InterMat Staff

The first day of July marked a new beginning for Hofstra’s wrestling team as they announced their new head coach. Hofstra fans don’t need an introduction as it is a familiar face - Jamie Franco. Franco, a Hofstra alum, returns to the team after spending the 2023-24 season on the Columbia coaching staff. During his only year at Columbia, the Lions finished tied for fourth place in the EIWA and sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. One of them, Lennox Wolak, earned All-American honors and was the first Columbia wrestler to do so in over a decade. Before moving to Columbia, Franco spent seven years on the Hofstra staff under the previous head coach, Dennis Papadatos. During those final two seasons, Franco held the title of associate head coach. Almost two months ago, to the date, Papadatos stepped down from his post to pursue a position within the Hofstra athletic department. As a student-athlete, Franco qualified for the NCAA Tournament on three occasions. As a junior, Franco won a CAA title and won a pair of matches at nationals. His senior season was the school’s first in the EIWA and Franco finished fifth in the nation’s largest conference. Franco won 75 matches in a Hofstra singlet and was a team captain. During his competitive career, Franco was a starter on three CAA championship-winning teams. Hofstra does not return any wrestlers with past NCAA experience; however, they bring back eight of the ten wrestlers who competed in the 2024 EIWA Championships.

The city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has been part of a traditional wrestling hotspot for generations. Nestled in the Lehigh Valley – which many consider to be home to the best wrestling in the country – Lehigh University sits a stone’s throw away from where the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation was located. The gritty, hard-working residents most likely stem from generations of steelworkers transferring this attitude onto the wrestling mat. Pennsylvania’s District 11 is known nationwide thanks to cities like Bethlehem, which have had various factories, cement plants, and other forms of blue-collar jobs since the Industrial Revolution. Lehigh’s pristine location creates a large sampling of top-notch talent in their own backyard. Lehigh has always excelled at keeping local talent home. They’ve seen success at all levels of wrestling. The goal in wrestling has always been to be the best in the world - ultimately, an Olympic Champion. The last Mountain Hawk to achieve this was Bobby Weaver – who won a gold medal at 48 kgs (105.5lbs) in 1984. Bobby Weaver was another local wrestler, graduating from Easton High School just up the road from Bethlehem. Weaver eventually began running a local club, where many of the best wrestlers went to train. Who wouldn’t want to learn from an Olympic gold medalist? Plus, how many young wrestlers have the opportunity? Current Lehigh Head Associate Head Coach, Brad Dillon was lucky enough to train under Bobby Weaver. This led to a fantastic high school career in District 11, and eventually earned him All-American honors twice while competing as a Lehigh Mountain Hawk. He stated “Bobby Weaver was probably the biggest influence of my career. I spent a lot of time with him in the wrestling room growing up. Fortunately, he’s trained a few guys I have coached here at Lehigh.” Dillon laughed as he said, “I remember a lot of the practices where he would kick my butt in live goes.” Many of the techniques and tricks learned from Weaver are still taught at Lehigh to this day. This Weaver connection helped local talent click with the coaches. More recently, in the past decade, two local products have really made an impact. Not by coincidence, they both trained at Weaver Elite growing up. First is Darian Cruz, a 2013 graduate of Bethlehem Catholic. He became Lehigh’s first true freshman All-American in over 30 years when he earned 7th place at 125 lbs in March of 2014. Like Weaver, he was a lightweight who didn’t fear being smaller than the competition. Cruz was outsized but gained major confidence after putting together an incredible first season. This size difference was obvious to anyone who watched him compete that year. Cruz smiled as he remembered weighing in at 118lbs before morning practices multiple times his true freshman year. “Some days, they (the coaches) wouldn’t let me practice. I would go to lunch with Doug Vollaro and Max Wessel, the heavyweights, and sit there for hours to try and get my weight up. I had a gallon of water in the other hand.” Coach Dillon told a similar story where he had to “train Darian to eat.” He had to engrain the concept into Darian that he needed to expand his stomach to get more calories into his system. With more calories, he’d be able to put on mass. He was also lifting more often than the rest of the team, usually five to six times per week. This helped somewhat. But he would never get to be a full-sized 125 lb wrestler that first season. More impressively, Cruz weighed in at 121 lbs the final day of NCAAs that year. It’s commonplace to see wrestlers in the back cutting weight once they finish for the night. It is not rare for a wrestler having to lose ten pounds or more to compete the following day. Not Darian. He had the luxury of relaxing and going to bed on a full stomach. Cruz made history when he became an NCAA Champion a few years later in 2017. He was Lehigh’s 28th individual NCAA Champion, which is the 6th most of any NCAA D1 team. Coincidentally, his opponent that year, Ethan Lizak of the University of Minnesota, attended Parkland High School. For those wondering, Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic (BECA) high schools are exactly 12.5 miles apart. Cruz and Lizak have been wrestling each other since elementary school. Plus, they trained together growing up every now and then. It was a great time to be a wrestling fan in the Lehigh Valley that day in March! Darian Cruz in the 2017 NCAA finals; Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo Darian’s dream of winning an NCAA title for the program he grew up watching became a reality. It also created the same dream for young wrestlers in the area, especially Ryan Crookham. Ryan was sitting in the Lehigh section during Darian’s championship run. He also watched Zeke Moisey (another former Weaver Elite member) make his Cinderella story run two years prior. Moisey was a high school teammate of Cruz. During his college years, Darian did many clinics and private lessons with local talent. One of the talented up-and-coming studs was no other than Crookham. Ryan and Darian created a bond very early on, and that bond continues to this day. Crookham was a product of Saucon Valley High School, in Hellertown PA. Hellertown is a small town that borders the larger city of Bethlehem. Attending a Lehigh dual inside “the snake pit” is a unique atmosphere in college wrestling. The excitement of a dual is captivating from a young age. This was true for Ryan, as he was a season ticket holder. He fell in love with the quality of wrestling. “I’ve always associated this venue with high-level wrestling, even the ‘Who’s Number 1’ event for the high school level” Ryan’s list of favorite memories in this venue is almost endless. His retention of them is encyclopedia-like. You can get the sense his wrestling IQ is, and always has been, advanced. There were other options for Ryan Crookham – but he was barely interested. Lehigh was where he wanted to be. Between the wrestling and academics, it was the perfect fit. Being so close to home was just a bonus. Ryan explained he is in an honor’s program that combines engineering and business. Coach Dillon laughed when he said “Ryan is much like a 40-year-old man. He has, like, a portfolio of his NIL deals. Life after wrestling is not a concern for Ryan.” His competitiveness and desire to be great in all aspects of life will pay dividends in the long run. Crookham concluded, “I made the decision early and haven’t regretted it since. It’s been even better than I imagined. I’m more than happy being at Lehigh.” We went on a bit of a tangent regarding NIL and the sport of wrestling during our chat. He was full of great insight! Both wrestlers were named All-Americans in their freshman season. Darian’s occurred while he was a true freshman. Ryan’s occurred after a redshirt season. Cruz was 28-9 that year, finishing 3rd in the EIWA and 7th at NCAAs. Darian’s was much quieter – not to any fault of his own. As we know, Crookham was blasted onto the scene in mid-November when he defeated returning NCAA and world champion, Vito Arujau of Cornell. Ryan took a loss later in March to Arujau – ending his NCAA tournament in 3rd place. It was his only loss of the season. In the end, Cruz ended his career as a three-time All-American. He is one of 19 in Lehigh’s history. Crookham is on path to become the school’s third-ever four-time All-American – he would be the first in over 40 years. For what it’s worth, his teammate, Luke Stanich, is also on this path. The Mountain Hawks have a special duo with these two freshmen. When looking at the two wrestlers, Darian and Ryan were nearly polar opposites. Coach Dillon discussed how Darian needed more “pushing and pulling when he was young” to understand what he needed to do in order to win. This vastly differed from Ryan’s “cerebral approach to everything.” Darian wanted to use his slickness all the time. He had to learn to do things the hard way when needed. Ryan came into college with the physicality and hand-fighting skills, so his approach varied. Darian was a mentor to Ryan – which may have helped Ryan mature at a quicker rate. Another aspect to keep in mind – Darian and Ryan’s freshman years were much different. Crookham was essentially the face of the program as a freshman. Darian’s time came later. At first glance, Darian’s career as a Mountain Hawk is already superior to Weaver’s. Weaver’s highest placement at NCAAs was 3rd in 1982. Darian’s 3X All-American status is better on paper, plus he holds an NCAA title to his name. Similarly, Ryan Crookham is on pace to overcome Weaver’s NCAA accolades. But, are Ryan’s goals in line with Darian and Bobby’s of becoming an Olympic Champion? Ryan’s freestyle results are minimal due to injuries in high school. “Anytime I am healthy in the future, I will be at the world team trials at 61kgs (134.5lbs). I love wrestling. I don’t specifically focus on one style… Competing at the 2028 Olympics would be the goal.” Unfortunately, he was still injured after NCAAs this season. It would have been great to see him compete against some of the best to see where he stands. He did not shoot down the possibility of coaching in the future, but it’s not currently on his radar. “Things may change in the future because I do like coaching. I’ve doing clinics this offseason at local schools, and it’s been fun,” he said with a smile. Before Cruz and Weaver, Gerry Leeman was a silver medalist at the 1948 Olympic Games. Leeman was the program’s head coach from 1952-1970, where he amassed 161 wins with a whopping .803 win percentage. Currently, Grace Hall is the building where Lehigh wrestles dual meets. The arena on the ground floor is called “Leeman-Turner Arena” after legendary coaches Gerry Leeman and Thad Turner. Leeman’s attributions go beyond his days of coaching and wrestling at Lehigh. Only time will tell how the legacy of Darian Cruz and Ryan Crookham will live on at Lehigh. Darian plans to get into coaching after competing. The ideal location for him would be his alma mater, similar to current coaches Brad Dillon and Zach Rey. Ryan Crookham’s assumption on Darian’s coaching ability parallels Coach Dillon's. Dillon stated Darian is very relatable to kids and has learned a lot from him over the years. Ryan mentioned how selfless Darian is as a person. “It was about a week or two before the Pan-Am qualifiers. I was coming back from injury and needed a workout partner. Darian volunteered without hesitation to let me get every rep in I needed for two to three days in a row. He was essentially a dummy partner for me as he was preparing to qualify for the Olympics.” Ryan promises to return the favor and give Darian all the reps he needs leading up to the Summer Games. On a personal note - I will never forget the night Darian won that NCAA title. I saw him that night with his Lehigh teammates hanging out after the final session concluded. He came over to chat. He didn’t need to. I congratulated him. After a minute of chit-chat, he said something I’ll never forget – “How cool is it that a normal guy like me won an NCAA title?” Maybe it’s the fact I’ve known Darian forever and watched him grow up. The thrill of being part of that special group of wrestlers was exciting to him. Next month, he will join an even smaller group of wrestlers who have been able to call themselves an “Olympian.” This was a reminder that his LVWC coach, Kerry McCoy mentioned to him shortly after qualifying. McCoy was an Olympian in 2000 and 2004. Cruz said, “It’s never ‘former.’ You are an Olympian forever.” Darian Cruz is set to compete at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games. He will represent Puerto Rico and is slated to compete on Thursday, August 8th. His weight class (like Bobby Weaver’s) is the smallest class at 57kgs (125.7lbs). Although he will be repping Puerto Rico, the wrestling fans from the United States will be rooting for Darian (except if he draws Spencer Lee). The Lehigh faithful and local wrestling community will be cheering on Darian no matter what. He’s been one of the most successful wrestlers hailing from District 11 in the past two decades, with an opportunity to become one of the best ever. Darian has been a local favorite since he was impressing crowds with his unbelievably advanced sweep singles at the age of six. When he puts on that singlet to represent the island nation of Puerto Rico, he isn’t doing it for himself. That’s what makes Darian so special. During our interview, it was made clear when he said “I’ve always been excited to represent something more than myself.” He explained there is no better feeling than seeing young athletes look up to him when he goes to train in Puerto Rico. “Every time I go there to train, I leave clothes and shoes and whatever for many of the kids. You never know how much it could mean to them.” There has been a wave of younger wrestlers competing for the island hailing from the USA, following in Darian’s footsteps. He would be Puerto Rico’s first Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. “I could care less about trophies and medals. The biggest thing for me is to mean something to somebody else and inspire them to do great things.” Now, he’s a family man with a wife and two young children. Regardless of the outcome in August, he is already a hero to them and many more.

