InterMat Staff

New Prairie

Highland

Minisink Valley

Arlington Martin

Pompton Lakes

East Lyme

Trumbull

After the US Open recruiting and commitments have picked up again. Some programs are finding last-minute gems from the Class of 2025 to round out their roster, while others are squarely focused on the Class of 2026 and even have an eye toward the rising juniors. Whatever the strategy, a handful of teams got better this week, while not necessarily getting verbals from top ten overall prospects. Since these were not of that ilk, their commitments may have gotten overlooked slightly. Here’s more about the last week in recruiting. Leading the way was Virginia Tech who got a commitment from the Class of 2026’s #64 Alex Rozas (Teurlings Catholic, LA) and flipped #42 Jonathan Rocha (Clovis North, CA) from Purdue). In MatScouts latest rankings, without the Class of 2025, Rozas is currently ranked eighth in the nation at 120 lbs and Rocha is ranked third at 190 lbs. Rozas is a three-time NHSCA age-group All-American - highlighted by a Junior title this year. He was also a finalist in 2024 at UWW U17 Trials in freestyle. Rocha also won NHSCA’s (as a sophomore) and was fourth at the Super 32 last fall. Rozas could start his collegiate career at 125 lbs, while Rocha should help out at 184 and 197 lbs. Speaking of Purdue, despite the flip, the Boilermakers got better with a pair of commitments from ranked juniors. Three-time state finalist and one-time champion #132 Nathan Rioux (Avon, IN) will stay in-state and wrestle for Tony Ersland’s team. Outside of his home state, Rioux has excelled at Fargo earning All-American honors on five different occasions. Last summer, he was fourth in Junior freestyle and seventh in Junior Greco. His most recent state title came at 126 lbs and he’s currently ranked #12 in the country at 132 lbs. The other “get” for Purdue was Drake Hooiman (SLAM Academy, NV). Hooiman is a three-time Nevada state champion who got on the national radar after a runner-up finish at the 2024 Powerade Invitational in Western Pennsylvania. Little Rock got their fourth commitment from a Big Boarder from the Class of 2026 as they added #191 Tre Haines (Arlington, WA) to an already impressive recruiting class. Haines will be looking for his fourth Washington state title in 2026. Haines has earned All-American honors twice in Fargo in Greco-Roman. He was sixth at the Junior level in 2024 and fifth at 16U’s in 2022. Though he won his most recent state title at 157 lbs, Haines could project as high as 174 for the Trojans. California Baptist continued its “sneaky good” recruiting with a commitment from Jackson Butler (Bishop McCort, PA). Butler was a state eighth-place finisher in 2024 at 145 lbs. Because of McCort’s stacked lineup, he did not compete in the 2025 postseason. Even so, Butler headed down to NHSCA’s and finished eighth in the Junior tournament at 145 lbs, his third time on the NHSCA podium. Butler is the second Pennsylvania native, joining Max Wirnsberger, to commit to the Lancers in the Class of 2026. George Mason continued their run of strong recruiting with a Big Boarder from the Class of 2026 in #128 Jeffrey Huyvaert (New Prairie, IN). Huyvaert is a three-time Indiana state placer. He has finished fifth in each of the last two seasons. His commitment now gives the Patriots four Big Boarders from the Class of 2026. Oklahoma continued to return to a Minnesota pipeline that has been very generous during the short Roger Kish era. Their latest addition from the Land of 10,000 Lakes is undefeated state champion Christian Jelle (Grand Rapids, MI). Though Jelle isn’t currently on the Big Board, he was listed as the #16 ranked 138 lber in the latest rankings. Last fall, Jelle bonus point’ed his way through Preseason Nationals. For a full range of collegiate commitments, check out our men’s college commitment page.

Last week, we mentioned how Izzy Martinez was partnering with pro wrestling legends Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff to start Real American Freestyle (RAF). When the group launched a website, it listed David Carr, Kennedy Blades, Zahid Valencia, and Ben Askren as athletes that have signed with the organization. Within the last 24 hours four additional athletes have been added to the site - three of which are Olympic medalists. Kyle Snyder, Kyle Dake, Aaron Brooks, and Trent Hidlay. The organization will launch their first live event on August 30th at Cleveland, Ohio’s Wolstein Center. At this point, there is limited information about the card or the individual matches themselves. Carr’s picture is listed with the date of the August event - since he’s an Ohio native, I’d expect him on the card. We’ll have more as RAF continues to develop and release more information.

