Collectively, the future Sooners combined to win 20 state championships, spanning five states across the country.
“We are really excited about this recruiting class,†head coach Jack Spates said. “They are very talented, very accomplished, excellent students and great kids.â€
The Sooners class ranks No. 9, 12 and 14 by recruiting publications The Open Mat, CollegeWrestling.net and InterMat, respectively. However, those rankings were released before Spates crew secured two of their top commitments.
“It is another top-ten class for us, but our rankings are misleading,†said Spates. “These rankings were issued before we landed some of our top recruits including, JUCO national champion Chase Nelson and four-time state champion Ian Fisher.â€
Nelson, ranked the No. 2 JUCO wrestler at 157 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News, headlines the class. The Wichita, Kan., native was a JUCO national champion at Labette junior college where he terrorized his competition. Nelson provides added depth for the Sooners at 165 pounds.
The Sooners inked three Oklahoman's ranked in the top 93 nationally by InterMat in Justin DeAngelis (No. 61), Ronnie Balfour (No. 75) and Quincy Mondaine (No. 93).
DeAngelis, a Tulsa, Okla. Product, was a three-time state champion at Jenks where he finished his career with a record of 100-11. In addition to his InterMat ranking, DeAngelis, 149 pounds, checks in as the 56th-ranked recruit by CollegWrestling.net.
Another Tulsa, Okla., native, Balfour, was a state champion at Union and ranks as the 67th best wrestler in the country by CollegeWrestling.net.
Mondaine, a one-time state champion from Muskogee is ranked the No. 11 and No. 8 recruit at 197 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News and Tom's College Prospect Rankings, respectively.
Expected to wrestle at 165 pounds for OU, Parker Madl from Stillwell, Kan., is notched as the 79th-best wrestler nationally by InterMat and No. 80 by CollegeWrestling.net. Madl was twice crowned Kansas state champion and placed fourth at Senior Nationals.
Another Oklahoman, Fisher, will compete at 141 pounds for the Sooners. The Perry high school star racked up four state championships and compiled 168 wins during his career.
The Sooners signed two heavyweights in Kyle Colling and Kosta Karageorge. Colling, a product of Arcade, N.Y., was a two-time state champion and high school All-American. Amateur Wrestling News ranks him the sixth-best recruit at 215 pounds. Karangeorge is from Worthington, Ohio, where he finished in the top six at the Ohio state finals.
Spates also gained commitments from two-time Kansas state champion Jordan Keller (Wichita, Kan.), South Carolina state champion Derek Geiges (Charleston, S.C.), 2009 Florida state champion Chase Gordan (Oviedo, Fla.) and Oklahoma state champion Dax Perrier (Pawhuska, Okla.).
Rounding out the Sooners' class is Dustin Reed from Choctaw Okla., Sean Datte of Las Flores, Calif., Zac Corrales of Lawton, Okla., and a transfer from Virginia Tech, Scott Chene.
“We are really looking forward to great things from these young men,†Spates concluded.
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