Transfer Portal Update There have been some additional commitments since my last article that will have big impacts on lineups for the coming season. Commitments Kendall Bostelman - from North Central to William Penn William Penn made a big splash last season with the arrival of Coaches Wilcke and Kadel from the now-closed Iowa Wesleyan along with many of their former teams top talent including Adaugo Nwachukwu and Mia Palumbo. The team went from 33rd place to 4th place at NAIA Nationals in one season. In addition to their strong recruiting class so far (keep an eye out for a lineup preview article), Kendall Bostelman will be another super charge for the Statesman program to keep them winning. Bostelman comes from last season’s NCWWC runner up North Central where she competed for two seasons. During her freshman season she became an All American, finishing sixth at the tournament after finishing third in her region. She has also earned a sixth place finish at the U23 World Team Trials in 2023. In her last season, she competed at 143 lbs and went 20-5, including 9 tech falls against her opponents. Bostelman’s offense can be lethal, so it will be exciting to see what momentum she adds to the already climbing William Penn squad. Kaelani Shufeldt - from Lock Haven to North Central While the Cardinals may have lost Bostelman from their lineup, they picked up an instant-impact competitor in Kaelani Shufeldt. Shufeldt was Lock Haven’s first two-time All American and first national finalist after coming up just short against Iowa’s Ava Bayless in the finals of NCWWCs. In the semifinals, Shufeldt pinned the No. 1 seed from North Central, Kendra Ryan. In fact, Shufeldt pinned every opponent in the tournament outside of Bayless. Shufeldt will head into her junior season with a career record of 50-8 with 18 pins last season. Back in December, Shufeldt placed fourth at 2023 Senior Nationals. Both Shufeldt and Ryan competed at 109 lbs last season, but Ryan is now listed at 116 on the North Central 2024-25 lineup. However, another consideration is North Central’s 3x All American Sydney Petzinger who also competes at 109 lbs. Regardless of how the regular lineup shapes up, the depth at these lower weights for this team is going to be hard to beat. In the portal There are still a few wrestlers who entered the portal that have not yet committed to a new school or announced they are staying at their current school that I would keep an eye on. Esther Han - Iowa (ranked in the top 5 last season at 136 lbs, MoVal Open Champ, ended season early due to injury) Payton Stroud - McKendree (3x All-American, 116 lbs) Claire Agostini - Adrian (Ranked in top-10 at 143 lbs last season) Two Collegiate Powerhouses Win Spots on U23 World Team At non-Olympic weight classes on the U23 Women’s World Team, there are circumstances that can create the possibility for a wrestle off for the spot(s) on the team. This year, challenges at the 65kg and 72kg weight classes were decided this week in wrestle offs in Colorado Springs. First was the challenge at 72kg where Kylie Welker of Iowa, defeated Aspen Barber in first two matches of the best-of-three competition. Welker was originally slated to wrestle Jasmine Robinson, who was unable to compete, pulling Barber into the spot after her third place finish at U23 Women’s Nationals earlier this year. With the win, Welker will take her fifth trip to a World Championship, this being her second in the U23 division. She already has a U20 gold medal as well as U17 and U23 bronze. Next was the competition for the spot at 65kg. There was first a one-match wrestle off between Adaugo Nwachukwu of William Penn and Claire DiCungo of King. Nwachukwu defeated her opponent 8-1 to move on to the best-of-three series against Aine Drury of King University, who was the 2024 U23 Nationals Champion. The two split the first two matches with Nwachukwu getting a 10-0 tech fall in the first and Drury taking a strategic 2-1 victory in the second. Drury had a 3-1 lead heading into the second period, however Nwachukwu was able to execute a low leg shot on the edge that led to a pin with just under two minutes left in the match. This will be Nwachukwu’s fourth World Championships. She received a bronze medal at U20 in 2022 and has also competed on the 2023 U23 and U20 world teams. The 2024 U23 World Championships will take place in late October of this year in Albania. Coaching Change at Southern Oregon Earlier this month, the athletic director at Southern Oregon announced that Head Coach Gabrielle Weyhrich is no longer employed at SOU as the head coach. While additional details of her departure have not been shared, the Athletic Director then announced this week that former Raider and 5x All American, Joye Levendusky will serve as interim head coach for the 2024-25 season. Levendusky served as an assistant coach in 2024. The statement did mention that at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, a full search for a new head coach will be conducted. Southern Oregon is coming off a 3rd place finish at the NAIA National Championships with 7 All-Americans including 2 National champs. New Conference to Sponsor Women’s Wrestling for 2024-25 Season It was announced on Monday that the American Rivers Conference will add Women’s Wrestling as the league’s 24th sponsored sport. The ARC will be the second NCAA D3 conference to sponsor women’s wrestling. Schools participating in this upcoming season will be Simpson College, University of Dubuque, Wartburg College, Buena Vista University, Central College, and Loras College. Wartburg finished with the highest team score of these schools at the 2024 NCWWC Nationals at 20th with two All-Americans. The first ARC wrestling championship will be held at Buena Vista University in Iowa in January of 2025.

Wahlert

With a few months before the high school preseason, the top recruits from the Class of 2025 continue to fly off the board. Before this week, only five of the top-60 recruits in the nation were uncommitted. That number dropped to four as North Carolina snapped one of those prospects up and added to an already impressive recruiting class. Even though fans and us in the media have started paying attention to the Classes of 2025 and 2026, some schools are still looking to solidify their incoming freshmen classes. Two of them recently picked up notable commitments. Those are all listed below in our latest recruiting update. #54 Matthew Botello (Wyoming Seminary via Massachusetts) to North Carolina One of the highest remaining uncommitted recruits from the Class of 2025 is off the board as #54 Matthew Botello has committed to North Carolina. It shouldn’t be a surprise that North Carolina was in the running for Botello as Tar Heel head coach Rob Koll was at Cornell while returning Matthew’s older brother, Mark. Matthew is the youngest of three brothers who have wrestled at the DI level - Nic, at Army West Point, is the other. Matthew is coming off a National Prep title at 132 lbs in which he defeated future teammate Nik O’Neill (Malvern Prep, PA) in the finals, 5-4. O’Neill was tabbed the #45 overall recruit in the Class of 2024 and has signed with UNC. On the national stage, Botello has plenty of accolades. During the 2023-24 regular season, he was a runner-up at the Powerade and fourth at the Walsh Ironman - his third time making the top eight at the toughest regular season tournament in the nation. Prior to his junior year, Botello was sixth at both UWW U17 freestyle and Fargo’s Junior freestyle championships. With Botello’s commitment, North Carolina now has a staggering eight commits from rising juniors on the Class of 2025 Big Board. This is on the heels of a massive Class of 2024 that was ranked eighth in the nation and finished with nine top-250 signees. Botello could grow into a 149 lber at the next level. Between the 2024 Class and existing talent, North Carolina doesn’t have many holes or at least a top prospect or two in the pipeline at most weights. That goes for 141/149; however, UNC is obviously looking to move up the ladder in the ACC and nationally, and is stacking as much talent as possible. View North Carolina’s Class of 2025 #114 Brock Kehler (Morgantown, West Virginia) to West Virginia West Virginia isn’t known as a state that consistently pumps out top talent every year, so when there’s a fringe top-100 recruit right in their backyard, it’s important for WVU to lock them up. That was the case with Brock Kehler who wrestles for University High School in Morgantown. Kehler went unbeaten during the 2023-24 season to help lead University to their first state team title since 1956. Individually, Kehler has won state titles in each of his first three years of high school. After each high school season, Kehler has participated in the NHSCA grade-level competition. He was a national runner-up in 2022, at 195 lbs, a champion in 2023 at 220, and fifth-place this year at heavyweight. WVU’s probable starter at 285 lbs, two-time national qualifier Michael Wolfgram, is headed into his final year of eligibility in 2024-25. The Mountaineer staff has done a great job at lining up potential successors to Wolfgram as Rune Lawrence, #25 overall in the Class of 2024, is headed to Morgantown in the fall. Lawrence might start his career at 197 and eventually move up to 285 - as he was a 215 lber as a high school senior. Kehler will be a heavyweight. With Kehler’s commitment, WVU now has four commitments from the Class of 2025 and three from wrestlers on the Big Board. The Mountaineers checked in with a #17 class in 2024 and could be headed toward back-to-back ranked recruiting classes. View West Virginia’s Class of 2025 NR Brody Sampson (Ballard, Iowa) to Iowa There are still a few programs that are putting the finishing touches on their incoming freshmen classes and Iowa happens to be one of those teams. The Hawkeyes got a commitment this week from four-time state placewinner Brody Sampson of Ballard High School. Sampson finished the 2023-24 season third in the state at the 2A level. A year ago, he was a state finalist. He was fifth as a sophomore and eighth in his freshman year. Sampson projects at 197 lbs which is extremely useful for the Hawkeyes. Currently, 2024 Big Ten runner-up, Zach Glazier, is the only 197 on the roster. Glazier is headed into his final year of eligibility for the Hawkeyes. Iowa does have verbals from the Miller twins of Ohio (Jarrel and Ty); however, they are in the Class of 2025 and that would leave a year gap between Glazier’s departure and their arrival as true freshmen (the two project at 184/197 lbs). View Iowa’s Class of 2024 NR Bryce Phillips (Saint Frances, Maryland) to Morgan State This morning Morgan State announced a solid in-state signing as they’ve inked Bryce Phillips of Saint Frances in Baltimore. Though he did not compete in the 2023-24 postseason, Phillips was a three-time National Prep All-American for Annapolis’ Mount Saint Joseph. In 2023, Phillips was fourth at 215 lbs. During the high school regular season, Phillips placed twice at the Beast of the East, taking fifth in 2021 and third in 2022. As Kenny Monday is building the Morgan State program from scratch, they need all the talent they can get. Having someone like Phillips, who was nationally ranked at a time, is huge for the Bears. He likely projects between 197 and 285 lbs for Morgan State. 285 lbs should feature one of Morgan State’s best wrestlers, Northern Colorado transfer Xavier Doolin. His presence should give Phillips a good training partner and potentially allow him to redshirt. View Morgan State’s Class of 2024

