Revisiting Team Recruiting Rankings from 2021

Earlier this month, we partook in an InterMat tradition, re-ranking a recruiting class five years after the fact. 2021 was up for evaluation. The 2021 class was like none we’ve ever evaluated before. Frankly, it didn’t feature the star power that most of its predecessors (and those that followed) produced.

The re-ranking looks at the recruiting class from an individual perspective. Today, we’re going to look at the class from a team standpoint.

Usually, getting multiple All-Americans in the same class reflects a solid group. Three or more is slightly unusual and indicative of a great group. The same goes for multiple national champions.

The problem with the Class of 2021 is that we generally didn’t have any teams that hit those benchmarks. Iowa signed two wrestlers who earned All-American honors; however, one transferred after redshirting and never wrestled an official dual in a Hawkeye singlet. On the other hand, they got three All-American honors from a transfer from this class.

Trying to determine who ended up with the best actual class is difficult. A handful of teams have one excellent performer (Van Ness/Hamiti/Figueroa), but generally, it’s limited to one wrestler.

As we’re looking for classes that feature more than one significant contributor, Minnesota stands out with five wrestlers who qualified for NCAA’s at least once (though one never qualified for Minnesota). Maryland has an All-American, plus two other four-time national qualifiers. North Dakota State has an impressive group, though the bulk of their recruits' damage occurred at other schools. Rutgers netted four national qualifiers - two of which went to three or more NCAA Tournaments. Purdue quietly had five national qualifiers, although only one qualified for more than one tournament.

None of this is very clear and none really stand out from the others. What’s your opinion?

Below are the recruiting classes as ranked in 2021 by MatScouts. Rankings next to each wrestler correspond to their 2021 Big Board rankings.

#1 Penn State: #2 Alex Facundo (MI), #5 Shayne Van Ness (NJ), #55 Gary Steen (PA), #76 Lucas Cochran (UT)

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