Wabash College senior Jack Heldt closed out his outstanding career as the recipient of the Senior Award of Merit, The Pete Vaughan Award, and the Wabash Club of Indianapolis Scholar-Athlete Award at the College's annual Awards Chapel held Thursday evening.

Heldt earned all three honors for his many accomplishments as a student and athlete. The National Association of Wabash Men established the Pete Vaughan Award on January 17, 1948, in honor of Robert E. (Pete) Vaughan, thirty-one-year coach and director of athletics at Wabash College. The recipient, elected by the Wabash coaching staff and presented by the current director of athletics at the College, is deemed the outstanding athlete of the year at Wabash College. A commemorative plaque hangs in Allen Athletics and Recreation Center.

The Wabash Club of Indianapolis, formerly the Indianapolis Association of Wabash Men, presents the Scholar-Athlete Award to the senior who has best demonstrated the combination of scholarship and athletics.

Heldt is a biology and rhetoric double major. He won the 2023 NCAA Division III national championship at 285 pounds and claimed the NCAA Division III title of Most Dominant Wrestler at the national championship meet. He finished the season 40-0 with a single-season record 32 pins. A 2022 Academic All-American, Heldt received the NCAA Division III Elite 90 Award in 2022 as the wrestler with the highest cumulative grade point average competing at the NCAA DIII national tournament. He helped Wabash earn national runner-up honors with his second-place finish in the 197-pound weight class. 

Helt is a member of the Sphinx Club at Wabash and served as the organization's vice president. He worked as a residential advisor and COVID action response and education team member. Heldt is also a Phi Beta Kappa and the Lambda Pi Eta society member.