Bishop McCort

Newton South

Bolivar Richburg

Grosse Pointe South

North Rockland

Freedom

A week from now, we’ll be getting ready for the 2025 World Team Trials in men’s and women’s freestyle. The winners of this event will move on to Final X 2025 to compete in a best-of-three series for a spot on the 2025 World Team. As of Friday morning, these are the wrestlers who have qualified and registered for the Trials. Wrestlers still have until midnight Friday/Saturday of this week to register and be involved in the seeding process. There is a deadline of next Friday for registration; however, those wrestlers will not be seeded. As of now, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club hasn’t added their entries. Remember, there are two weight classes in both men’s and women’s freestyle that will not be contested because their Final X matchup has been set. Those are: Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Spencer Lee vs. Luke Lilledahl Men’s Freestyle 61 kg: Vito Arujau vs. Jax Forrest Women’s Freestyle 57 kg: Helen Maroulis vs. Amanda Martinez Women’s Freestyle 65 kg: Macey Kilty vs. Aine Drury These are the current entries as of Friday morning: Men’s Freestyle 65 kg Bo Bassett Marcus Blaze Seth Gross Brock Hardy Jesse Mendez Aden Valencia Real Woods Carter Young Waiting in Final X: Joey McKenna 70 kg Bryce Andonian Jackson Arrington PJ Duke James Green Caleb Henson Brayton Lee Will Lewan Ridge Lovett Ian Parker Antrell Taylor Waiting in Final X: Yianni Diakomihalis 74 kg Terrell Barraclough Joey Blaze Michael Caliendo David Carr Peyton Hall Jarrett Jacques Quincy Monday Elroy Perkin Ed Scott Waiting in Final X: Mitchell Mesenbrink 79 kg Dean Hamiti Carson Kharchla Muhamed McBryde Kennedy Monday Ethan Riddle Simon Ruiz Waiting in Final X: Evan Wick 86 kg Marcus Coleman Parker Keckeisen Chance Marsteller Waiting in Final X: Zahid Valencia 92 kg Patrick Brophy Michael Macchiavello Dustin Plott Eric Schultz Aeoden Sinclair Waiting in Final X: Trent Hidlay 97 kg Jay Aiello Gavin Hoffman Christian Knop Ethan Laird Waiting in Final X: Kyle Snyder 125 kg Trent Hillger Christian Lance Lucas Stoddard Demetrius Thomas Jordan Wood Hayden Zillmer Waiting in Final X: Wyatt Hendrickson Women’s Freestyle 50 kg Heather Crull Anaya Falcon Erin Golston Kendra Ryan Emily Shilson Waiting in Final X: Audrey Jimenez 53 kg Jaslynn Gallegos Katie Gomez Sage Mortimer Sydney Petzinger Salyna Shotwell Felicity Taylor Waiting in Final X: Brianna Gonzalez 55 kg Ronna Gross Amani Jones Everest Leydecker Mateah Roehl Julia Vidallon Areana Villaescusa Thalia Vogelsang Jacarra Winchester Waiting in Final X: Cristelle Rodriguez 59 kg Michaela Beck Belle Foard Emily Frost Alexis Janiak Xochitl Mota-Pettis Lorianna Piestewa Brenda Reyna Ashley Whetzal Waiting in Final X: Abby Nette 62 kg Samanatha Barragan Alara Boyd SaVannah Cosme Marilyn Garcia Katerina Lange Ana Luciano Adaugo Nwachukwu Waiting in Final X: Kayla Miracle 68 kg Gretchen Donally Brooklyn Hays Destiny Lyng Latifah McBryde Solin Piearcy Waiting in Final X: Kennedy Blades 72 kg Kaylynn Albrecht Amit Elor Skylar Grote Elleni Johnson Joye Levendusky Waiting in Final X: Alex Glaude 76 kg Marlynne Deede Dymond Guilford Shenita Lawson Ashley Lekas Yelena Makoyed Naomi Simon Lilian Vergara Waiting in Final X: Kylie Welker

SLAM Academy

Grand Haven

Stonewall Mt. Jackson

Bordentown via Delaware Valley

Waverly

West Perry

Lawrence Central

Silverton

Park Vista Community