Recruiting in 2024-25: The Class of the Flip

Recruiting is a rapidly changing and ever-evolving process, much different in 2025 than even five or ten years ago. This is bigger than wrestling—it goes for any sport at the collegiate level. A sign of these changing times is the propensity for “flipping.” Flipping is when a recruit flips his or her commitment from one school to another. 

This is different than a transfer as the athlete flipped before enrolling and taking classes at the original institution. 

Flipping can happen for a variety of reasons. Maybe more NIL money is promised or available at another school. Transfers and flips have been very common during coaching changes. Wrestlers would prefer the coach(es) they committed to and coaches might prefer their own recruits. Sometimes a wrestler commits to a smaller school and has a late breakout that puts them on the radar of a bigger school. In this instance, maybe a wrestler already committed to that bigger school gets “recruited over.” These things can have a trickle effect. 

One example is California heavyweight Nick Sahakian who was committed to Arizona State. He changed his commitment and has signed with Michigan. Michigan already had a heavyweight commitment from the Class of 2025 in Jude Correa. Correa recently committed to Cornell. 

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