herr of TCNJ, 8-1. Kyle Roosa '13, making his second trip to the NCAAs behind his second straight NEWA title at 174 pounds, dropped both his matches, 14-4 and 8-5. At 197 pounds, NEWA champ Luke Erickson was pinned in the first round of his opener, then lost a tight 3-2 decision which knocked him from the field.
The four NCAA qualifiers matched the most for the Cardinals, equaling the 1981-82 squad which had four attendees, one of whom returned an All-American. Wesleyan fashioned an 11-6 dual-match record in 2011-12 and finished first in the NEWA Championships. Ajayi led the team with his 13-4 dual-match mark and a 24-6 overall record heading into Nationals and became just the fifth Cardinal to become a Division III All-American in wrestling. He is the first since Hugo Smith took eighth place at 177 pounds in 1996.
As a team, Wesleyan picked up 11.5 point during Nationals to tie for 29th place among 62 attending teams. Wesleyan also ranked 29th nationally in the final dual-meet poll and fourth nationally for team GPA with a lofty 3.44 mark.