Taylor Massa named 2012 MI Grappler Prep Wrestler of The Year
4/15 - Taylor Massa has done just about everything you can do as a high
school wrestler in the past four years. He capped off his perfect prep
career last month in Auburn Hills with his 4th Division 2 State
Championship and he will depart as one of the most accomplished high
school wrestlers of all time.
The one thing that Taylor Massa has not done in to date in his amazing
career is win the Michigan Grappler Prep Wrestler of the Year Award.....
until now. Michigan Grappler is excited to announce Massa as our 2012
Prep Wrestler of The Year. This year's finalists were as strong as they
have ever been with four other undefeated state champions, including a
World Champion and a Fargo Double Champ among his competetion,
however, in the coach's voting it was an overwhelming response for
Massa to receive the award and he also received the most fan votes as
well with nearly 2,500 people logging in to vote.
The word that best describes all aspects of Taylor Massa's wrestling
career thus far is easy - "dominant".
Massa has dominated his competetion in the state for almost his entire
career. His first season he had a couple close wins over Jordan Thomas
and Jackson Morse, who are both 3x state champions, however, since
then he has been as dominant as a high school wrestler has ever been
in this state. This year he pinned thru the 171lb bracket, last year as a
junior he scored 3 falls and a 2nd period techical fall en route to the 160lb
title, his sophomore year he scored two falls, a major decision, and an
11-5 decision on his way to the 152lbs title, and his freshman season
at 145lbs he scored three pins and a 4-2 decision over Thomas in the finals. All in all, in 16 matches at the State Tournament, Taylor Massa has scored 12 falls, 1 tech-fall, 1 major decision, and two decisions. Just one person in his Palace career managed to stay within 5 points of him. Dominant.
When it comes to national competetion, not many people in the country can hold a candle to Massa's overall resume. He has won Fargo, FIla Cadets, Fila Juniors, FloNationals, Super 32s....you name it, he has won it and probably dominated on his way there. Massa has won a total of 10 "stop-signs", or National Championship Plaques from USA Wrestling's major national events. Among those are 4 titles in Fargo and 2 FILA Junior National Titles. Last spring he cruised through the FILA Junior Nationals, a tournament that included mostly college freshmen and sophomores, only surrendering 2 points in the whole tournament after going 6-0. Dominant.
This fall at the Super 32 Challenge, a tournament that has erupted into what is widely considered the toughest and deepest high school tournament in the country, Massa went 6-0 with 4 pins, a 12-5 decision, and a 16-6 major decision in the finals. Dominant.
When it comes to national rankings and recognition, Massa has been as well-known as any Michigan wrestler in history. InterMat has ranked Massa as the #1 pound-for-pound wrestler in the class of 2012 in every poll since the summer of 2007 when they began ranking the class of 12 as the incoming freshman class. The InterMat class rankings typically change a lot from year to year, however, when it comes to the Class of 2012, one thing has never changed, Taylor Massa has been ranked as the best overall wrestler in his class in the entire country, every single time. Dominant.
Next fall Taylor Massa will take his talents to Ann Arbor to compete for the Michigan Wolverines. Only time will tell what his college career will look like, but if we learn from history, then the future is easy to predict. Dominant.
Copyright 2007-2011, Michigan Grappler, LLC
May not be republished or reproduced without expressed, written permission
Contact Michigan Grappler via E-Mail: admin@michigangrappler.com