St. Frances

June 28 PFL 6 2024 (ESPN+) Logan Storley (Minnesota) vs. Luca Poclit Brennan Ward (Johnson & Wales) vs. Magomed Umalatov Bubba Jenkins (Penn State/Arizona State) vs. Gabriel Braga Tyler Diamond (NDSU) vs. Brett Johns June 29 247 FC Brawl in the Burgh 21.5 (Internet Pay Per View) Lucas Seibert (West Virginia) vs. Nathaniel Grubham Brandon Washburn (Edinboro) vs. Rushaud Jordan-Maines Tyler Dibert (Clarion) vs. Carlos Bolyard Cameron Jenkins (Ashland) vs. Malcolm Harris June 29 247 FC Brawl in the Burgh 22 (Internet Pay Per View) Brogan Endres (Mount Union) vs. Niko Petrides Taylor Cahill (Bloomsburg/Clarion/Buffalo vs. Marcus Williamson Tom Kizer (West Virginia) vs. Dalton Jones Noah Kiszka (Fairmont State) vs. Gabe Eurit June 29 Ohio Combat League 30 (Internet Pay Per View) Vernell Hawkins (Mount St. Joseph) vs. Jade Batross Cornell Beacham (Mount St. Joseph) vs. Ethan Shirk June 29 UFC 303 (ESPN+/ESPN Pay Per View) Rei Tsuruya (Japanese Cadet world team) vs. Carlos Hernandez July 13 UFC on ESPN 59 (ESPN) Cody Brundage (Newberry College) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan Jasmine Jasudavicius (Canadian national placer) vs. Viviane Araujo Andre Petroski (Kutztown/North Carolina) vs. Josh Fremd July 20 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Cody Gibson (Menlo) vs. Brian Kelleher Thomas Petersen (Iowa Central/NDSU) vs. Mohammed Usman July 27 UFC 304 (ESPN+ Pay Per View) Curtis Blaydes (Northern Illinois/Harper College) vs. Tom Aspinall Muhammad Mokaev (English national champion) vs. Manel Kape August 3 UFC on ABC 7 (ABC/ESPN+) Tony Ferguson (Grand Valley State) vs. Michael Chiesa September 14 Bellator Champions Series 5 (MAX) Johnny Eblen (Missouri) vs. Fabian Edwards

University

Wyoming Seminary

Ballard

Yesterday, our sister site, MatScouts, released its latest set of high school rankings - the final before all of the madness starts in Fargo. This set of rankings includes results from 16U/Junior National Duals and any other events since NHSCA nationals. So, how did your favorite team’s recruits stack up? Since a large number of wrestlers from the Class of 2025 have already made their collegiate choices known, we’re able to look at these rankings from the lens of a college wrestling fan. 43 different schools already have at least one commitment from a wrestler mentioned in these national rankings. With that in mind, we’ve broken down the rankings by school. Initially, the objective was not to focus solely on the Class of 2025; however, there haven’t been any commitments (reported to InterMat, at least) from the Class of 2026 and beyond. Recruits have been sorted by their future school, then alphabetically - alongside their current high school, and their current ranking at their weight class. Air Force Rylan Kuhn: St. Pius X, Missouri - #10 at 285 lbs Bradley Patterson: Camden County, Georgia - #12 at 113 lbs American Caleb Close: Bald Eagle Area, Pennsylvania - #9 at 190 lbs Colin Martin: Staunton River, Virginia - #21 at 126 lbs Arizona State Harvey Ludington: Brick Memorial, New Jersey - #1 at 190 lbs Army West Point Joseph Antonio: St. John Bosco, California - #3 at 165 lbs Cadell Lee: Brooke Point, Virginia - #16 at 120 lbs Jayce Paridon: Lake Highland Prep, Florida - #15 at 138 lbs Ben Smith: NY Military, New York - #8 at 165 lbs Charles Weidman: Xavier, Connecticut - #12 at 215 lbs Brown Devon Magro: Bishop McCort, Pennsylvania - #9 at 165 lbs Preston Marchesseault: Ponaganset, Rhode Island - #20 at 190 lbs Max Norman: Kingsport, Tennessee - #25 at 165 lbs Bucknell Bryce Manera: Southern Regional, New Jersey - #19 at 138 lbs California Baptist Caio Aron: College Park, Texas - #22 at 126 lbs Adonis Bonar: Creighton Prep, Nebraska - #23 at 175 lbs Anthony Rinehart: Crown Point, Indiana - #24 at 175 lbs Campbell EJ Solis: South Dade, Florida - #9 at 138 lbs Central Michigan Gavin Craner: Whitehall, Michigan - #22 at 175 lbs Cornell Elijah Cortez: Gilroy, California - #9 at 132 lbs Isaiah Cortez: Gilroy, California - #4 at 126 lbs Adrian DeJesus: St. Joseph’s Regional, New Jersey - #2 at 132 lbs Rocco Dellagatta: St. John Vianney, New Jersey - #5 at 285 lbs Elijah Diakomihalis: Hilton, New York - #3 at 190 lbs Anthony Knox: St. John Vianney, New Jersey - #1 at 120 lbs Alessio Perentin: Delbarton, New Jersey - #2 at 165 lbs Sergio Vega: Sunnyside, Arizona - #1 at 138 lbs Indiana Jackson Blum: Lowell, Indiana - #10 at 132 lbs Matt Kowalski: Springboro, Ohio - #8 at 190 lbs Hunter Sturgill: Baylor School, Tennessee - #21 at 165 lbs Carson Thomas: LaSalle, Ohio - #5 at 190 lbs Iowa Leo DeLuca: Blair Academy, New Jersey - #2 at 120 lbs Jarrel Miller: St. Edward, Ohio - #6 at 190 lbs Tyrel Miller: St. Edward, Ohio - #10 at 175 lbs Iowa State Christian Castillo: Valiant Prep, Arizona - #5 at 120 lbs Jacob Helgeson: Johnston, Iowa - #18 at 175 lbs Carter Pearson: Southeast Polk, Missouri - #18 at 120 lbs Lehigh Anthony Evanitsky: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania - #14 at 150 lbs Vaughn Spencer: Pine-Richland, Pennsylvania - #12 at 175 lbs Chase Van Hoven: Brooke Point, Virginia - #8 at 150 lbs Little Rock Billy Greenwood: Poudre, Colorado - #13 at 150 lbs Jackson Tucker: Hillsboro, Missouri - #17 at 138 lbs Lock Haven Connor Wetzel: Shikellamy, Pennsylvania - #19 at 175 lbs Maryland Brokton Borelli: Los Banos, California - #7 at 190 lbs Michigan Gauge Botero: Faith Christian Academy, Pennsylvania - #14 at 120 lbs Jude Correa: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania - #1 at 215 lbs Cooper Hilton: Baylor School, Tennessee - #6 at 157 lbs Nicholas Sahakian: St. John Bosco, California - #1 at 285 lbs De’Alcapone Veazy: Ponderosa, Colorado - #4 at 190 lbs Minnesota Leo Contino: Buchanan, California - #7 at 157 lbs Landon Robideau: St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota - #4 at 150 lbs Missouri Dom Bambinelli: Mill Creek, Georgia - #6 at 175 lbs David Gleason: Staley, Missouri - #10 at 144 lbs Danny Heiser: Evansville, Wisconsin - #15 at 150 lbs Seth Mendoza: Mt. Carmel, Illinois - #2 at 126 lbs Kollin Rath: Bethlehem Catholic, Pennsylvania - #3 at 150 lbs Sampson Stillwell: St. Michae, Missouri - #2 at 285 lbs Peyton Westpfahl: Liberty, Missouri - #5 at 175 lbs Navy Caedyn Ricciardi: St. Peter’s Prep, New Jersey - #3 at 138 lbs NC State Will Denny: Marist, Illinois - #9 at 157 lbs Brogan Tucker: Graham, Ohio - #6 at 150 lbs Daniel Zepeda: Gilroy, California - #2 at 138 lbs Nebraska Tyler Eise: Ponderosa, Colorado - #3 at 175 lbs Cade Ziola: Skutt Catholic, Nebraska - #2 at 190 lbs North Carolina Nathaniel Askew: Baylor School, Tennessee - #7 at 144 lbs Matt Botello: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania - #5 at 132 lbs Israel Ibarra: Eloy, Arizona - #14 at 165 lbs Jacob Levy: Carrollton, Georgia - #7 at 285 lbs Devon Miller: Edmond North, Oklahoma - #25 at 120 lbs Beau Priest: Bakersfield, California - #11 at 157 lbs Luke Sipes: Altoona, Pennsylvania - #21 at 157 lbs Northern Iowa Kyler Knaack: Don Bosco, Iowa - #5 at 157 lbs Logan Paradice: Colquitt County, Georgia - #3 at 144 lbs Northwestern Billy Dekraker: Blair Academy, New Jersey - #3 at 132 lbs Ohio State Vince Bouzakis: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania - #2 at 157 lbs Maddox Shaw: Thomas Jefferson, Pennsylvania - #2 at 150 lbs Oklahoma Bryce Burkett: Watertown, Minnesota - #14 at 175 lbs Sebastian DeGennaro: Jensen Beach, Florida - #7 at 126 lbs Anthony Harris: St. Peter’s Prep, New Jersey - #4 at 215 lbs Jake Hockaday: Brownsburg, Indiana - #4 at 132 lbs Austin Johnson: Muncy, Pennsylvania - #5 at 215 lbs Oklahoma State Kruz Goff: Blackwell, Oklahoma - #9 at 215 lbs Ishmael Guerrero: Bixby, Oklahoma - #6 at 165 lbs Beau Hickman: Tuttle, Oklahoma - #11 at 150 lbs Ladarion Lockett: Stillwater, Oklahoma - #1 at 165 lbs Kody Routledge: Edmond North, Oklahoma - #3 at 157 lbs Oregon State Koy Davidson: Fort Dodge, Iowa - #12 lbs at 144 lbs Jeff Lopez: Clovis West, California - #19 at 126 lbs Adrien Reyes: Clovis, California - #9 at 175 lbs Penn Eren Sement: Council Rock North, Pennsylvania - #14 at 132 lbs Max Stein: Faith Christian Academy, Pennsylvania - #12 at 150 lbs Penn State Asher Cunningham: State College, Pennsylvania - #4 at 165 lbs Nathan Desmond: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania - #4 at 120 lbs PJ Duke: Minisink Valley, New York - #1 at 157 lbs Will Henckel: Blair Academy, New Jersey - #2 at 175 lbs Dalton Perry: Central Mountain, Pennsylvania - #10 at 138 lbs Pittsburgh Bode Marlow: Thomas Jefferson, Pennsylvania - #12 at 165 lbs Carson Walsh: Pope John XXIII, New Jersey - #12 at 132 lbs Princeton Gavin Hawk: Phillipsburg, New Jersey - #20 at 157 lbs Vincenzo Lavalle: Hanover Park, New Jersey - #15 at 190 lbs Purdue Brody Saccoccia: Steubenville, Ohio - #22 at 157 lbs Rutgers Jordan Chapman: Cranford, New Jersey - #7 at 175 lbs Tahir Parkins: Nazareth, Pennsylvania - #5 at 138 lbs South Dakota State Bas Diaz: Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa - #12 at 157 lbs Carson Dupill: Greeneville, Tennessee - #12 at 126 lbs Jacob Herm: Neenah, Wisconsin - #10 at 157 lbs Liam Neitzel: Hudson, Wisconsin - #20 at 126 lbs Stanford Adam Mattin: Delta, Ohio - #23 at 120 lbs Angelo Posada: Poway, California - #7 at 215 lbs Edwin Sierra: Poway, California - #20 at 120 lbs Virginia Macon Ayers: Staunton River, Virginia - #13 at 165 lbs Emmitt Sherlock: Gilman School, Maryland - #8 at 175 lbs Virginia Tech Ryan Burton: St. Joseph’s Regional, New Jersey - #1 at 175 lbs Collin Gaj: Quakertown, Pennsylvania - #4 at 157 lbs Drew Gorman: Buford, Georgia - #4 at 138 lbs Noah Nininger: Staunton River, Virginia - #9 at 150 lbs Aaron Seidel: Northern Lebanon, Pennsylvania - #3 at 126 lbs Claudio Torres: Lake Highland Prep, Florida - #5 at 165 lbs West Virginia Gunner Andrick: Point Pleasant, West Virginia - #16 at 138 lbs Casen Roark: Father Ryan, Tennessee - #15 at 132 lbs Wisconsin Caleb Dennee: Marshfield, Wisconsin - #11 at 175 lbs Wyoming Isaiah Harrison: Mountain View, Colorado - #4 at 113 lbs

