Wabash College junior linebacker Gavin Ruppert earned North Coast Athletic Conference Football Defensive Athlete of the Week honors for his performance in Saturday's 30-13 victory by the Little Giants over Ohio Wesleyan University.
 
Ruppert matched his career-best mark for tackles with 18 stops in Saturday's win. The junior linebacker recorded 12 tackles with six assisted tackles to match his career-best mark of 18 set initially against Denison in 2022. Ruppert also made two sacks for losses of 27 yards and had five tackles for losses totaling 29 yards. He also intercepted a pass for the Little Giants that set up a third-quarter Wabash touchdown to give the Little Giants a 20-6 lead. 

Ruppert anchored a Wabash defense that forced three turnovers by Ohio Wesleyan and limited the Battling Bishops to 13 total points and only two scores out of six trips into the red zone on Saturday.