BYU’s Bella Folino (soccer) and Iowa State’s David Carr (wrestling) were announced as the recipients of the second annual Bob Bowlsby Award. The honor was established by the Big 12 Board of Directors as the Conference’s most prestigious individual accolade.

Named in recognition of former commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the award is bestowed to the two student-athletes (one male and one female) who represent the absolute best in the Big 12 for their leadership and excellence, on and off the field of competition.

The winners were determined by a vote of the league’s athletics directors.

Iowa State has had a student-athlete selected in both years that the award has been given while Folino brings home the honor in the Cougars’ debut Big 12 season.

Folino started in all 26 games for BYU while recording nine goals, two assists with 20 points and 40 shots in a total of 1,390 minutes on the pitch while helping the Cougars reach the NCAA Women’s College Cup for the second time in the last three seasons.

The Elite 90 Award winner held a 4.00 GPA and was the first current student-athlete admitted to the prestigious BYU MBA program. With her hard work and commitment to academic success, Folino has blazed a trail with other Cougar student-athletes now being accepted to the program. The Aliso Viejo, California native was an Academic All-Big 12 First Team honoree and was named a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection.

Through Folino’s five years at BYU, she has been a volunteer youth coach, hosting free soccer clinics for youth who can’t afford club soccer. She’s also helped as an election poll volunteer and served in various church service and leadership roles while participating in the BYU Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC).

Carr was a 2024 NCAA Champion at 165 pounds and scored 22.5 team points at the event to lead the Cyclones to their best finish (fourth) and highest point total (68.5) at the NCAA Championship since 2010. The native of Canton, Ohio compiled a 27-2 record, including 14-0 in duals and a 10-2 mark against top-10 opponents. He finished as the Big 12 runner-up at 165 pounds while guiding ISU to its first Big 12 Championship title since 2009. The five-time All-American’s .960 career winning percentage (120-5) ranks fourth in program history (min. 100 wins) which includes an impressive 67-0 mark in dual matches.

The 2024 National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-American graduated in May 2024 with his master’s in higher education and a 3.74 GPA. The three-time First Team Academic All-Big 12 selection was recognized as the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Carr serves his community by helping with free camps, clinics and practices at several area schools. He is also active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and SAAC.

Each school was permitted to nominate one male and one female athlete of any classification who competed for his/her institution during the 2023-24 academic year in a Conference-sponsored sport.

In his decade leading the Conference from 2012-22, Bowlsby successfully navigated television rights deals, protected student-athletes well-being, and innovated the field of college athletics. Most recently, Bowlsby led the way for BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston to join the league while his inaugural year saw him successfully navigate the addition of TCU and West Virginia into the Conference.