December 16, 2004

Arkansas Tech defensive end Cedric Cursh became the 24th All-American in the 90-year history of Wonder Boys' football when he was selected to a pair of honor squads on Thursday.

Cursh, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore from Foreman, was named to the Associated Press Little All-America second team and the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-America second team.

The AP Little All-America team is one of the greatest honors bestowed upon student-athletes at the small college level, as it includes players from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

This marks the second consecutive year that an Arkansas Tech defensive end has been named to the AP Little All-America team. Tommy Edwards of Harrison earned a spot on the Associated Press honor squad following his senior season with the Wonder Boys in 2003.

Cursh had previously been named Gulf South Conference defensive player of the year, All-GSC first team and All-NCAA Division II South Region in recognition of his play during the 2004 season.

Cursh recorded 95 total tackles, 21 tackles for a loss, nine quarterback sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one interception while helping Tech post its best football season in 33 years.

The Wonder Boys finished with an overall record of 10-2, just the fourth 10-win season in the program's history, and became the first team from Arkansas to host an NCAA Division II Playoffs game and win an NCAA Division II Playoffs game.

Tech's All-America tradition started in 1937 when quarterback Raymond Burnett of Atkins became the Wonder Boys' first All-American. Tech's Firman Bynum (1939), Don Dempsey (1954), Eddie Meador (1958), Roger Lee (1960), Powell McClellan (1960, 1961), Danny Gilbert (1964, 1965), Joe Hoeing (1970), Rick Thone (1971), Perry Goodell (1971, 1972), Kelly Davis (1978), Bruce Livingston (1985, 1986), Kevin Johnson (1986), Chad Walker (1987), Noel Tugwell (1989), Demond Sampson (1994) and Piotr Styczen (1995, 1996) followed suit by earning All-America honors of their own.

Since Steve Mullins became the Wonder Boys' head coach in 1997, Tech has added seven All-Americans to its honor roll. Todd Mathews (1999), Ed Duncan (1999), Stuart Cash (1999), Paul Peletz (2000), Patrick Pesnell (2000), Edwards (2002, 2003) and now Cursh (2004) have earned All-America honors under Mullins' guidance.

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