News regarding wrestling at the service academies continues to roll in this week. Yesterday, Army West Point announced the hiring of Taylor LaMont as an assistant coach. This morning, InterMat posted an interview with Army associate head coach Scott Green. Not to be outdone by their chief rivals, on Tuesday, Navy added 2024 All-American Quinn Kinner to the Navy Wrestling Club. Today, Cary Kolat’s team announced that they've Ty Eustice to their staff as an assistant coach. Eustice comes to Annapolis after spending the previous three seasons as the head assistant coach at Davidson College. While at Davidson, Eustice and Nate Carr Jr. helped to elevate the profile of the tiny DI school and brought in higher caliber recruits than had been signed in recent memory. The 2024 class contains three top-250 recruits after having none in the previous two cycles. Before coming to Davidson, Eustice was an assistant at DII Minnesota State. While in Mankato, he was part of a program that finished in the top-ten twice at the NCAA Tournament. Eustice also spent two seasons as the head coach at Iowa Lakes CC and jumped into the coaching realm as an assistant at Iowa’s Cornell Cornell. Iowa is where Eustice spent his collegiate days - wrestling 149 lbs for the Hawkeyes. Eustice qualified for the NCAA tournament on four occasions and earned All-American honors as a junior (5th) and a senior (2nd). As a freshman, Eustice made the Big Ten finals. He would finish third in each of the next three seasons. Eustice is the second new member of Kolat’s coaching staff for the 2024-25 season. Earlier this offseason, the legendary Barry Davis returned and was hired to assist the Midshipmen. Navy returns three wrestlers with NCAA experience and is coming off a sixth-place finish in the EIWA. In dual competition, Navy went 8-6 and spent a few weeks in the national rankings after posting early-season wins over Illinois and Pittsburgh. Navy also was able to ink four top-200 recruits from the Class of 2024.

The top prospect in the high school Class of 2026, Bo Bassett, has vowed to keep fans abreast of his recruiting with daily Wednesday updates. Well, today is Wednesday and true to his word, Bassett has posted an updated graphic which has eliminated a handful of schools from consideration. Earlier this year, Bassett posted a graphic that contained the logos of approximately 80 schools, most of the DI variety, but some DII’s as well, to signify that he’s totally open in the recruiting process. The following schools were removed from this week’s graphic: Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Northern Illinois, Sacred Heart, SIU Edwardsville. The following schools remain on Bassett’s graphic and therefore in contention for his services: Air Force, American, Appalachian State, Arizona State, Army West Point, Brown, Bucknell, California Baptist, Cal Poly, Central Michigan, Campbell, Clarion, Cleveland State, Columbia, Cornell, CSU Bakersfield, Drexel, Edinboro, George Mason, Harvard, Hofstra, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kent State, Lehigh, Little Rock, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Millersville, Minnesota, Missouri, Navy, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Penn, Penn State, Pitt-Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Purdue, Rider, Rutgers, South Dakota State, Stanford, St. Cloud State, The Citadel, Virginia, Virginia Tech, UW Parkside, West Virginia, West Liberty, Wisconsin, Wyoming. As you would expect, most traditional DI power programs are still in the hunt for the two-time Super 32 and Ironman champion. Bassett is currently training for the U20 Pan-American Championships and the U20 World Championships. The U20 Pan-American tournament takes place July 11th-13th in Lima, Peru and the U20 World Championships are September 2nd-8th in Pontevedra, Spain. In 2021, Bassett captured gold medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the U17 Pan-American Championships. That same year, at the U17 World Championships, Bassett claimed a gold medal in freestyle and was 12th in Greco. He’ll compete this year just in freestyle.

Austin Sommer sits down with Army West Point associate head coach Scott Green to discuss the addition of Taylor LaMont to the Black Knight coaching staff - along with the general dynamics of their unique leadership. Army has had some recent success on the freestyle front, so Green talks about Charlie Farmer, Lucas Stoddard and others. They also discuss Ben Pasiuk getting onto the NCAA podium and much more during their entertaining chat.

America’s Team added another member to its coaching staff today as Army West Point announced the hiring of Taylor LaMont as the team’s new assistant coach. LaMont qualified for the NCAA Championships on five occasions - four with Utah Valley and once as a graduate transfer for Wisconsin. In 2021, after finishing second in the Big 12, LaMont made the NCAA podium with a fifth-place finish at the 125 lb weight class. LaMont and fellow UVU All-American Demetrius Romero became the first Wolverine teammates to earn All-American honors in the same season. As a freshman, LaMont was third in the Big 12 and a match away from All-American status. In addition to his collegiate success, LaMont has been a fixture on the Greco-Roman circuit making multiple world teams at the Cadet, Junior, and U23 levels. In 2016, LaMont captured a Junior World bronze medal. On three other occasions, he wrestled in bronze medal matches. Recently, at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials, Lamont took fourth place in the 60 kg Greco-Roman bracket. LaMont will work with an Army West Point lineup that features four returning NCAA qualifiers. He’ll likely work closely with the lightweights - two of whom qualified for nationals in 2024 (Ethan Berginc - 125 and Braden Basile - 133). In the EIWA, Army finished third in 2024 with 95.5 points and seven placewinners.

Air Force finished 21st at NCAA’s last season, their second-best finish since the 2003 season. Within that finish came three qualifiers in Wyatt Hendrickson, Giano Petrucelli, and Sam Wolf. Unfortunately, all three wrestlers were seniors, but the Falcons are bringing in their second consecutive top-25 recruiting class and a handful of returning starters. Lineup predictions are always laced with uncertainty but service academies have even more unique circumstances, so keep that in mind if there are any wrestlers I may have missed or overlooked. 125lbs: Tucker Owens (Junior) In one of the most tumultuous weight classes in recent history, I thought Owens was a wrestler who could take a jump after qualifying his freshman year. In 2023 he had wins over wrestlers like Tanner Jordan, Anthony Noto, and Ethan Berginc along with a solid 22-14 record. He didn’t qualify in 2024 with a record of 11-12, and all but two of his losses came to NCAA qualifiers. The Big 12 was one of the deepest conferences at 125lbs with eight qualifiers and half of those wrestlers making the bloodround. While the weight class doesn’t get easier next season, if Owens can build off a challenging season, then I expect him to get back to the tournament in 2025. 133lbs: Robert Wright (Soph.)/Gavin Caprella (Soph.) The Falcons used a rotation through most of the year at this weight, with Wright getting the start for the postseason. Both wrestlers had a record below 0.500 and traded wins over each other. Wright won by major at the David Lehman Open and competed in six of their last eight duals. Ideally one of these wrestlers is able to take a step forward this offseason and add some stability to this weight. 141lbs: Joe Fernau (Soph.)/Trason Oehme (Soph.) This is a difficult weight class to predict after the graduation of Garrett Kuchan, who had manned the spot for two years. Oehme is the only returning wrestler who competed at 141lbs where he went 1-2 against D1 competition. Kole Biscoe dropped to 133lbs last season but competed at 141lbs in 2023. I slotted in Fernau after he was the starter at 149 lbs last season, jumping two weight classes from 133 in 2023. He went 5-13 against D1 wrestlers, but scored a win at the Big 12 tournament. If Fernau could drop down, then it could potentially open up the 149 spot for incoming freshman Top 100 recruit Layton Schneider as well. 149lbs: Joe Fernau (Soph.)/Bryce Shelton (Junior)/Layton Schneider (Fresh.)/Anders Kittleson (Fresh.) Fernau was discussed earlier, and could certainly build off a year in the starting lineup. He could potentially dictate what the middleweights look for the Falcons, as there are a number of options at this weight. Shelton is a veteran who has competed at 141, 149, and even 157 in the past two years. While he doesn’t have any standout wins, he has experience over a potential true freshman. #88 overall recruit Schneider had national success with placing at Fargo and Ironman along with being a four-time State finalist from Oklahoma. He and Logan Fowler are both projected in this 149-165 range but Schneider could be a better fit as he won his last title at 144lbs. There is also #228 Anders Kittleson from Iowa who was a four-time State placer and also won a title at 144lbs. 157lbs: Brooks Gable (Senior)/Logan Fowler (Fresh.)/Gianni Maldonado (Fresh.) Gable was the starter last season but had a tough season and struggled to find success. There is potential for another wrestler to make a weight change to challenge for this starting spot, but it seems primed for a Big Boarder true freshman to step in with multiple options. #99 Logan Fowler was a three-time state champ in Tennessee and could be an instant impact wrestler at either 149 or 157. He won his last title at 165 but could be a good fit if he can cut down. There is also #146 overall Gianni Maldonado, a two-time Florida State champ who also placed at Ironman, and Doc Buchanan. 165lbs: Jack Ganos (Senior)/Andrew Harmon (Fresh.) While there are question marks at most of the middleweights, Ganos at 165 feels like a no-brainer. He was a starter in 2023 at 157lbs where he finished 9-11 before moving up to 165 in 2024 and went 3-5 behind ranked starter Gianno Petrucelli. He started the year at 174 and went 1-2 at the Navy Classic as well, so he could potentially try 174 again. There is also Harmon, a 2023 recruit who grayshirted with Air Force Prep last season. A two-time PA State placer, he went 11-3 against mostly D2 competition but had a solid 57% bonus rate with six falls. 174lbs: Drake Buchanan (Junior)/Josh Palacio (Fresh.) Another potential opportunity for a starter battle between a veteran and a younger wrestler, this weight is open after the graduation of Noah Blake. The #196 recruit in 2022, Buchanan dropped to 174 after a year at 184. Palacio was #107 in the class of 2023 but spent a year with Air Force Prep. He went 9-1 overall and could be ready for a starting spot with more experience. 184lbs: Josh Cordio (Soph.)/Gage Musser (Senior)/Talon McCollom (Fresh.) One of the biggest spots to fill is at this weight with the graduation of two-time qualifier Sam Wolf. The Falcons have options here with Cordio, Musser, and McCollom. Cordio was the #188 recruit in 2023 and went 1-1 at this weight in duals last season. Musser has experience at 174 and 184 and competed at both weights last season. McCollom is an incoming freshman ranked #213 on the Big Board. He was a two-time Oklahoma State champ but seems like a prime recruit to potentially spend a year at the Prep Academy. 197lbs: Jackson Dewald (Fresh.)/Brian Burburjia (Fresh.)/Karson Tompkins (Fresh.) It seems likely for there to be a younger wrestler at this spot with three Big Boarders between the 2023 and 2024 classes. Tompkins is the highest-ranked recruit for Air Force at #20, the first-ever top-20 recruit for Air Force (Wyatt Hendrickson was #40). He was a multiple-time placer at Fargo, was fourth at Super 32, and a three-time Texas State champ. He is a clear, instant-impact wrestler who could start for the Falcons. If Tompkins doesn’t become the immediate starter there are two 2023 Big Boarders in #104 Dewald and #127 Burburjia. Dewald didn’t wrestle at all last season while Burburjia went 3-1 at 197 while with the Air Force Prep. Regardless of who starts at this weight, it looks like there is potential for a ranked starter here. 285lbs: Antonio Ramos (Soph.) Undoubtedly the biggest loss from last season is Wyatt Hendrickson, who exhausted all his eligibility at the service academy but was granted an opportunity for one more year at another institution due to his COVID year. They have some talent in waiting however with Ramos, who Hendrickson clearly rubbed off on as the freshman had seven pins last season. Ramos had mixed results against D1 competition but has shown development potential and just finished second in Greco at Pan Ams for Puerto Rico. Previous “Never Too Early Lineup Looks:” Indiana Lock Haven North Carolina Oregon State

