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Joe Bachmann photo courtesy of Ulug Bugra Han/UWW The fall semester has begun at most collegiate campuses’ which means the on-campus recruiting efforts get turned up by wrestling coaches. Typically, big recruiting weekends coincide with a home football game to showcase recruits the most exciting atmosphere possible. Since last weekend was “Week 0” for college football, there were some games, but not a full slate. That’s about how I’d classify the recruiting weekend, as well. Even though it wasn’t a full recruiting weekend nationwide, there were plenty of high-profile wrestlers on campus taking official visits. One of the things that makes following recruiting fun is the cloak-and-dagger secrecy surrounding parts of the process. For every Bo Bassett who routinely keeps the public informed on recruiting decisions, there are plenty of others who don’t discuss it as much. Therefore, it can be difficult to follow which recruit is interested in which school and vice versa. I suppose it’s fun, but you’re left wanting more! In order to try and help our fanbase feel more knowledgeable about the process, we’ll have a weekly column that recaps the recruiting weekend. Who has visited where? Maybe some background information on the recruits or the process from the school. If we've missed a recruit or you'd like to provide info on future visits please let me know: earl@matscouts.com Cornell #2 Joe Bachmann (Faith Christian, Pennsylvania) #7 Mario Carini (Poway, California) #15 Hayden Schwab (Don Bosco, Iowa) #17 Arseni Kikiniou (Poway, California) #38 Dawson Youngblut (Don Bosco, Iowa) The big class of the weekend belonged to Cornell! They had four of the top 20 juniors in the country on campus and five of the top 50. Cornell has always been able to recruit at a national level, so it isn’t too unusual seeing recruits from California and Iowa flying in. Cornell’s Class of 2025 has the Cortez twins from California incoming and they already have a Cali verbal from the Class of 2026 in Joe Toscano. Those guys could make the Poway duo of Mario Carini and Arseni Kikiniou feel comfortable. Kikiniou’s stock has been rising after a U17 World Championship effort that saw him medal in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Carini was a Junior Greco-Roman finalist this summer, in Fargo, and shocked Super 32 champion Joseph Antonio to win a California title as a sophomore. Another pair of teammates were in the building with Don Bosco, Iowa’s Hayden Schwab and Dawson Youngblut. Being the son of Northern Iowa head coach, Doug, you’d assume it will be difficult to get Schwab out of Cedar Falls, but who knows. Schwab won his first Iowa state title this year and has made the UWW U17 freestyle finals since. Youngblut is a two-time Iowa state champion and earned All-American honors in both styles in 2024 at Fargo. His college list includes all three DI Iowa schools, so it might be difficult to get him out of state, as well. The wrestler that had to travel the least amount of distance to Ithaca was two-time Pennsylvania state champion, Joe Bachmann. Bachmann has earned a pair of U17 world medals (silver and bronze) competing for Team Puerto Rico. Last school year, he was a champion at the Ironman, a runner-up at the Beast and fourth at the Super 32. Cornell has had success reeling in the blue-est of the blue-chip recruits (Anthony Knox/Meyer Shapiro, of late), so they’ll be a strong contender for Bachmann’s services. Little Rock #119 Cason Craft (Coweta, Oklahoma) #250 (‘26) DJ Clarke (Buford, Georgia) The bulk of our article will focus on wrestlers from the Class of 2027; however, there is still plenty of talent available from the senior class, if you know where to look. Little Rock had a Big Boarder from the Class of 2026 in the building with DJ Clarke’s visit. A Georgia state champ, Clarke has had a good summer with a Southeast Regional title, followed by a 7-1 showing in freestyle at the Junior Duals, and six Junior freestyle wins in Fargo - despite not placing. Speaking of Fargo placements, Cason Craft already has six under his belt with the potential for two more years of competition in the FargoDome. Craft was a Junior freestyle finalist this year and a Junior Greco champion in 2024. His most recent Fargo AA honor came at 106 lbs, so he could be a career 125 lber at the next level. Lock Haven #115 Bradley Wagner (Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania) Lock Haven had a semi-local Big Boarder in town with a visit from Bradley Wagner. Wagner is a two-time Pennsylvania state placewinner. In 2024, he was a finalist at NHSCA Freshman Nationals. NC State #16 Jesse Grajeda (St. John Bosco, California) #30 Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central, Illinois) #54 Steel Meyers (Allen, Texas) #58 Slater Hicks (Valencia, California) The centerpiece of NC State’s sixth-ranked Class of 2025 was #8 overall Daniel Zepeda from California. Pat Popolizio’s team had some stud recruits from California in the house as they hosted Jesse Grajeda and Slater Hicks. Grajeda is a two-time California state runner-up, two-time Doc B runner-up, and a Fargo Junior freestyle All-American this summer. Hicks was sixth in the state as a sophomore. He was fourth in Junior freestyle this year and placed in both styles at the U17 UWW Trials in 2024. Both Grajeda and Hicks have already taken visits to Arizona State this year. The NC State staff also had the upperweight tandem of Jimmy Mastny and Steel Meyers on campus. Last summer, Mastny was an All-American at the 16U division in both styles in Fargo. This year, he was fourth in Junior Greco. During the high school season, Mastny was third at the Ironman before winning his second Illinois state title. Meyers was a 2024 Texas state champion and has placed twice at the NHSCA grade-level tournament - seventh as a freshman and second as a sophomore.