PARK RIDGE, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference office announced today honorees from each of the League’s 11 wrestling squads for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The honored Boilermaker was Ben Wissel, a junior from Richmond, Ind., who earned All-America honors during the 2004-05 season. The Purdue 184-pounder finished with a season record of 22-16, and has a three-year career mark of 76-43.
Joining Wissel as honorees are Illinois’ Alex Tirapelle, Indiana’s Max Dean, Iowa’s Joe Johnston, Michigan’s Ryan Bertin, Michigan State’s Darren McKnight, Minnesota’s Bobbe Lowe, Northwestern’s Jake Herbert, Ohio State’s J.D. Bergman, Penn State’s Adam Smith and Wisconsin’s Brady Reinke.
These 11 student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the Conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
2004-05 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees (Wrestling)
Alex Tirapelle, Illinois
Max Dean, Indiana
Joe Johnston, Iowa
Ryan Bertin, Michigan
Darren McKnight, Michigan State
Bobbe Lowe, Minnesota
Jake Herbert, Northwestern
J.D. Bergman, Ohio State
Adam Smith, Penn State
Ben Wissel, Purdue
Brady Reinke, Wisconsin
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