2024 Pan-American U23 Championships Men’s Freestyle 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Charlie Farmer over Treye Trotman (Canada) 7-7 Semifinals: Charlie Farmer over Edrick Martinez Mateo (Puerto Rico) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Charlie Farmer over Esteban Morales Mayancha (Ecuador) 12-2 61 kg Gold Medal Match: Kurt Phipps over Will Betancourt (Puerto Rico) 7-0 Semifinals: Kurt Phipps over Juan Lavat Cortez (Mexico) 5:04 Quarterfinals: Kurt Phipps over Kevin Carrasco Arteaga (Panama) FFT 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Wyatt Henson over Victor Parra Roman (Venezuela) 9-8 Semifinals: Wyatt Henson over Tyler Knox (Puerto Rico) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Wyatt Henson over Shannon Hanna (Barbados) 4-2 70 kg Gold Medal Match: Daniel Cardenas over Eligh Rivera (Puerto Rico) 10-0 Semifinals: Daniel Cardenas over Jhon Zambrano Encalada (Ecuador) Fall :18 Quarterfinals: Daniel Cardenas over Gregor McNeil (Canada) 13-2 74 kg Gold Medal Match: Hunter Garvin over Cesar Alvan (Brazil) 5-0 Semifinals: Hunter Garvin over Lautaro Seghesso (Argentina) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Hunter Garvin over Manuel Brown (Panama) 10-0 79 kg Gold Medal Match: Clayton Whiting over Owen Martin (Canada) 13-2 Semifinals: Clayton Whiting over Michael Albornoz Gonzalez (Colombia) 11-0 Round 3: Clayton Whiting over Erick Martinez Mateo (Puerto Rico) 11-0 Round 2: Clayton Whiting over Oscar Diaz Gutierrez (Venezuela) 10-0 86 kg Gold Medal Match: Steven Rodriguez Torreys (Venezuela) over John Gunderson 5-3 Semifinals: John Gunderson over Kweli Hernandez Maitre (Puerto Rico) 10-0 Quarterfinals: John Gunderson over Eduardo Vega Garcia (Panama) 10-0 92 kg Gold Medal Match: Levi Hopkins over Marlon Londono (Colombia) 11-1 Semifinals: Levi Hopkins over Erwin Vargas Martinez (Mexico) 11-0 Quarterfinals: Levi Hopkins over Ricardo Gomez (Argentina) 10-0 97 kg Gold Medal Match: Massoma Endene over Callum Knox (Canada) Fall 1:26 Semifinals: Massoma Endene over Juan Diaz Blanco (Venezuela) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Massoma Endene over Gabriel Garibaldi (Argentina) 10-0 125 kg Gold Medal Match: Lucas Stoddard over Jorawar Dhinsa (Canada) 2-1 Semifinals: Lucas Stoddard over Jonovan Smith (Puerto Rico) Fall 5:33 Round 3: Jorawar Dhinsa (Canada) over Lucas Stoddard 12-5 Round 2: Lucas Stoddard over Diego Nole Azabache (Peru) 10-0 Round 1: Lucas Stoddard over Luis Talavera Luna (Venezuela) Fall 1:41 Women’s Freestyle 50 kg Bronze Medal Match: Heather Crull over Vicky Leon Gomez (Ecuador) Fall 1:18 Semifinal: Maia Cabrera (Argentina) over Heather Crull 7-0 Round 3: Mariana Rojas Diaz (Venezuela) over Heather Crull 11-5 Round 1: Heather Crull over Linda Castaneda Gaona (Italy) Fall 4:15 53 kg Bronze Medal Match: Elena Ivaldi over Alexa Alvarez Valenzuela (Venezuela) 13-2 Semifinal: Nathaly Herrera Huacre (Peru) over Elena Ivaldi 4-4 Round 3: Elena Ivaldi over Alexa Alvarez Valenzuela (Venezuela) 12-2 Round 2: Elena Ivaldi over Yusneiry Agrazal West (Panama) Fall 3:43 Round 1: Serene DiBenedetto (Canada) over Elena Ivaldi 17-10 55 kg Round 5: Montana Delawder over Victoria Seal (Canada) 10-0 Round 4: Montana Delawder over Nohalis Loyo Jimenez (Venezuela) 10-0 Round 3: Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra (Mexico) over Montana Delawder 8-4 Round 1: Montana Delawder over Ana Alvarez Fernandez (Peru) Fall :30 57 kg Bronze Medal Match: Camila Amarilla (Argentina) over Sofia Macaluso Fall 5:46 Semifinals: Mia Friesen (Canada) over Sofia Macaluso 6-5 Quarterfinals: Sofia Macaluso over Yspmed Caguado Irausquin (Venezuela) Fall 3:17 59 kg Gold Medal Match: Skye Realin over Alexa Cuero Cuadrado (Colombia) Fall 3:16 Semifinals: Skye Realin over Jacqueline Hernandez Gonzalez (El Salvador) Fall :41 Quarterfinals: Skye Realin over Marina Fuentes Salinas (Venezuela) 14-3 62 kg Gold Medal Match: Astrid Montero Chirinos (Venezuela) over Adaugo Nwachukwu 5-0 Semifinals: Adaugo Nwachukwu over Jolie Brisco (Canada) Fall 1:48 Round 3: Adaugo Nwachukwu over Eliana Fuentes Palacios (Colombia) 11-0 Round 2: Adaugo Nwachukwu over Ameyalli Jessel Rojas (Mexico) 7-0 Round 1: Astrid Montero Chirinos (Venezuela) over Adaugo Nwachukwu 6-1 65 kg Round 5: Aine Drury over Jonelle Clarke (Canada) Fall 1:45 Round 4: Aine Drury over Andrea Lopez Martinez (Mexico) Fall :17 Round 2: Aine Drury over Jaeell Llontop Vasquez (Chile) 10-0 Round 1: Aine Drury over Anays Meza Valencia (Colombia) 2-1 68 kg Gold Medal Match: Nicoll Parrado Osorio (Colombia) over Brooklyn Hays 4-3 Semifinal: Brooklyn Hays over Aleah Nickel (Canada) Fall 4:32 Round 2: Brooklyn Hays over Nicoll Parrado Osorio (Colombia) 11-8 Round 1: Brooklyn Hays over Gleymaris Beria Diaz (Venezuela) 10-0 72 kg Round 3: Jasmine Robinson over Maria Ceballos Cuenu (Colombia) 10-0 Round 1: Jasmine Robinson over Melanie Sanchez Morales (Chile) Fall :40 76 kg Gold Medal Match: Tristan Kelly over Linda Machuca (Argentina) Fall 4:23 Semifinals: Tristan Kelly over Neirili Banguero Martinez (Venezuela) 11-0 Quarterfinals: Tristan Kelly over Aomi Riques Morales (Peru) 12-0 Greco-Roman 55 kg Bronze Medal Match: Billy Sullivan over Esteban Morales Mayancha (Ecuador) 8-0 Semifinals: Abel Sanchez Juarez (Peru) over Billy Sullivan 8-0 Round 2: Billy Sullivan over Jose Perez Estrada (Mexico) 9-0 Round 1: Billy Sullivan over Cristopher Verastegui Aguilar (Colombia) 7-5 60 kg Bronze Medal Match: Yonaiker Martinez Cravo (Venezuela) over Joe Couch 9-0 Semifinals: Ronaldo Sanchez Ramirez (Colombia) over Joe Couch 8-1 Quarterfinals: Joe Couch over Abel Hidalgo Berrios (Panama) Fall :34 63 kg Round 3: Hector Sanchez Zapata (Mexico) over Jonathan Gurule 9-0 Round 1: Jeremy Peralta Gonzalez (Ecuador) over Jonathan Gurule 11-0 67 kg Gold Medal Match: Hunter Lewis over Marco Fernandez Cubas (Peru) 8-0 Semifinals: Hunter Lewis over Alonso Parra Garcia (Colombia) Fall 2:01 Quarterfinals: Hunter Lewis over Luis Medina Reyes (Venezuela) Fall 2:21 72 kg Gold Medal Match: Justus Scott over Nilson Sinisterra Angulo (Colombia) 9-0 Semifinals: Justus Scott over Oscar Barrios Rochez (Argentina) Fall 4:47 Quarterfinals: Justus Scott over Julio Tovar Guzamana (Venezuela) 10-2 77 kg Gold Medal Match: Brendon Abdon over Ryan Cubas Castillo (Peru) 10-1 Semifinals: Brendon Abdon over Darfel Parada Camacaro (Venezuela) 4-1 Round 3: Brendon Abdon over Raul Unzueta Torres (Mexico) Fall 1:28 Round 2: Brendon Abdon over Lautaro Seghesso (Argentina) Fall :38 82 kg Round 5: Beka Melelashvili over Jose Sanchez (Puerto Rico) 10-0 Round 4: Beka Melelashvili over Diego Macias Torres (Mexico) 8-0 Round 3: Daniel Bello Vega (Venezuela) over Beka Melelashvili 5-4 Round 1: Beka Melelashvili over Yulian Preciado Obregon (Colombia) 13-4 87 kg Round 5: Tyson Beauperthuy over Brandon Calle Perez (Colombia) Fall 1:47 Round 4: Tyson Beauperthuy over Eduardo Vega Garcia (Panama) 8-0 Round 3: Brian Ruiz Marin (Venezuela) over Tyson Beauperthuy 9-0 Round 1: Carlos Salazar Gomez (Mexico) over Tyson Beauperthuy 5-1 97 kg Round 3: Michael Altomer over Ricardo Gomez (Argentina) Fall :51 Round 2: Michael Altomer over Max Madrid DeLeon (Panama) Fall :56 Round 1: Juan Diaz Blanco (Venezuela) over Michael Altomer 7-1 130 kg Gold Medal Match: Keith Miley over Antonio Ramos (Puerto Rico) 10-0 Semifinals: Keith Miley over Kevin Morales Potosi (Colombia) Fall :40 Round 3: Keith Miley over Juan Cantillo Torres (Panama) FFT Round 1: Keith Miley over Luis Talaverra Luna (Venezuela) Fall 3:49

