The Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame recently awarded $500 scholarships to two deserving athletes who will be continuing their education in college this fall.

New Milford’s Evan Lindner was selected to receive the Scholar Athlete award while Fairfield Warde’s Will Ebert was recognized with the Career Achievement award.

Over the past 11 years, the chapter has awarded a total of $11,000 in scholarships to deserving student/athletes.

Lindner, who will be attending Washington and Lee next fall, has a weighted grade-point average of 4.32.

In 2022, Lindner won the State Open title at 126 pounds along with the Class L and Southwest Conference championship. Evan is a two-time Class L champion and a two-time New England placewinner, finishing second in 2022 and fifth in 2020.

Lindner is a member of the National Honor Society and Math Honor Society. He was a student leader in the Wingman Youth Leadership initiative that trains youth leaders to become facilitators to run activities with appropriate adult supervision, in their school, district or club.

Ebert, who had a career record of 153-18, had an outstanding senior season going 51-0 with a National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) national championship, a New England title and State Open championship. He also won the Class LL and FCIAC tournaments where he was named outstanding wrestler at both events.

In his career, Ebert won two Class LL titles and two FCIAC titles. He was a three-time medalist at the New England tournament and State Open. The 2021 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ebert will wrestle at Binghampton University beginning next winter.

Thanks to Ebert’s vision and leadership, an entrepreneurship class at Fairfield Warde decided to sell hoodie sweatshirts to raise money for the Will to Live Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about teenage suicide and help people learn about suicide prevention. The initiative raised more than $20,000 for the Will to Live Foundation.

Ebert was also a volunteer at local youth wrestling practices with Fairfield PAL (Police Athletic League).

Published June 1, 2022 by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.