2005 might be the most dominant recruiting class of all time

[MichiganMade3]

Intermat had the classes from 2005 through 2016 but I can't find info from 2017 through 2025 but classes 2005 had 13 national champions in 46 all Americans the next closest was eight national champions I think it was 2008.    #1 Class of 2005

 

National Champions (13): #1 Dustin Schlatter, #2 Brent Metcalf, #3 Troy Nickerson, #7 Angel Escobedo, #10 Jake Varner, #16 Jayson Ness, #19 Jay Borschel, #22 Max Askren, #43 Franklin Gomez, #72 Mike Pucillo, NR David Zabriskie, NR Gregor Gillespie, NR Mark Ellis

 

DI All-Americans (46): #1 Dustin Schlatter, #2 Brent Metcalf, #3 Troy Nickerson, #4 Cyler Sanderson, #7 Angel Escobedo, #9 Matt Coughlin, #10 Jake Varner, #11 Ryan Morningstar, #13 Nick Gallick, #15 Jared Rosholt, #16 Jayson Ness, #17 Hudson Taylor, #19 Jay Borschel, #22 Max Askren, #24 Joey Slaton, #28 Alton Lucas, #32 Vince Jones, #33 Louis Caputo, #34 Reece Humphrey, #43 Franklin Gomez, #51 Mike Miller, #67 Nick Marable, #69 Brandon Rader, #72 Mike Pucillo, #86 Chris Brown, #90 Alex Krom, #93 Josh Arnone, NR David Zabriskie, NR Craig Brester, NR Gregor Gillespie, NR Dan Vallimont, NR Michael Cannon, NR Kyle Ruschell, NR Phil Keddy, NR Mark Ellis, NR Chase Pami, NR Dan Erekson, NR Kyle Terry, NR Dan Dennis, NR Nick Fanthorpe, NR Mitch Monteiro, NR Steve Bell, NR Dan Mitcheff, NR Steve Brown, NR Eric Lapotsky, NR Cody Cleveland.....

There's some big namesand that was a definitely dominant recruiting class 13 national champions

[MichiganMade3]

2005 also had nine world team members with the only class that had more was 2009 with 10 world team members the 2009 class also had 8 national champions highlighted by David Taylor

Edited March 13 by MichiganMade3

[Pinnacle]

How many 2 or 3 time Champs were in that class or immediately preceding or following classes?

[kschlosser]

A lot different situation at the time, but some of those late 40s freshmen classes might have some strong numbers. A lot of people deferred entering college until after the war and a lot of battle tested veterans returning to civilian life and school with the GI Bill entered college at the same time.

I think Jason Bryant, Andrew Hipps, Bob Preusse, Gary Abbott, or someone at Rev did a pretty good feature on this years ago. Some wrestleknownothing probably knows something 

Edited March 13 by kschlosser

[MichiganMade3]

1 hour ago, kschlosser said:

A lot different situation at the time, but some of those late 40s freshmen classes might have some strong numbers. A lot of people deferred entering college until after the war and a lot of battle tested veterans returning to civilian life and school with the GI Bill entered college at the same time.

I think Jason Bryant, Andrew Hipps, Bob Preusse, Gary Abbott, or someone at Rev did a pretty good feature on this years ago. Some wrestleknownothing probably knows something 

Lol you act like 2005 was long ago some of those wrestlers still wrestled just 13-14 years ago in college and some of them were competing in the senior freestyle division just till a couple years ago.. anything from the mid-90s to present is considered relevant....that class had two of the most decorated high school wrestlers of all time between Metcalf and Dustin Schlatter... only a casual would not know any of those names that were Champions are all Americans other than that those are household names in any wrestling fans book

Edited March 13 by MichiganMade3

[MichiganMade3]

1 hour ago, kschlosser said:

A lot different situation at the time, but some of those late 40s freshmen classes might have some strong numbers. A lot of people deferred entering college until after the war and a lot of battle tested veterans returning to civilian life and school with the GI Bill entered college at the same time.

I think Jason Bryant, Andrew Hipps, Bob Preusse, Gary Abbott, or someone at Rev did a pretty good feature on this years ago. Some wrestleknownothing probably knows something 

Plus I was going by intermats criteria of 2005 through 2016 and 2016 to present

[HarryConnickJr]

I’d be interested in more names and numbers outside of 2005-2016. Way too small of a sample size to tell which class is most dominant. Also if dominance isn’t defined it may not be worth a convo

[kschlosser]

20 minutes ago, MichiganMade3 said:

Lol you act like 2005 was long ago some of those wrestlers still wrestled just 13-14 years ago in college and some of them were competing in the senior freestyle division just till a couple years ago.. anything from the mid-90s to present is considered relevant....that class had two of the most decorated high school wrestlers of all time between Metcalf and Dustin Schlatter... only a casual would not know any of those names that were Champions are all Americans other than that those are household names in any wrestling fans book