In our new series, “The Never Too Early Lineup Look,” we’ll preview a potential lineup for a particular school. Since we’re a few months away from even the preseason, there will likely be plenty of moving parts at most schools. And that’s okay. Fans enjoy debating how their favorite teams (or rivals) could look in the upcoming season. Today, we’re moving down south to the ACC and the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Tar Heels were recently mentioned in InterMat’s recruiting rankings as signing the eighth-best recruiting class in the country. During Rob Koll’s first full recruiting class, he was able to ink eight top-250 prospects and six of the top-100. The Tar Heel staff must have been very in tune with every twist and turn in the recruiting process as five of those prospects flipped commitments to UNC. Not only did the North Carolina staff work hard on the recruiting trail, but they also paid close attention to the transfer portal. They’ve added a pair of wrestlers with multiple NCAA Tournaments under their respective belts, along with a potential starter at heavyweight. Without those transfers, Koll’s staff could have a lineup with a few holes or be forced to start true freshmen - maybe before they’re ready. Now, they’ll likely start the year in the top-25 and probably rise from there. This is a UNC team that features a pair of All-Americans along with three others with past NCAA experience. Add to that, the Tar Heels had a couple of young starters that turned in quality performances in 2023-24, yet came up just shy of NCAA qualification. We always talk about the ACC continuing to get tougher and in 2024-25 that will certainly be the case as Stanford joins the mix to give the conference seven wrestling programs. That regular competition should only help North Carolina in the long run as they hunt for conference titles and NCAA success. This is a team that went 11-7 in dual meet competition but missed out on a top-20 finish at NCAA’s for the first time since 2017. With the mix of experience and young talent, it’s safe to expect a similar (or better) dual record and the Tar Heels to be in the mix for another top-20 showing at nationals. 125 - Spencer Moore/Cam Stinson In a lineup filled with plenty of changes, one wrestler that is expected to return to their previous spot in the lineup is 125 lber Spencer Moore. Moore started for UNC as a 17-year-old true freshman in 2021-22 and then took a redshirt. He re-emerged last year and stunned returning All-American Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) during the opening week of the 2023-24 season. Moore took an undefeated record into the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational - where he finished 2-2 in a very deep weight class. Moore finished the season with a 15-5 record, but missed out on making his first NCAA Tournament. A loss to Colton Camacho in the quarterfinals at the ACC Championships may have been responsible for him getting overlooked in the at-large process. Moore did end up defeating Camacho for third place. With a second year of starting under his belt and another offseason worth of training, Moore should be able to work himself in the national tournament. Also in the mix as a potential starter is true freshman Cam Stinson. As a high school senior, Stinson became just the third North Carolina wrestler to go undefeated while winning four state championships. On the national level, Stinson placed fifth in Fargo at the 16U freestyle tournament in 2022 - which was a few months after he won NHSCA Sophomore Nationals. The relatively new rules for true freshmen should benefit North Carolina here. They’ll have the opportunity to give Stinson a few events in the early going and see if he’s ready to become the full-time starter. If not, they have a very capable one already in Moore. 133 - Ethan Oakley During the early frenzy in the transfer portal this offseason, Ethan Oakley announced that he was going to stay in-state and move from Appalachian State to UNC. Oakley is a two-time NCAA qualifier who claimed a SoCon title last year in the conference’s deepest weight class. For his trouble, Oakley was granted the #21 seed at the 2024 NCAA Tournament and he responded with a pair of impressive wins. In the opening round, Oakley pulled an upset on #12 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech). In the consolations, he dropped two-time MAC champion Gable Strickland (Lock Haven). Oakley was a bit of a surprise starter in 2022-23 filling in for an injured Sean Carter and parlaying that opportunity into his first nationals berth. Last year, he was the unquestioned starter and put together a consistent full season. He was eighth at the CKLV Invitational with wins over a pair of returning national qualifiers. After Vegas, Oakley won 13 of his final 14 matches leading into Kansas City. With a deeper room in UNC and a weight class that has cleared out a bit at the top, Oakley could take the next step and contend for a spot on the podium in 2025. 141 - Jayden Scott/Luke Simcox With two-time All-American Lachlan McNeil slated to move up to 149, the returning starter at that weight, Jayden Scott, is looking to move to 141 lbs. Scott started for the Tar Heels as a true freshman and had a respectable 18-13 record. During the Appalachian State dual, Scott posted a win over SoCon champion Cody Bond - which likely represented his most significant win of the season. Scott appeared to be on the borderline for NCAA qualification, but lost to Pittsburgh’s Finn Solomon in the third-place bout at the ACC Championships. A regular season win over the Pitt grappler gave Scott the third seed at ACC’s, but Solomon ended up getting selected as an at-large. We’ll see how the move in weight benefits Scott. Even during his redshirt season, he was up at 149 lbs - though the presence of McNeil could be the reason for that decision. If the move to 141 doesn’t work out as anticipated, the UNC staff could turn to true freshman Luke Simcox. At #36, Simcox was the team’s highest-ranked recruit from the Class of 2024. Simcox is a two-time Pennsylvania AAA state champion and a four-time placewinner. He was a two-time Super 32 All-American and a Junior freestyle All-American in Fargo, prior to his junior year. 149 - Lachlan McNeil After two seasons making the national podium at 141 lbs, Lachlan McNeil is slated to move up to 149 lbs. McNeil has been extremely active on the freestyle circuit, in addition to his collegiate success, and tried to make the Olympics representing Canada at 65 kg. Early in the 2023-24 season, McNeil finished third in a loaded CKLV weight class that featured a handful of returning and eventual All-Americans. Later in the month, McNeil took runner-up honors at the Soldier Salute - losing only to returning national runner-up Real Woods (Iowa). Because of the depth of the ACC at 141 lbs, McNeil headed into the postseason losing three of his final four matches and took third in the conference for a second consecutive year. None of that matters at nationals though, as advanced to the semifinals after getting revenge on Woods with a 7-1 victory in the quarters. After losing in the semifinals, McNeil medically forfeited down to sixth place. Despite moving up, McNeil still could be part of a meatgrinder of an ACC weight class. 149 lbs has the reigning national champion (Caleb Henson - Virginia Tech), a past All-American (Jaden Abas - Stanford), and a two-time bloodround finisher (Jackson Arrington - NC State). Of course, redshirts or weight changes could be in the mix for Henson/Arrington. 157 - Sonny Santiago/Laird Root One of the best developments of the 2023-24 season was the emergence of Sonny Santiago into a national player for UNC. Like McNeil, Santiago was a top-50 recruit from the Class of 2020; however, he went 8-12 during his only year as the full-time/postseason starter (2021-22). In early February, Santiago forced the nation to take notice when he knocked off returning All-American Ed Scott (NC State) during their dual. Santiago won his remaining duals after the Scott upset and earned the second seed at ACC’s. There he made the finals, but was defeated by Scott. At his first national tournament, Santiago was eliminated after two close losses. In addition Santiago, another California native could be in the mix at 157 lbs, true freshman Laird Root. Root was a two-time California state finalist, whose senior state weight class may have been one of the best in the nation. Last summer, Root was seventh in both styles in Fargo at the Junior age group. The previous year, he was sixth at the UWW U17 World Team Trials. He should be capable in the early going, if needed. 165 - Nick Fea North Carolina’s projected starter at 165 lbs is not a new face, but at the same time, it’s one that Tar Heel fans haven’t seen too often during his first two years in Chapel Hill. Nick Fea redshirted during the 2022-23 season and went 4-5 overall. Fea saw action in a pair of duals before getting the call at the Collegiate Duals. Against his greatest competition, (Carson Kharchla - Ohio State, Alex Facundo - Penn State, Julian Ramirez - Cornell), Fea lost but looked respectable in the process. Unfortunately, he was not able to build on that as an injury sidelined him for the entire 2023-24 campaign. Coming out of high school, Fea was just outside of the top-100 in the Class of 2022, so he’s always been thought highly of. UNC had trouble at this weight in 2023-24, so if Fea can come in and bring some stability, this has the potential to be a lineup without holes. 174 - Josh Ogunsanya Another new face in the lineup is graduate transfer Josh Ogunsanya. A two-time national qualifier for Columbia, Ogunsanya probably doesn’t even need to change his wardrobe as he’ll be part of a similar color scheme in Chapel Hill. Ogunsanya only saw action in the season-opening Clarion Open last year before suffering an injury and being lost for the year. In the past, Ogunsanya has placed second and third at the EIWA Championships earning a pair of top-16 seeds at the NCAA Championships. During both of his previous trips to nationals, Ogunsanya went 1-2. Ogunsanya is also a two-time CKLV placer - taking fifth and seventh. While at Columbia, Ogunsanya had only competed at 165 lbs. Now he’s penciled in at 174 lbs for the Tar Heels. With an older guy, coming off a serious injury, it’s probably a good idea to eliminate cutting weight from the equation. 184 - Gavin Kane/Jake Dailey The second All-American in North Carolina’s lineup is Gavin Kane. Kane was eighth at this weight class in 2023. Kane is heading into his final year of eligibility with the Tar Heels. The 2023-24 season saw Kane go 20-11; however, it may have been the toughest of his collegiate career. In each of his first two years with UNC, Kane made the ACC finals and earned a top-15 seed at nationals. Last season, Kane was fourth in the ACC and settled for the 22nd seed in Kansas City. Even so, Kane did post two wins over wrestlers that eventually earned a spot on the NCAA podium (TJ Stewart - Virginia Tech and David Key - Navy). Also expected to get mat time is true freshman Jake Dailey. In addition to a National Prep title, Dailey also made the finals of the Walsh Ironman and Powerade Invitational as a senior. That was after putting on about 40 pounds in the offseason. While Dailey could get some valuable experience, expect to see Kane unless there’s a serious injury concern. 197 - Cade Lautt/Robert Platt Earlier this month, three-time NCAA qualifier Max Shaw publicly confirmed that he would not use his final year of eligibility in 2024-25. With Shaw out of the equation, UNC seems to have a bit of a hole at 197 lbs. That may not be the case as last year’s heavyweight, Cade Lautt, is slated to move back down to 197, the weight he competed at during his first three years in Chapel Hill. Lautt battled to an 11-12 record last year at 285 lbs and ended up going 0-2 at the ACC Championships. During his first three years, at 197 lbs, Lautt saw action in four duals and was 13-10 combined. Lautt was another member of that excellent Class of 2020 that produced McNeil, Kane, and Santiago. If Lautt is unable to go 197 or is ineffective, true freshman Robert Platt could be used. Platt is a two-time California state champion who made the finals of the Doc Buchanan last season. He was dubbed the #159 overall recruit in the Class of 2024. 285 - Aydin Guttridge/Nolan Neves After a promising 2022-23 campaign, Aydin Guttridge appeared to be a possible breakout candidate last season. Unfortunately, he was injured in his first bout of the year and was immediately lost. During the 2022-23 season, Guttridge saw action in four duals and captured wins on half of those occasions. At the Midlands, he defeated Cleveland State’s Daniel Bucknavich who made the MAC finals and qualified for nationals in 2024. Pushing Guttridge will be Columbia transfer Nolan Neves. Neves is also coming off a shortened 2023-24 campaign. Neves went 3-2 at the CKLV Invitational and notched a win over eventual national qualifier Seth Nevills (Maryland), but did not appear again for the Lions. In his first year with Columbia, Neves went 10-4 while competing unattached. I’d expect whoever emerges from this tandem to push for NCAA qualification status in 2024-25. Previous “Never Too Early Lineup Looks:” Indiana Lock Haven Oregon State

June 21 PFL 5 2024 (ESPN+) Josh Silveira (Arizona State) vs. Rob Wilkinson Alex Polizzi (Northwestern) vs. Antonio Carlos Junior Andrew Sanchez (McKendree) vs. Karl Albrektsson June 22 UFC on ABC 6 (ABC/ESPN+) Robert Whittaker (Australian national champion) vs. Ikram Aliskerov Kelvin Gastelum (North Idaho) vs. Daniel Rodriguez June 22 Bellator Champions Series 3 (MAX) Tyler Mathison (St. Cloud State) vs. Khasan Magomedsharipov Shinobu Ota (Olympic silver in Greco) vs. Roger Blanque June 28 PFL 6 2024 (ESPN+) Logan Storley (Minnesota) vs. Laureano Staropoli Brennan Ward (Johnson & Wales) vs. Magomed Umalatov Bubba Jenkins (Penn State/Arizona State) vs. Gabriel Braga Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) vs. Isaiah Hokit (Drexel/Fresno State) Tyler Diamond (NDSU) vs. Jose Perez July 13 UFC on ESPN 59 (ESPN) Cody Brundage (Newberry College) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan July 27 UFC 304 (ESPN+ Pay Per View) Curtis Blaydes (Northern Illinois/Harper College) vs. Tom Aspinall Muhammad Mokaev (English national champion) vs. Manel Kape August 3 UFC on ABC 7 (ABC/ESPN+) Tony Ferguson (Grand Valley State) vs. Michael Chiesa September 14 Bellator Champions Series 5 (MAX) Johnny Eblen (Missouri) vs. Fabian Edwards

