TnT's Best recruiting class

[scourge165]

2 hours ago, Eagle26 said:

Wasn’t that class with Metcalf the infamous “double recruiting class” though? Half of them went to VT originally and then joined in with the Iowa class. So that group needs an asterisk . Does anyone remember how many were recruited by Tom to VT? I know Metcalf was. 

Why does that need an asterisk? They were Brands recruits. They clearly went where they went because of Brands.

I think that makes it even more impressive that they all gave up a year to come to Iowa. 

It also makes me appreciate the new transfer rules more. I was not a fan of Metcalf, but that Caldwell upset could be right there with Owings and now Hendrickson if he had another year. I think he would have won it that year. I also think Iowa has a very good chance to win it. 

[scourge165]

1 hour ago, Caveira said:

Makes him a good recruiter though.  I don’t think the anti troll hate Iowa guy was making his comments in good faith either 

 

There is a long standing interweb intermat troll narrative that Iowa brands whatever are shyte recruiters.  

I thought it was more poor at developing talent rather than recruiting it...

[Caveira]

2 minutes ago, scourge165 said:

I thought it was more poor at developing talent rather than recruiting it...

Bla whatever 

[Eagle26]

1 hour ago, Caveira said:

I know your joker style anti Iowa.  But asking them to sit a real year to wrestle for them …. That’s pretty good recruiting.   Not sure if you think about what you type or not.  But hey.  

To be fair I’m not anti Iowa, but I’ll crack a joke at any of the big programs. I agree that’s actually very impressive he got some real blue chippers to give up a year of eligibility to wrestle for him. I believe Brands is a great coach and a great recruiter… he’s got a few flaws but so does every coach - even Cael 
 

But you have to agree it is a bit ironic that Brands best recruiting class of all time committed to attending VT not Iowa. 

[Eagle26]

31 minutes ago, scourge165 said:

Why does that need an asterisk? They were Brands recruits. They clearly went where they went because of Brands.

I think that makes it even more impressive that they all gave up a year to come to Iowa. 

It also makes me appreciate the new transfer rules more. I was not a fan of Metcalf, but that Caldwell upset could be right there with Owings and now Hendrickson if he had another year. I think he would have won it that year. I also think Iowa has a very good chance to win it. 

True that it’s very impressive they gave up a year of eligibility to stay with Brands. Honestly, I may have been misremembering some of the details. I remember a lot of controversy around that recruiting class. I was thinking it was mostly because they basically combined with Iowa’s recruiting class to get a double recruiting class. But maybe it was more just that they transferred and VT wasn’t happy. 

[fishbane]

8 hours ago, OMW said:

Was Billy Murphy (Hughson HS, 2X CA State Champ) also part of that class for Tom (although I'm not sure if he ever wrestled an official match for Iowa)?

He wasn't the same year as Metcalf and co.  Metcalf was class of 2005 and Murphy was 2006.  Murphy didn't lose a year because he wasn't a transfer.

[fishbane]

Brands 2005 class at VT was

#2 Metcalf, #19 Borschel, #24 Slaton, and #40 LeClere.  Total 6 AA finishes, 3 titles.

Zalesky had a decent class at Iowa in 2005.

#11 Morningstar, Keddy (NR), Erikson (NR), Dennis (NR).  Total 9 AA finishes, 0 titles.

Sanderson may have had the best class in 2005 too.

#4 Sanderson, #5 Mueller, #10 Varner, #13 Gallick, Zabriskie (NR), Fanthorpe (NR).  Total 12 AA finishes, 3 titles.

[Ched64]

1 hour ago, scourge165 said:

Why does that need an asterisk? They were Brands recruits. They clearly went where they went because of Brands.

I think that makes it even more impressive that they all gave up a year to come to Iowa. 

It also makes me appreciate the new transfer rules more. I was not a fan of Metcalf, but that Caldwell upset could be right there with Owings and now Hendrickson if he had another year. I think he would have won it that year. I also think Iowa has a very good chance to win it. 

win what and when?

[Ched64]

why would anyone consider wrestlers transferring from a coaches prior school as being the same as hs recruits coming in as the same as high school recruiting a class of “new” recruits?

[Ched64]

Just now, Ched64 said:

why would anyone consider wrestlers transferring from a coaches prior school as being the same as hs recruits coming in as the same as high school recruiting a class of “new” recruits?

awkward sentence but bringing in established guys isn’t in the same thing as bringing in same recruits

 

[scourge165]

1 hour ago, Ched64 said:

win what and when?

Well...given we're talking about how Metcalf had to give up a year to Wrestle at Iowa, THAT would probably be the year. I believe it was 2007. The what... also feels kinda obvious. A National Title...

[scourge165]

1 hour ago, Ched64 said:

why would anyone consider wrestlers transferring from a coaches prior school as being the same as hs recruits coming in as the same as high school recruiting a class of “new” recruits?

Because they were all Brands recruits. So being as that's the topic, and since they all were part of a recruiting class that took a RS, then moved with Brands, I don't really see why you wouldn't count them?

