Jinnosuke Okonogi

[Owen Rector]

Jinnosuke Okonogi just announced he is commiting to NC State from Tokyo, Japan. This kind of comes as a suprise, not a program I expected to be doing this.

Another wrestler from Japan who has only done freestyle, interested to see how he adjusts to folkstyle compared to Ono.

He is a 2025 U17 world champ, but that it his main accolate

[peanut]

Pretty cool to see international athletes giving things a go here. Hope he does well.

[Truzzcat]

Just now, Owen Rector said:

Jinnosuke Okonogi just announced he is commiting to NC State from Tokyo, Japan. This kind of comes as a suprise, not a program I expected to be doing this.

Another wrestler from Japan who has only done freestyle, interested to see how he adjusts to folkstyle compared to Ono.

He is a 2025 U17 world champ, but that it his main accolate

I believe that around the time of his cadet title there were rumors of this, I think he trains with KD when he comes to the united states and KD is pretty close with either Pat pop or espo I believe.

[wrestlingfan22]

15 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

I believe that around the time of his cadet title there were rumors of this, I think he trains with KD when he comes to the united states and KD is pretty close with either Pat pop or espo I believe.

Yes he told Willie that he would be going to NCST at Worlds. Also, he was training there before worlds I believe. He beat Burnett though who had a great Clarion Open and won Ironman this year, so if he is can get to that level in Folk he will be an immediate threat

[Owen Rector]

I'm hoping Coach Pop puts him in events early, even if he has a redshirt year. He is always someone that tries to sign his guys up for the toughest challenges and wants to do everything he can to grow the sport, so hopefully that means showcasing Okonogi's skills and transition to folk at opens and such even if he isn't ready to start.

[2001Hokie]

5 minutes ago, Owen Rector said:

I'm hoping Coach Pop puts him in events early, even if he has a redshirt year. He is always someone that tries to sign his guys up for the toughest challenges and wants to do everything he can to grow the sport, so hopefully that means showcasing Okonogi's skills and transition to folk at opens and such even if he isn't ready to start.

Agreed...Pop does a good job of getting guys straight into the fire.  Nice addition to the ACC too!

[nhs67]

22 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

I believe that around the time of his cadet title there were rumors of this, I think he trains with KD when he comes to the united states and KD is pretty close with either Pat pop or espo I believe.

Yeah, I thought this had been announced either at or just after Cadets.

[CHROMEBIRD]

Sounds cool and I hope he ends up loving folkstyle. However, we haven't seen much from Rin or Ono yet, so we'll see how this works out. Would love to see international recruits become more of a thing in D1 wrestling.