Girtz and Taplin Named NCC Wrestler of the Week
Brandon Girtz of Minnesota State and Ross Taplin of Nebraska-Omaha have been named the NCC Wrestlers of the Week.
Girtz, a senior 157-pounder from Forest Lake, Minn., posted a 5-0 record to win the Northern Iowa Open. He defeated Tyson Reiner of Northern Iowa, 13-6, Kyle Forness of Buena Vista, 8-3 and Jake Murphey of Purdue, 5-4 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals he benefited from a forfeit from Emanual Brooks of Missouri and defeated Moza Fay of Northern Iowa, 5-4, to win the championship. Fay is currently ranked in the top 20 among NCAA Division I wrestlers.
Taplin, a sophomore 165-pounder from Abilene, Kan., went 4-1 to place second at the Northern Iowa Open. He opened with a 1:31 pin of Tom Anderson of St. Cloud State before pinning Justin Fraga of Purdue (3:56) and Alex Ward of Nebraska (4:39). In the semifinals he scored a near-fall in overtime to top #2-seed Roger Smith-Bergsrud of Illinois, 2-1. He lost in the finals by a 9-7 count to Nick Baima of Northern Iowa. Baima is currently ranked fifth in NCAA Division I wrestling.
Others nominated: Tom Nesseth, Augustana.