They were HS recruits in the same class...they just moved with Brands. 

[Winners Circle]

13 hours ago, 11986 said:

tangent - there's a pretty good book called Four Days to Glory that follows Borschel and Dan Leclere through their senior HS seasons. Think it gets into the recruitment class stuff at the end, but been a while since I picked it up. 

Yes, I read it in early HS. Good read.

[Hammerlock3]

9 hours ago, scourge165 said:

Because they were all Brands recruits. So being as that's the topic, and since they all were part of a recruiting class that took a RS, then moved with Brands, I don't really see why you wouldn't count them?

They were HS recruits in the same class...they just moved with Brands. 

the idea is that they couldn't have all been recruited at once or something....its the type of comment that sounds more like whining about someone else's good fortune, but spun as if the were pointing out cheating or some sort of unfair advantage. 

[nhs67]

On 4/17/2025 at 10:37 AM, VakAttack said:

Shut up, virgin.

May I use this?

[ionel]

10 hours ago, scourge165 said:

Because they were all Brands recruits. So being as that's the topic,  

The topic is TnT's recruits, these were not.  

[Dogbone]

So looking at the question differently.   And this goes for all recruiting classes, but isn't it more important to stack consecutive classes (2-3 years) than having 1 great class?

I think to Iowa's 2020 and 2021 teams and I it was not it one class but the combination of the Kemerer's class and the Lee' class that made them a title team. 

To think of it differently, yes it would be impressive to land 4-5 of the top 10 on a big board in one class, but there a still a few guys who "under perform" in all classes, but it you need 2 guys who produce every year.

Ohio State's 2022 class had 3 of the top 5 on the big board, but they have yet to challenge for a title and only produced a 4th place finish in 2023 in large part because their top recruits in 2021 and 2023 haven't provided meaningful points (Rocco did be has now transferred).

I guess my question is really, what does it really matter who is TnT's best class if 1 indiviudual class doesn't correlate to success?

Edited Friday at 03:07 PM by Dogbone

[nhs67]

6 minutes ago, ionel said:

The topic is TnT's recruits, these were not.  

For those in the back who are having difficulty with comprehension:
- Tom was appointed HC at Iowa on April 5th, 2006.
- Terry officially joined the Iowa Staff on October 1st, 2008 as an Assistant.

Any recruit before October 1st, 2008 was not a TnT recruit.  That is what Ionel is trying to say here (I think?).

Edited Friday at 03:09 PM by nhs67

[ionel]

3 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

For those in the back who are having difficulty with comprehension:
 

@MPhillips is supposed to be tutoring those in the back.  

[VakAttack]

36 minutes ago, ionel said:

The topic is TnT's recruits, these were not.  

Join me. 

[WrestlingRash]

18 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

No wonder idiots on the internet want them to be fired with consistent results like that

this has nothing to do with why. that was a long time ago, they underperform every year and their scream at the ref and make them call stalling BS is tired and played out. they are the limiting factor in Iowa's success (if you can call it that). Iowa is about winning national titles, and they are failing badly. 

[Spencerlee]

11 minutes ago, WrestlingRash said:

this has nothing to do with why. that was a long time ago, they underperform every year and their scream at the ref and make them call stalling BS is tired and played out. they are the limiting factor in Iowa's success (if you can call it that). Iowa is about winning national titles, and they are failing badly. 

Could you remind me of the last team to win a national title not named Penn State? I forgot.

[D3 for LU]

On 4/17/2025 at 10:37 AM, VakAttack said:

Shut up, virgin.

Er, uh, side note... but would TWELVE reactions by Vak's witty repartee  to jimminy sweetbuns be a record here?

If not... top ten at least?

(I'm impressed!)

D3

Edited Friday at 04:47 PM by D3 for LU

[WrestlingRash]

2 hours ago, Spencerlee said:

Could you remind me of the last team to win a national title not named Penn State? I forgot.

never thought I'd see Hawkeye fans justifying losing. Sad day. 

[fishbane]

With Terry involved in recruiting Tom Brands has had 2 #1 ranked recruiting classes in 2010 and 2012.  These are the only years when they had 4 top 25 recruits in a class.  They had 3 top 25 recruits in 2009, 2016, 2023 and Tom secured 3 top 25 recruits at Virginia Tech in 2005.  They also had the #2 overall classes in 2017 (Lee, Warner) and 2020 (Kennedy, Ybarra) despite only having 2 top 25 recruits each year.

2010

#4 Mike Evans, #11 Nick Moore, #12 Josh Dziewa, #19 Bobby Telford, and #31 Matt Ballweg, #74 Michael Kelly, #79  Anthony Baldosaro

2012

#15 Nate Skonieczny, #16 Thomas Gilman, #20 Sammy Brooks, #23 Cory Clark, #41 Alex Meyer, #198 Connor Ryan, #NR Nathan Burak

Edited Friday at 07:55 PM by fishbane