Welcome all to the start of the summer mailbag season. This is where we put in the work that pays off in the winter season and maybe wins us an award or at least gives me a chance to nominate myself for something. My man Burger King of Kings got me out of a tight spot last week when the questions were light and he just had an anniversary so we shall lead off with his wackiness today. As "Iowa's No. 1 Official Hater ", I'm having a hard time cheering for Spencer. He seems genuinely nice & I was sick when he lost going for 4...but how do I get more excited for him? You get to see one of the most talented wrestlers in American history attempt to reach the pinnacle of the sport. And that goes for all the wrestlers in this golden age and that goes for men and women. Most of us have never seen Dan Gable compete. Many are too young to have seen John Smith during his run. Half the youth population is named Cael, but they've never actually seen him wrestle. We are now privileged to see greatness everywhere at all weights. 20 years from now when this group are the living legends of the sport, do you really want to say you weren’t rooting for them in Paris? I see you’re a blue-collar guy. Which trade? I’m an insulator in Local 12 NYC. What trade has the most ex-wrestlers? When can we get Jagger U? A trade school with a wrestling team. Not sure why we don’t see any of those. I’ll hang up and listen. Coach Sganga I’m blue collar but I’d rather not be at this point in my life. It was fun when I was in my 20’s but sitting here in the AC and writing this stuff seems a lot more enjoyable at this stage in life. Another day of drilling holes in stone while it hits triple digits out there has me really rethinking my life choices. And you’re right. We need more wrestlers in trades. Not to sound too cliche, but wrestlers do know how to put the work in, but I can’t blame them for deciding to try and be a YouTube star instead. One day we will all be watching our favorite influencers do dumb stuff on the internet while our pipes are bursting and our roofs are leaking but who cares. It’s all about that brand. Editor's Note: If any high school wrestlers are interested in a trade school with a wrestling team, check out the Apprentice School in Newport News, Virginia Christian Carroll to Iowa State: Boom or Doom? Celtic Rhino Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Let me tell you something, my first year of following the college scene was the year Iowa State hired Kevin Dresser and watching this team grow through the years into a powerhouse has been one of my favorite things to see. KD was also the first coach to follow me after I made some joke about him years ago, so the Cyclones will always have a special place in my heart. He just makes things more entertaining and he’s one heck of a coach. Who does Pritzlaff bring in as assistants at Columbia? Are the rumors true that you were offered a position? Austin Sommer I was offered the head gig, but declined because I’m committed to bringing you this mailbag every week. I’m not sure we see any staff changes yet. This wasn’t a cleaning house situation and Coach Pritzlaff may rely on the familiarity of the staff on hand. But here's a fun fact: between 1995 and 2006, New Jersey had at least one state champion who is now an Ivy League coach except for the years of ‘98 and ‘99. Now, if we can start a program at Yale and lure Damion Hahn, that problem would be solved. I had to pivot on shirts that I create and sell to raise money for various charities. What are your thoughts on a shirt featuring this pic with the caption “Matt Returns”? Kevin McGuigan I must have it. If it weren’t for Valenti, my brother might have made it out of the old super region and qualified for states way back in 2001, but I hold no grudges. A Jersey Italian cheering for the Mets and coaching in Philly. That’s what we call having grit. Should Baby Gronk try out for wrestling? Will it be “good for the sport?” Clips Would be great for the sport. I say it all the time. What this sport needs is a ten-year-old kid with a crazy dad just rizzing and grizzing and fizzing all over the place. But seriously, soon enough some dad will call his kind Baby Yianni and say he’s the best preschool wrestler in the world. The White Sox have a (slim) chance to break the '62 Mets record for losses in a season... Do you want to see the record fall? Salty Walkon I don’t, but not because it’s a Mets record for futility. For those unaware, the 1962 New York Metropolitans christened their inaugural season with a record of 40-120-1. Yes, there were ties and I don’t know why. But that team wasn’t expected to be good as they were an expansion team made up of washed up former stars and castoffs from the rest of the league. Deemed the lovable losers, they actually took pride in being that team and laughed along with it. Winning a World Series seven years later certainly made it easier to laugh at. But this White Sox team isn't that and we live in a different era. There’s nothing lovable about a professional franchise in big-money sports possibly being the worst team of all time. People will lose jobs over it. Players will face a ton more scrutiny than the ‘62 Mets did now that we’re all constantly frothing at the mouth to destroy someone on social media. And you’re right, there’s a slim chance it happens and let’s hope it doesn’t. The ‘62 Mets were always fine with being that team and those who are still with us are still fine with it. The ‘24 White Sox just doesn’t have the same charm to it when you want to discuss the worst franchises that ever existed. Would be nice if we could get at least one tie game again.

A week ago, InterMat’s Class of 2024 recruiting rankings were released. They say the only things in life that are guaranteed are “death and taxes.” Right up there could be Ohio State in the top ten in recruiting rankings. Tom Ryan’s team is the only one in the country that has cracked the top-ten in InterMat recruiting rankings for each of the last four years. The Buckeyes are one of only seven teams to make the top-25 during all four of those years measured, as well. The 2024 Ohio State recruiting class came in at #5 which is the same ranking they held during the 2023 season. In 2022, the Buckeye had an incredible class that was ranked top in the nation. Their lowest ranking during this span came in 2021 when they were ranked ninth. Extrapolating the data even further, if you used MatScouts rankings prior to the InterMat sale (2021), you have to look back to 2009 to find an Ohio State class that was ranked outside of the top ten. Of course, 2009 is the year before current Ohio State assistant coach Logan Stieber was a high school senior and another assistant, J Jaggers won the second of his two NCAA titles. In addition to Ryan, Stieber, Jaggers, and assistant coach Bo Jordan, Ohio State is also helped by the presence of recruiting coordinator Anthony Ralph. Ralph was an assistant coach at Ohio State from 2016-18 and then was moved into his current position to focus solely on recruiting. The first full year that Ralph was in his current role the Buckeyes inked the top-ranked recruiting class in the land. He would add a second #1 class three years later in 2022. During Ralph’s time as the recruiting coordinator, only Oklahoma State and Penn State have been able to sign #1 overall classes. Looking at recruiting on an individual basis, Ohio State has managed to sign top-five recruits in each of the last four classes. In total, six top-five recruits have signed with the Buckeyes during that span. The fact that Ohio State typically identifies and locks down a few top-flight recruits per year, rather than large classes with ten top-100 recruits, helps maintain consistency with recruiting and recruiting rankings. Financially, it’s difficult to continue to stack multiple classes with nine and ten ranked recruits on top of each other (Of course, with changes to college athletics on the horizon and potential scholarship opportunities rising for power five schools, maybe this will be a thing of the past). Earlier we mentioned that Ohio State is one of only seven teams to make InterMat’s top-25. Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, NC State, Nebraska, and Virginia Tech are the other teams who have appeared in the recruiting rankings in all four years. The big elephant in the room regarding that list is Penn State. They missed out on a spot in the recruiting rankings in 2022 (MatScouts had them at 22). In those other three years, Penn State has signed two #1 overall classes and a #3 - so they are doing everything right on the recruiting front. We could do an entire study about all of the positives regarding recruiting from the Nittany Lion staff. Other notables that are not in this group include Cornell, Michigan, and Missouri. Cornell also missed the rankings in 2022, but has two top-five classes in four years. They tend to have a big year followed by a smaller class. Missouri is similar. Michigan actually missed the top-25 twice in the last four years - hence the need for some transfers. Taking a glance ahead to the Class of 2025, Ohio State has commitments from the #8 (Vince Bouzakis) and #15 (Maddox Shaw) overall recruits. That fits in with their pattern of smaller, but star-studded recruiting classes and potentially puts them in line to have, yet another, top-ten class. This current run of recruiting could put Ohio State back into the realm of a consistent team title challenger status they held from 2015-19 when they were in the top-three every year with a team title and three runner-up finishes.

On Tuesday, the long-time well-respected assistant/associate head coach Donny Pritzlaff was named head coach at Columbia University. It marked the first time that Pritzlaff had been given the opportunity to assume a head coaching role - a chance that many had hoped he’d get for over a decade. Pritzlaff’s name typically got mentioned in conversations revolving around top assistant coaches who could/should get a chance at a head coaching vacancy. Now that Pritizlaff has accepted the Columbia job, the question is what is he walking into? What can he expect in the immediate future from Columbia? Alumni/Boosters Something working to his benefit is that the Columbia alumni and those with a vested interest in the program were very instrumental and supportive of Pritzlaff’s candidacy. That should help come fundraising time and doing everything Columbia needs to do to keep pace with the rest of the Ivy League schools. College athletics have turned into an arms race with most programs vying to compete with each other on the field of play and outside it, as well. Though the Ivy League is supposed to and does stress academics first, rivals Cornell, Penn, and Princeton have made sizable investments in the wrestling programs and it has paid off results-wise. Having someone on your staff who can generate support for their respective programs is just as important as a coach who can demonstrate the finer points of finishing a single leg. With Pritzlaff’s connections in North Jersey and his reputation throughout the state from his high school days to his time at Rutgers, he should bring in even more interest from stakeholders who previously may not have had an interest in Columbia wrestling. Coaching Staff Obviously, most coaches would rather assemble their own staff and Pritzlaff will likely do this at some point. To what extent? We’re not quite sure. But, for now, the staff that former head coach Zach Tanelli has assembled is high-quality and very experienced. Joe Nord is currently the associate head coach and has been on Tanelli’s staff for the past nine years. Nord likely knows everything associated with the program and athletic department and could be an integral piece to retain. Chad Walsh comes with two years of experience on Columbia’s staff and four with the Davidson program. Looking at the production from Columbia’s best wrestlers, most are around Walsh’s weight range (157-184). Jamie Franco joined the staff prior to the 2023-24 campaign. Franco had previously spent seven years as an assistant at his alma mater, Hofstra. In our interview with Tanelli last year, he mentioned how when he coached Franco at Hofstra the team referred to him as “coach” at the time based on his work ethic, knowledge, and maturity. There’s also been a ton of movement on the assistant coaching front nationally. A potential candidate for Pritzlaff’s staff may have already changed jobs this offseason. We’ll have to monitor how this situation evolves. Roster Because of Ivy League restrictions, athletes across all sports are not permitted to redshirt and can only use four years of eligibility. The latter never seemed like an issue, that was until the NCAA doled out an extra year for student-athletes active in the 2020-21 school year. With a very veteran team in 2023-24, Columbia had a handful of wrestlers who graduated and still had a year of eligibility that they were unable to use for the Lions (or any Ivy institute). Therefore, the transfer portal was filled with Columbia wrestlers, even before Tanelli stepped down. Angelo Rini, Kyle Mosher, Joshua Ogunsanya, and Lennox Wolak are all notables who transferred under the aforementioned circumstances. Heavyweight Nolan Neves hit the portal, as well, and joined Ogunsanya headed south to North Carolina. Those five veterans could have formed an excellent core for year one under Pritzlaff, but they wouldn’t be able to compete. With wrestlers like those leaving, it makes it seem like the cupboard is bare for year one of the Pritzlaff administration. Columbia will probably be hard-pressed to replicate the kind of lineup that Tanelli unveiled during back-to-back fourth-place EIWA finishes; however, there’s still talent in the fold. Columbia could send out a lineup that features four past national qualifiers, which isn’t bad. Kai Owen (141), Aaron Ayzerov (184), and Jack Wehmeyer (197) made it to Kansas City in 2024. Cesar Alvan (157/165) was a national qualifier in 2023 at 157 lbs and sat out the 2023-24 season in hopes of making the Olympic team for Brazil. Ayzerov had a breakthrough campaign in 2023-24 and won the EIWA’s as the fifth seed. With 184 lbs clearing out significantly, he could be on the cusp of a top-ten national ranking. Ayzerov and Ivy-rival Chris Foca met four times in 2023-24, with Ayzerov winning the first three; however, Foca prevailed at nationals. Being able to consistently beat a wrestler of Foca’s caliber and the experience of his first national tournament should make Ayzerov a podium contender in 2024-25. Similarly, 197 clears out a lot, too. That bodes well for Wehmeyer who spent the year near the bottom of the top-33. Wehmeyer could make the leap this year and challenge for an Ivy crown. Others on the roster who could challenge for a nationals berth this year are Richard Fedalen (149), Nick Fine (174), and Vincent Mueller (285). Additionally, Columbia does have a decent incoming crop of freshmen, though it could have been more if not for two Big Boarders flipping. Nick Campagna and Jake Wacha are New Jersey state placewinners (both 8th in 2024). Cooper Hornack and Connor Smith both made the podium in Pennsylvania. Oliver Howard is an Alabama state champion. Nick Fine’s younger brother, Spencer, was third in New England. I’m not sure if any of the incoming recruits nudge someone out of the current starting lineup and make a significant impact in 2024-25; however, there is promise for the future. It remains to be seen if they stick, but Columbia also has verbals from Class of 2025 recruits Mark Grey and Evin Gursoy. Miscellaneous Columbia has worked closely with the NYC RTC in the past, which is a plus. Having a strong RTC used to be a luxury; however, in today’s world, it’s necessary for a team that strives to be a contender. Pritzalff’s good relationship with the alumni could result in more gains for the collegiate program based on quality partners coming through the RTC. The school itself made national headlines this spring over protests and how they were handled. However, you viewed these, it generally didn’t paint the school in the greatest of lights. We’ll see if this has a trickle-down impact on wrestling recruiting. 2024-25 marks the first year of NCAA qualification directly through the Ivy League. That means the six Ivy schools will conduct their own conference tournament (held at Princeton). Wrestlers will not have to grind through a massive tournament like the EIWA (with 17 teams); however, one slip-up might put NCAA qualification hopes on thin ice. There is also probably some more scheduling flexibility as Columbia always dualed Ivy rivals, but could structure their schedule differently without the need to wrestle EIWA opponents. The location and distance between Pritzlaff's new employer and former employer (Rutgers) is quite unique in the world of college athletics. There are only about 45 miles between the two universities (as the crow flies, not counting traffic). As mentioned earlier, since Rutgers and Columbia aren’t necessarily rivals, you could have a handful of Rutgers fans invested in the Columbia program because they’re “Donny fans.” Typically, when a coach gets a new gig, he’s moving into a whole new region and needs to make new connections. Pritzlaff will be able to use the existing ones he has and maybe get more familiar with those in the Manhattan area surrounding the campus.