Not really, I would have been on the floor 2005-2010 every year at nationals, big ten, midlands, a scuffle, national duals, Vegas and at least 25 d1 duals a year. Also spent a decade at the US open, world or Olympic team trials, multiple trips to Colorado springs, beat the streets New York, and a few regionals. I'm pretty sure I saw everyone you discussed multiple times

I simply said those late forties guys were the dudes before there were dudes and rankings. They were probably 2-3 Olympic cycles as postgrads. The guys that watched them compete are dead or in a nursing home. Thought they deserved some mention as respect 

Edited March 13 by kschlosser

[RandolphTJones]

Who in the top 10 recruits in 05 did not AA?

[pcostilow]

28 minutes ago, RandolphTJones said:

Who in the top 10 recruits in 05 did not AA?

Maybe Patrick Bond or Travis Blasco? I don't remember exactly how hugh they were, but I think fairly. I think a few of the highly rated big guys from that era didn't materialize in college.

 

The top guys from 2005 would have been Metcalf, Schlatter, Nickerson, then I think Varner was #4, does anyone have the actual top 100?

[MichiganMade3]

Here's more names from that list that you can kind of patch together the top 100

 

3/4x NCAA Qualifiers (61): #1 Dustin Schlatter, #2 Brent Metcalf, #3 Troy Nickerson, #4 Cyler Sanderson, #5 Mitch Mueller, #6 Donnie Jones, #7 Angel Escobedo, #8 Patrick Bond, #10 Jake Varner, #11 Ryan Morningstar, #13 Nick Gallick, #15 Jared Rosholt, #16 Jayson Ness, #17 Hudson Taylor, #19 Jay Borschel, #22 Max Askren, #25 Cesar Grajales, #32 Vince Jones, #33 Louis Caputo, #34 Reece Humphrey, #36 Brad Pataky, #41 Matt Fisk, #43 Franklin Gomez, #45 Tony Mustari, #51 Mike Miller, #63 Matt Dragon, #64 Seth Ciasulli, #67 Nick Marable, #68 Conor Beebe, #69 Brandon Rader, #72 Mike Pucillo, #84 Joe Caramanica, #86 Chris Brown, #100 Ryan Adams, NR David Zabriskie, NR Craig Brester, NR Gregor Gillespie, NR Dan Vallimont, NR Michael Cannon, NR Kyle Ruschell, NR Phil Keddy, NR Mark Ellis, NR Chase Pami, NR Dan Erekson, NR Kyle Terry, NR Nick Fanthorpe, NR Mitch Monteiro, NR Steve Bell, NR Dan Mitcheff, NR Steve Brown, NR Eric Lapotsky, NR Cody Cleveland, NR Duke Burk, NR Steve Mytych, NR Cory VomBaur, NR Jarrett Hostetter, NR Phil Moricone, NR Nathan Lee, NR Pat Bradshaw, NR Ed Bordas, NR Dustin Porter

[MichiganMade3]

1 hour ago, pcostilow said:

Maybe Patrick Bond or Travis Blasco? I don't remember exactly how hugh they were, but I think fairly. I think a few of the highly rated big guys from that era didn't materialize in college.

 

The top guys from 2005 would have been Metcalf, Schlatter, Nickerson, then I think Varner was #4, does anyone have the actual top 

Dustin Schlatter was 1. Brent Metcalf was 2. Troy Nickerson was 3. Cyler Sanderson was 4. Mitch Mueller was 5. Donnie Jones was 6. Angel Escobar was 7. Patrick Bond was 8. Matt Coughlin was 9. Jake Varner 10. Ryan Morningstar 11

Edited March 13 by MichiganMade3

[MichiganMade3]

Number 65 Matt Dragon wrestled Metcalf tough at the Dapper Dan I remember it was a close match

[MichiganMade3]

2005 Dapper Wrestling Classic Results

 

USA 39  PA 6

119: Brad Pataky (PA) dec. Franklin Gomez (Florida) 3-1.

189: Patrick Bond (Virginia) dec. Josh Arnone (PA) 3-1.

145: Brent Metcalf (Michigan) dec. Matt Dragon (PA) 8-7.

275: Bryan Reiss (PA) dec. Drake McCoy (Georgia) 3-2.

140: Cyler Sanderson (Utah) maj. dec. Joe Caramanica (PA) 13-4.

125: Troy Nickerson (New York) dec. Matt Fisk (PA) 2-1.

112: Rollie Peterkin (New Jersey) dec. Rick Rappo (PA) 4-0.

135: Brandon Rader (West Virginia) dec. Dan Burkholder (PA) 1-0.

