Nate Jesuroga (left) and Aiden Riggins (Photo/Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com)
Saturday was a huge night in Iowa City on multiple fronts. In the wake of the University of Iowa's home football win over Penn State in a clash between top-five ranked teams, the wrestling squad also received verbal commitments from two massive recruits.
The first came from Nate Jesuroga (Southeast Polk, IA), the #7 overall recruit in the Class of 2023 per MatScouts. Over the summer, Jesuroga earned a spot on the Cadet World Team in freestyle and came back from Budapest with a bronze medal at 51 kg.
A few months earlier, Jesuroga won his first Iowa 3A state title. He was third in 2020 as a freshman. Jesuroga is expected to be in action two weeks from now at the Super 32. Last year, he was upset in the first round of the event and battled back through ten consolation matches to earn third place. Jesuroga's spotless record since the Super 32 loss has him currently at #3 in MatScouts pound-for-pound rankings. He also holds the number one ranking at 120 lbs. Jesuroga was slated to meet Blair Academy's Marc-Anthony McGowan at Who's #1 to settle the spot at 120 lbs; however, McGowan pulled out with an injury. Jesuroga cruised to a win over his replacement, #3 Joey Cruz (Bullard, CA), an Oklahoma recruit.
If getting a verbal from Jesuroga wasn't enough, late last night, Aiden Riggins (Waverly-Shell Rock, IA) also voiced his intentions to wrestle for Tom Brands' Hawkeyes. Riggins is ranked #34 overall in the Class of 2022 and is a three-time state placer, never finishing lower than third. In 2021, Riggins won his first 3A state title by defeating current Hawkeye freshman Caleb Rathjen. Currently he's ranked #3 at 160 lbs.
Riggins made the finals of the Cadet World Team Trials at 71 kg this spring, but fell to Penn State recruit Levi Haines (Biglerville, PA) in three matches. Later in the offseason, Riggins made the Junior freestyle finals in Fargo at 160 lbs.
Jesuroga's commitment gives Iowa two top-ten recruits from the Class of 2023, joining Ben Kueter (Iowa City High, IA). Riggins is the first commit from the current high school senior class.
For more recruiting information, check out InterMat's College Commitment page.
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