Kaleb Larkin

[Bardamu911]

6 hours ago, BruceyB said:

I'm from the PNW and I can't imagine how difficult it must be to recruit at Oregon State. Washington and Oregon very rarely produce D1 AAs and Idaho is only slightly ahead of either state. This really leaves regional recruiting to the wrestlers in California that aren't going to bigger programs. I would think it's a hard sell to convince kids from the midwest or back east to move to a town in the middle of Oregon when there are dozens of other schools closer to home that have had the same or more success.

why UW doesn't have a wrestling team is a mystery to me tho, could be very successful 

[Idaho]

19 hours ago, BruceyB said:

I'm from the PNW and I can't imagine how difficult it must be to recruit at Oregon State. Washington and Oregon very rarely produce D1 AAs and Idaho is only slightly ahead of either state. This really leaves regional recruiting to the wrestlers in California that aren't going to bigger programs. I would think it's a hard sell to convince kids from the midwest or back east to move to a town in the middle of Oregon when there are dozens of other schools closer to home that have had the same or more success.

They have done well with recruiting the last two years and have the #8 class so far for 2026. The next couple years will be the real test of how they can develop their own guys they have recruited. They missed out on some good PNW recruits their first two years. Rademacher (OR), Whisenhunt (OR), Attao (ID), Hamblin (WA) will see the lineup again next year. Oregon HS wrestling is down right now and with their connections to California it only makes sense they recruit hard there. It's paying off as well since their 2025 and 2026 classes have some nationally ranked kids coming out of there.  Utah HS wrestling has improved a lot in the last couple years, but OSU has tough competition there with Adam Hall taking over at UVU. He is a good guy and a good recruiter.  I am looking forward to next year when some of our guys return,  our younger guys get a little more experience. 

[Idaho]

13 hours ago, Bardamu911 said:

why UW doesn't have a wrestling team is a mystery to me tho, could be very successful 

WA high school wrestling has been pretty good for a while now. Not only do they not have a D1 team, they only have a couple JC wrestling programs and they are very underfunded and barely surviving. They have zero NAIA, D2 and D3 programs. With a large city like Seattle and many schools throughout the state, you would think it's a no brainer...unfortunately the colleges are not wrestling friendly. A lot of people have tried to change that, but it hasn't happened. 

[BruceyB]

5 hours ago, Idaho said:

they only have a couple JC wrestling programs and they are very underfunded and barely surviving

Washington has no sanctioned college programs left.

[Idaho]

50 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

Washington has no sanctioned college programs left.

Negative

Evergeen State College is NAIA ( Initially I stated JC) - They wrestle in the Cascade Conference - wrestled last season in the CCC championships, have wrestled a full schedule this season and scheduled for CCC championships again. 

Big Bend Community College - Just went 4-4 at the NJCAA national duals - This is their first year as full members of the NJCAA

[BruceyB]

1 hour ago, Idaho said:

Negative

Evergeen State College is NAIA ( Initially I stated JC) - They wrestle in the Cascade Conference - wrestled last season in the CCC championships, have wrestled a full schedule this season and scheduled for CCC championships again. 

Big Bend Community College - Just went 4-4 at the NJCAA national duals - This is their first year as full members of the NJCAA

Wow, I completely missed the news of Evergreen getting a program last year. Even just getting an NAIA program in the state is huge for the state. I also didn't know that BBCC graduated from being a club team. 

Glad to see we're back up from zero. Thanks for the correction.

[Idaho]

3 hours ago, BruceyB said:

Wow, I completely missed the news of Evergreen getting a program last year. Even just getting an NAIA program in the state is huge for the state. I also didn't know that BBCC graduated from being a club team. 

Glad to see we're back up from zero. Thanks for the correction.

Yeah - it is at least a start. I was glad they made it out of club status. Several schools have club teams like WSU, Eastern Washington and I think a few others. Washington produces some pretty tough kids. 

[nhs67]

Didn't Washington or Washington State say a few years ago that their plan was to have a D1 team within a few years?