215: Jared Rosholt (Oklahoma) maj. dec. Nate Sipes (PA) 10-2.

160: David Erwin (Ohio) maj. dec. Donnie Jones (PA) 14-6.

171: Ricky Scott (New York) dec. Corbin Semple (PA) 8-5.

130: Adam Frey (New Jersey) pinned Steve Bell (PA) 4:55.

152: Dustin Schlatter (Ohio) dec. Joey Ecklof (PA) 5-2.

OW PA - Brad Pataky

OW USA - Adam Frey

  

[MichiganMade3]

2 hours ago, HarryConnickJr said:

I’d be interested in more names and numbers outside of 2005-2016. Way too small of a sample size to tell which class is most dominant. Also if dominance isn’t defined it may not be worth a convo

National champs and world team members are definitely two great criterias to use and compare between classes

[MichiganMade3]

Here's the link it describes the criteria they used and shows all the classes and wrestlers from 2005 through 2016 I was surprised to see there's a handful of not ranked recruits that one national titles not many but a few Anthony Robles was one Kendrick Maple was one

 

 

[MichiganMade3]

2006 had some studs and I was surprised to see how high of a recruit Bubba Jenkins and Jordan Burroughs was even Darien Caldwell wasn't even a top 30 recruit

 

4 - Class of 2006

National Champions (6): #10 Jon Reader, #16 JP O'Connor, #34 Darrion Caldwell, #46 Bubba Jenkins, #94 Jordan Burroughs, NR Anthony Robles

[ScottishSteel]

14 hours ago, MichiganMade3 said:

Intermat had the classes from 2005 through 2016 but I can't find info from 2017 through 2025 but classes 2005 had 13 national champions in 46 all Americans the next closest was eight national champions I think it was 2008.    #1 Class of 2005

 

National Champions (13): #1 Dustin Schlatter, #2 Brent Metcalf, #3 Troy Nickerson, #7 Angel Escobedo, #10 Jake Varner, #16 Jayson Ness, #19 Jay Borschel, #22 Max Askren, #43 Franklin Gomez, #72 Mike Pucillo, NR David Zabriskie, NR Gregor Gillespie, NR Mark Ellis

 

DI All-Americans (46): #1 Dustin Schlatter, #2 Brent Metcalf, #3 Troy Nickerson, #4 Cyler Sanderson, #7 Angel Escobedo, #9 Matt Coughlin, #10 Jake Varner, #11 Ryan Morningstar, #13 Nick Gallick, #15 Jared Rosholt, #16 Jayson Ness, #17 Hudson Taylor, #19 Jay Borschel, #22 Max Askren, #24 Joey Slaton, #28 Alton Lucas, #32 Vince Jones, #33 Louis Caputo, #34 Reece Humphrey, #43 Franklin Gomez, #51 Mike Miller, #67 Nick Marable, #69 Brandon Rader, #72 Mike Pucillo, #86 Chris Brown, #90 Alex Krom, #93 Josh Arnone, NR David Zabriskie, NR Craig Brester, NR Gregor Gillespie, NR Dan Vallimont, NR Michael Cannon, NR Kyle Ruschell, NR Phil Keddy, NR Mark Ellis, NR Chase Pami, NR Dan Erekson, NR Kyle Terry, NR Dan Dennis, NR Nick Fanthorpe, NR Mitch Monteiro, NR Steve Bell, NR Dan Mitcheff, NR Steve Brown, NR Eric Lapotsky, NR Cody Cleveland.....

There's some big namesand that was a definitely dominant recruiting class 13 national champions

99% of the wrestling community is doing brackets and thinking about NCAAs and you are over here doing a deep dive into the 2005 recruiting class.  That is fascinating (in a good way).  Thanks for bringing it to the board

[TNwrestling]

14 hours ago, MichiganMade3 said:

Intermat had the classes from 2005 through 2016 but I can't find info from 2017 through 2025 but classes 2005 had 13 national champions in 46 all Americans the next closest was eight national champions I think it was 2008.    #1 Class of 2005

 

National Champions (13): #1 Dustin Schlatter, #2 Brent Metcalf, #3 Troy Nickerson, #7 Angel Escobedo, #10 Jake Varner, #16 Jayson Ness, #19 Jay Borschel, #22 Max Askren, #43 Franklin Gomez, #72 Mike Pucillo, NR David Zabriskie, NR Gregor Gillespie, NR Mark Ellis

 

