Wipperfurth Named To National Football Foundation's Honor Society
UW-Oshkosh senior offensive tackle Alex Wipperfurth has been selected to the 2020 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame Hampshire Honor Society.
The Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of competition who achieved a cumulative 3.2 grade point average or better throughout their collegiate careers. In addition to the GPA requirement, each player must have been a starter or significant contributor as a senior during the 2019 football season.
An impressive 1,432 players from 364 schools qualified for membership in the Society's 14th year, including national champion and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow from Louisiana State University and Heisman Trophy runner-up Jalen Hurts from the University of Oklahoma.
"We are pleased to honor another impressive group of athletes as part of this year's Hampshire Honor Society," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "For more than a decade, the Hampshire Honor Society has served as a powerful vehicle for schools to recognize their college football players who have distinguished themselves both academically and athletically, and we congratulate the schools and each of these young men for their commitment to excellence in all aspects of their lives."
Wipperfurth started all 11 games for UW-Oshkosh in 2019 and received All-WIAC First Team honors. He was part of an offensive line that helped the Titans lead the conference with 4.7 yards per carry and 14 sacks allowed while ranking second in the league with 184.3 rushing yards per game.
UW-Oshkosh posted an 8-3 record (6-1 WIAC) this past fall to mark the program's ninth consecutive winning season. The Titans clinched a share of their 11th WIAC title and secured the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship by defeating previously unbeaten UW-Whitewater, 27-20, in the regular season finale. UW-Oshkosh then lost a 38-37 overtime decision to Central College (Iowa) during the first round of the Division III Championship.
Wipperfurth started 31 of the last 35 contests he played for the Titans. In 2018, he started all 10 contests for a UW-Oshkosh team that registered a 6-4 record and finished third in the WIAC. In 2017, Wipperfurth started all 11 games for a UW-Oshkosh squad that compiled a 12-1 record, won the WIAC championship and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championship. The Sauk Prairie High School graduate appeared in four games for a 2016 UW-Oshkosh team that tallied a 13-2 record, finished second in the WIAC and participated in the NCAA Division III national title game.
Off the field, Wipperfurth owns a 3.47 cumulative GPA as an education major. He is a four-time University Dean's List member and a three-time selection to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll. Last fall Wipperfurth was one of 185 semifinalists for the NFF's 2019 William V. Campbell Trophy®, an award that recognizes the best football scholar-athlete in the nation.
Wipperfurth has also been involved with several campus and community organizations, including the Oshkosh Polar Plunge, Feeding America, Old Glory Honor Flight and Be The Match.
The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF's National Scholar-Athlete program by greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year. The program further strengthens the organization's leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes at the 775 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide. The initiative has now honored 12,127 student-athletes since its inception.
NCAA FCS program University of Dayton (Ohio) led all schools in 2020 with 21 honorees. Kansas State University paced all NCAA FBS schools with nine members while Wayne State University (Michigan) led NCAA Division II with 10. Saint John's University (Minn.) was the NCAA Division III leader with 19 members while Morningside College (Iowa) had the most honorees in the NAIA with nine.