The nine new signees are: Connor Clarke (Sherwood, Ore.), Logan Molina (Lincoln, Neb.), Quean Smith (Highland Park, Mich.), Bo Schlosser (Bettendorf, Iowa), Aaron Sorenson (Forest City, Iowa), Alex Spooner (Forest City, Iowa), Tyler Swope (Davenport, Iowa), Shayden Terukina (Kamehameha, Hawaii) and Tanner Weatherman (Huxley, Iowa). Between the nine wrestlers, they have collected 13 state titles.
“I am really excited about the group that we are bringing in,” Jackson said. “I think that we have identified some really talented kids that have the ability to make an immediate impact, and if they are the best kids we have at that weight, they will wrestle.”
This Cyclone recruiting class has a strong core of successful Iowa high school wrestlers in Spooner, Schlosser, Sorenson, Weatherman and Swope.
“One athlete that will make an immediate impact on our program is Bo Schlosser,” Jackson said. “He has all of the skills that would allow him to step into our line-up and start for us next year. I am also very excited about Tyler Swope, the heavyweight from Davenport Assumption. He is a big, strong heavyweight who is very passionate and has a lot of energy. We also believe that Tanner Weatherman is at the top of the list of Iowa high school wrestlers this year and look for him to make some early noise.”
Weatherman is the younger brother of current Cyclone Trent Weatherman, who was Iowa State’s starter at 157 pounds last season. The family affair does not stop there with state champion Aaron Sorenson joining older brother Andrew Sorenson on the Cyclone roster. Andrew was ranked as high as fifth in the country at 165 pounds last season before suffering a season ending injury.
Along with the strong class of Iowans, Jackson and his staff have also brought in a very tough group of grapplers from other states. Clarke, Molina, Smith and Terukina have combined for an impressive seven state titles.
“Quean Smith is a special heavyweight whose athletic ability is going to be unmatched in the heavyweight division,” Jackson said. “He has all of the skills and we expect special things out of him.”
According to Jackson, Terukina is a special wrestler. He hails from Kamehameha High School in Hawaii.
“Another wrestler who is going to be special that people don’t know much about will be Shayden Terukina,” Jackson said. “He is out of Hawaii and sent us his videos so that we could recruit him. We have a relationship with a former Cyclone wrestler, Grant Nakamura, who kind of pointed him in our direction. I went out and watched him wrestle and he is very talented. I am really excited about him joining our squad. Being from Hawaii, I think he is going to be a diamond in the rough that people did not get a chance to see.”
The Cyclone coaches are very pleased with this class, because they feel that along with last year’s recruiting class, this group is pointing the program in the right direction.
“The last two classes are definitely full of the kind of kids that we want from an understanding that everything they do affects their performances on and off of the mat,” Jackson said. “We like their toughness and fight for the entire match. Another thing I am very excited about is their technical skill level. I think that this group we are bringing in is at a very high level technically. That is an added bonus on top of the toughness that they have demonstrated.”
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