DI All-Americans (46): #1 Dustin Schlatter, #2 Brent Metcalf, #3 Troy Nickerson, #4 Cyler Sanderson, #7 Angel Escobedo, #9 Matt Coughlin, #10 Jake Varner, #11 Ryan Morningstar, #13 Nick Gallick, #15 Jared Rosholt, #16 Jayson Ness, #17 Hudson Taylor, #19 Jay Borschel, #22 Max Askren, #24 Joey Slaton, #28 Alton Lucas, #32 Vince Jones, #33 Louis Caputo, #34 Reece Humphrey, #43 Franklin Gomez, #51 Mike Miller, #67 Nick Marable, #69 Brandon Rader, #72 Mike Pucillo, #86 Chris Brown, #90 Alex Krom, #93 Josh Arnone, NR David Zabriskie, NR Craig Brester, NR Gregor Gillespie, NR Dan Vallimont, NR Michael Cannon, NR Kyle Ruschell, NR Phil Keddy, NR Mark Ellis, NR Chase Pami, NR Dan Erekson, NR Kyle Terry, NR Dan Dennis, NR Nick Fanthorpe, NR Mitch Monteiro, NR Steve Bell, NR Dan Mitcheff, NR Steve Brown, NR Eric Lapotsky, NR Cody Cleveland.....

There's some big namesand that was a definitely dominant recruiting class 13 national champions

Fun fact...Cody Cleveland is the last all american Chattanooga has had. It's been almost 20 years now.

[boathead]

Wasn't Gregor Gillespie in 2005? My bad. I see him as NR

Sent from my F5 using Tapatalk

[kschlosser]

 

This palmer/intermat articles gives you an idea of what I was thinking about when I posted. I got involved with USA in the 90s and national wrestling. These were the grey hairs in the room getting recognized, memorialized, and inducted at whatever nationals, hof banquets etc. not just the cornell college guys but they were the heroes of my heroes and the coaches of my coaches. 

Jay hammond did a great job documenting and promoting these guys so we didn't forget or overlook. He was great to sit with on press row and around the mat and was a fountain of knowledge. RIP Jairus, our Dr J

Edited March 13 by kschlosser

[Pinnacle]

11 hours ago, MichiganMade3 said:

2005 Dapper Wrestling Classic Results

 

USA 39  PA 6

119: Brad Pataky (PA) dec. Franklin Gomez (Florida) 3-1.

189: Patrick Bond (Virginia) dec. Josh Arnone (PA) 3-1.

145: Brent Metcalf (Michigan) dec. Matt Dragon (PA) 8-7.

275: Bryan Reiss (PA) dec. Drake McCoy (Georgia) 3-2.

140: Cyler Sanderson (Utah) maj. dec. Joe Caramanica (PA) 13-4.

125: Troy Nickerson (New York) dec. Matt Fisk (PA) 2-1.

112: Rollie Peterkin (New Jersey) dec. Rick Rappo (PA) 4-0.

135: Brandon Rader (West Virginia) dec. Dan Burkholder (PA) 1-0.

215: Jared Rosholt (Oklahoma) maj. dec. Nate Sipes (PA) 10-2.

160: David Erwin (Ohio) maj. dec. Donnie Jones (PA) 14-6.

171: Ricky Scott (New York) dec. Corbin Semple (PA) 8-5.

130: Adam Frey (New Jersey) pinned Steve Bell (PA) 4:55.

152: Dustin Schlatter (Ohio) dec. Joey Ecklof (PA) 5-2.

OW PA - Brad Pataky

OW USA - Adam Frey

  

 

That brings back memories for me. 

[MichiganMade3]

7 hours ago, ScottishSteel said:

99% of the wrestling community is doing brackets and thinking about NCAAs and you are over here doing a deep dive into the 2005 recruiting class.  That is fascinating (in a good way).  Thanks for bringing it to the board

I set my own path my friend... you only can look at the brackets for so long before it's boring and you get frustrated you have to wait another week so I started Googling other wrestling related things and found that information I shared pretty interesting

Edited March 13 by MichiganMade3

[MichiganMade3]

6 hours ago, Pinnacle said:

 

That brings back memories for me

Me as well sir that's when I was in my high school days and that's when I paid attention a lot more to the competitors.....I could have went to 2001 Senior Nationals seeing I placed 2nd at 189 senior yr and back then you had to be a state champ or place second in order to be invited and that's when that tournament was the top dog of all high school wrestling tournaments nationally for folk Style but I had a scholarship for college football and didn't want to miss time from the weight room to go and get whooped on by Ohio and PennSylvania guys LOL.... I started wrestling my junior year never wrestled before that and took sixth as a junior in Michigan and then second my senior year only if I would have started when I was younger... turns out when you're benching 375 in high school you really only need to know a headlock, lateral drop, and a blast double followed by a half that's basically the only moves I use to win all my matches senior year and I went 46 and 2

Edited March 13 by MichiganMade3

[Doublehalf]

As a fellow 2005 grad - I chalk up my lack of a national title & AA to just how incredibly deep the talent was... Totally the reason.