Weekly Recruiting Update (6/28/2024)

With a few months before the high school preseason, the top recruits from the Class of 2025 continue to fly off the board. Before this week, only five of the top-60 recruits in the nation were uncommitted. That number dropped to four as North Carolina snapped one of those prospects up and added to an already impressive recruiting class. Even though fans and us in the media have started paying attention to the Classes of 2025 and 2026, some schools are still looking to solidify their incoming freshmen classes. Two of them recently picked up notable commitments. Those are all listed below in our latest recruiting update. #54 Matthew Botello (Wyoming Seminary via Massachusetts) to North Carolina One of the highest remaining uncommitted recruits from the Class of 2025 is off the board as #54 Matthew Botello has committed to North Carolina. It shouldn’t be a surprise that North Carolina was in the running for Botello as Tar Heel head coach Rob Koll was at Cornell while returning Matthew’s older brother, Mark. Matthew is the youngest of three brothers who have wrestled at the DI level - Nic, at Army West Point, is the other. Matthew is coming off a National Prep title at 132 lbs in which he defeated future teammate Nik O’Neill (Malvern Prep, PA) in the finals, 5-4. O’Neill was tabbed the #45 overall recruit in the Class of 2024 and has signed with UNC. On the national stage, Botello has plenty of accolades. During the 2023-24 regular season, he was a runner-up at the Powerade and fourth at the Walsh Ironman - his third time making the top eight at the toughest regular season tournament in the nation. Prior to his junior year, Botello was sixth at both UWW U17 freestyle and Fargo’s Junior freestyle championships. With Botello’s commitment, North Carolina now has a staggering eight commits from rising juniors on the Class of 2025 Big Board. This is on the heels of a massive Class of 2024 that was ranked eighth in the nation and finished with nine top-250 signees. Botello could grow into a 149 lber at the next level. Between the 2024 Class and existing talent, North Carolina doesn’t have many holes or at least a top prospect or two in the pipeline at most weights. That goes for 141/149; however, UNC is obviously looking to move up the ladder in the ACC and nationally, and is stacking as much talent as possible. View North Carolina’s Class of 2025 #114 Brock Kehler (Morgantown, West Virginia) to West Virginia West Virginia isn’t known as a state that consistently pumps out top talent every year, so when there’s a fringe top-100 recruit right in their backyard, it’s important for WVU to lock them up. That was the case with Brock Kehler who wrestles for University High School in Morgantown. Kehler went unbeaten during the 2023-24 season to help lead University to their first state team title since 1956. Individually, Kehler has won state titles in each of his first three years of high school. After each high school season, Kehler has participated in the NHSCA grade-level competition. He was a national runner-up in 2022, at 195 lbs, a champion in 2023 at 220, and fifth-place this year at heavyweight. WVU’s probable starter at 285 lbs, two-time national qualifier Michael Wolfgram, is headed into his final year of eligibility in 2024-25. The Mountaineer staff has done a great job at lining up potential successors to Wolfgram as Rune Lawrence, #25 overall in the Class of 2024, is headed to Morgantown in the fall. Lawrence might start his career at 197 and eventually move up to 285 - as he was a 215 lber as a high school senior. Kehler will be a heavyweight. With Kehler’s commitment, WVU now has four commitments from the Class of 2025 and three from wrestlers on the Big Board. The Mountaineers checked in with a #17 class in 2024 and could be headed toward back-to-back ranked recruiting classes. View West Virginia’s Class of 2025 NR Brody Sampson (Ballard, Iowa) to Iowa There are still a few programs that are putting the finishing touches on their incoming freshmen classes and Iowa happens to be one of those teams. The Hawkeyes got a commitment this week from four-time state placewinner Brody Sampson of Ballard High School. Sampson finished the 2023-24 season third in the state at the 2A level. A year ago, he was a state finalist. He was fifth as a sophomore and eighth in his freshman year. Sampson projects at 197 lbs which is extremely useful for the Hawkeyes. Currently, 2024 Big Ten runner-up, Zach Glazier, is the only 197 on the roster. Glazier is headed into his final year of eligibility for the Hawkeyes. Iowa does have verbals from the Miller twins of Ohio (Jarrel and Ty); however, they are in the Class of 2025 and that would leave a year gap between Glazier’s departure and their arrival as true freshmen (the two project at 184/197 lbs). View Iowa’s Class of 2024 NR Bryce Phillips (Saint Frances, Maryland) to Morgan State This morning Morgan State announced a solid in-state signing as they’ve inked Bryce Phillips of Saint Frances in Baltimore. Though he did not compete in the 2023-24 postseason, Phillips was a three-time National Prep All-American for Annapolis’ Mount Saint Joseph. In 2023, Phillips was fourth at 215 lbs. During the high school regular season, Phillips placed twice at the Beast of the East, taking fifth in 2021 and third in 2022. As Kenny Monday is building the Morgan State program from scratch, they need all the talent they can get. Having someone like Phillips, who was nationally ranked at a time, is huge for the Bears. He likely projects between 197 and 285 lbs for Morgan State. 285 lbs should feature one of Morgan State’s best wrestlers, Northern Colorado transfer Xavier Doolin. His presence should give Phillips a good training partner and potentially allow him to redshirt. View Morgan State’s Class of 2024

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Weekly Recruiting Update (6/28/2024)

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