TGN Athlete of the Week: Naima Ghaffar
Jan. 17—Returning to the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling state finals this past week, Naima Ghaffar's performance helped her grabbed 35% of the fan vote this week to be named The Goshen News Athlete of the Week for Jan. 8-14.
Wrestling at the 120-lb. weight class, Ghaffar reached the final bout with a couple pins in the prior contests. While she fell in the championship match, she still finished as the runner-up in just her sophomore season.
As girls wrestling still awaits to be an IHSAA-sanctioned sport, NorthWood's Ghaffar continues to represent the area well.
Runner-up(s): Zoe Willems and Mitchell Miller
For the first time in the 2023-24 sports season, there was a tie in the voting results with a shared runner-up finish this week between Bethany Christian's Zoe Willems and Fairfield's Mitchell Miller.
Maybe her most notable stat sheet stuffer this season, Willems scored the rarely seen quadruple double in the Bruins lone matchup of the week against South Bend Career. Scoring 25 points, dishing out 13 assists and adding 12 steals and 10 rebounds, the senior carried the load for the Bruins to move to 15-3.
In three NECC tournament wins last week, Mitchell Miller led the team in each game, scoring 23 points in the semifinal against Westview to total 47 during the three-game stretch.
With the championship match pushed back to Monday this week, Miller helped the Falcons claim the title, the first since 1999.
Miller and Willems picked up 28% of the vote each.
Also nominated: Tyler Raasch
In NorthWood's down-to-the-wire 59-57 home victory against Northridge last Thursday, Raasch did a little bit of everything for the Panthers. Raasch scored 19 points — 12 in the second half — and came down with six rebounds and blocked five shots to enforce his inside presence.
Raasch was a clear factor why Northridge went back home with the conference loss. He earned 9% of the vote.
Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.