This month I decided to double up on my Purdue Boilermakers Wrestling content. There were some good reasons for this. First off, I wanted to talk to their recently promoted Head Assistant Coach, Leroy Vega. Secondly, catching up with Coach Ersland is always a good time. So selfishly, I moved forward with this plan. The vision for this conversation being sort of a “State of the Union” on Purdue wrestling in June of 2024. I needed to start where we left off, which was March in Kansas City. In my previous conversations with Coach Ersland, we’ve discussed how great it was having two All-Americans in Parker Filius and Matt Ramos from the year before, so I knew that their goals and aspirations were high. I asked about how they’ve reflected on finishing the season having finished lower than their expectations and how the messaging to the team went from there. “Perspective is always important when you’re competing and working as hard as we do. We have some very capable guys on our team at the National Championships, in terms of Matt Ramos who had been ranked number one most of last year, as well as some young talent in terms of a guy like Joey Blaze or a Michigan product like Stoney Buell, who was having some success. We had high expectations and didn’t reach it. Everybody has their own barriers or adversities, so we didn’t get quite to where we felt we should be, but you’ve got to have perspective. You don’t shrug it off and say ‘Oh well, we didn’t get there’, you need to own it and make the changes that you need to, but remember that there is a bigger picture here and there’s growth. It’s also important to not be ‘event-driven’.” I’m intrigued. This hasn’t been the last time this summer that this sentiment has been brought up in interviews, but it’s nonetheless interesting. So much of sports in general are focused on team or individual accolades and achievements. In this sport, much of that tends to focus on a couple of weeks in March, but there’s a lot of build-up to it. Let’s continue with Coach Ersland: “Having perspective on what we did wrong, how we can get better, and where we need to put in that work. Everybody on this team is back next year, all five National qualifiers are back, so in one way or another you’ve got to grow and develop, and perspective is key around that.” With a young team, it’s important to really lean into that perspective, especially when going through the gauntlet of a B1G schedule. My next question was about how they worked with those young guys to introduce them to the reality of a B1G season. Joey Blaze photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo “We had two true freshmen in the lineup (Greyson Clark - 141, and Joey Blaze - 157), both qualified for Nationals, so at some level there is some success in getting them into that building and competing there, which will serve them well. Their journeys were very different (you could almost say that they went “Separate Ways” - I had to build in a Journey joke, let’s continue) Greyson was hurt after the Nebraska dual and didn’t wrestle again until the B1G Championships. For him, he showed that he was able to take a setback and still find a way to come back and compete at a high level. He beat Wyatt Henson at Nationals as well, which is a really good win. He learned that he could overcome an injury, stay focused, and put himself in position to accomplish goals. He didn’t put his head down and sulk. He learned a lesson that’s going to serve him very well when the body bounces back. What he’s taken mentally and emotionally, around what it takes to come back and succeed, is going to really set him up in the future. Joey had some big moments during the season, competed most of the year, had wins over Peyton Robb, and Ed Scott, which are some noteworthy wins. His expectation going into Nationals was to make the podium. He had some really tight matches against quality people (a tiebreaker loss to Franek of Iowa and an OT loss to Johnny Lovett of CMU), and the way it affected him, he sees that results aren’t guaranteed from working hard, and there are little things in the way you think and approach matches. How fine that line is between winning and losing in those areas. It has to be a focus on performance, rather than winning and losing. That perspective is around success isn’t a win/loss record. It’s about performing at the highest level, despite that record. Having many good performances out of 30 matches is the goal. He’s going to try to make it 30 for 30, but having 20 solid performances in 25 wins isn’t always getting better.” At this point, I don’t need to ask about what the offseason plans are for the team so much (I still kind of do), but it’s becoming clear to me that a realignment of what’s going to get the desired results is what the plans are. Wins and losses are black-and-white declarative things. Bill Parcells used to say “You are what your record says you are”, but that’s not true. Maybe more so in Football, but we’ve always seen guys in wrestling grow throughout a season, learn from losses, get healthy, and figure out their weight cuts and diets to perform better, there are innumerable things you could point to that impacted a wins and loss record, and having the perspective to refocus the value on performance seems exactly what a smart coaching staff would do. My question has now become more specific. Now I want to know how to focus on performance and build that in a young team during the off-season; “It’s about always being where your feet are. It’s being in the moment right now and not getting sidetracked. Matt Ramos got sidetracked, and we’ll talk about him in a minute, but when you’re just trying for results and you’re not in the moment trying to do the best that you can right then and there, then you’re not getting better. I keep trying to go back and remind them that what you’re doing right now in this room is the most important thing you’re doing. Be involved in that. Then when the big moments come, and they will, then the distraction of winning a National title gets there, are you going to hang on and hope to not screw it up, or are you going to do what the situation calls for? That’s a difficult thing to be able to push all of that out of your head. Understanding that right here, right now, teaches them to focus on that moment and what needs to be done then. Talent is going to win, so it’s really the performance that you have to chase.” NBA Hall of Famer, and probably the most famous Grateful Dead fan who ever lived, had a great quote that amounts to a lot of this. Mr. Walton had recently passed away when we had done this interview, so it came to mind. The quote from Bill Walton goes, “I learn from yesterday, I dream about tomorrow, but I try to make today my masterpiece.” I myself take on too many projects, it’s a thing I do to myself so this isn’t an excuse, but it’s important to really be present with what you’re doing. It affects the people around you, how you impact them, and what you gain from that experience. The same goes for training to accomplish your goals. That seems obvious, but because we’re human, we tend to forget it. The interview continues. Matt Ramos photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo Getting to Ramos, I wanted to know if it was preseason hype, or what it could have been that seeped its way in between him and his goals. “If you look at the difference between the year when he made it to the National Finals, he was letting it fly. He was very dangerous and eager to wrestle to his positions and create action. He was wrestling free and going after people. I think at points last year when you’re wearing that number one ranking, and you’re expected to win, I think he got a little too careful. You want to be perfect and when you’re competing in that way, in my opinion, you’re not your best self. You’re not free and able to be what you’re capable of being. He went through a little bit of that, and learned how to be the favorite. He’s going to have to be the hunter. It doesn’t matter if you’re ranked one, ten, or three, the mentality doesn’t change. Since we’ve been done, he is working hard to get back to where he needs to be. You’ll see a guy closer to where he was when that upset happened than the guy who was trying to protect.” Earlier I had referenced the recent promotion of Leroy Vega to the Head Assistant Coach position, but that is the result of AJ Schopp choosing to return to his Alma Mater, Edinboro. Here’s Coach Ersland on his contributions over the years: “AJ was a worker in the room. Constantly working on technique and sparring and we’re going to miss that for sure. A lot of respect for everything he’s helped to accomplish. It was a good opportunity for him and his family to be close to home. It was a good opportunity for him to chase some other goals as well.” Not many programs can lose a coach so accomplished on the mat and as a mentor as Purdue can and simply reload internally, but the Boilermakers were in that position with Coach Vega. “I was very fortunate to get Leroy on staff years ago as a volunteer. We took an opportunity to know that he’s nearby, has a passion for coaching, and wants to help. Ever since that time, I’ve given him a project, or asked his thoughts, he’s just an all-in guy and takes initiative. He’s a fun guy and has a lot of energy, I don’t know if he’s ever met a stranger. In addition to the energy, he thinks outside of the box a little bit too, which is needed in today's environment, and his relationships with the guys on the team. He’s earned this because he’s shown that this is about passion and what he can bring to the table. It’s proven to be valuable and I wanted to reward him for his impact on the team as well.” If you haven’t checked out my interview with Leroy Vega, check it out here Finishing things up, I wanted to touch once more on some of the accomplishments of the younger wrestlers on the team. I asked Coach about some of the leadership skills shown by the youth on the team, as evidenced by many of the younger guys winning their postseason awards. “Player-led teams are better than coach-led teams. There are lots of tremendous coaches, but if the players buy into the standards, systems, how to think, act, and train and they are leading the charge, that's a dangerous team. That’s the best kind of team. What are the standards, and why do we have the standards, that’s what we try to impart to them to get that buy-in, and a huge part of that coaching philosophy." To end the conversation Tony Ersland told me about how they were bringing some incoming freshmen in to begin with some summer classes, and get them acquainted with the team and environment, but ultimately it’s to explain the standards, why they have the standards, and begin to get that buy-in. You learn a lot of things when you go away to school, but one thing I’m certain of is what these incoming freshmen are about to find out. They are about to understand the value in being where your feet are, that it’s better to measure progress than winning/losing, and that perspective is key. The P in Purdue is for perspective.

Caleb Dennee photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com June 15th was a huge day on the recruiting front. It marked the first day that college coaches could have official contact with rising juniors (Class of 2026). Despite the attention on the Class of 2026, we’re still very early in the process and the top prospects from this class will take their official visits before commitments start rolling in. Even though coaches have begun to focus on the Class of 2026, that doesn’t mean they’ve neglected the rising seniors. In fact, it’s been extremely busy commitment-wise from the Class of 2025. Here are some notables that have committed within the last week (or so). Two notables from Monday include the Miller twins, who we wrote about on that date. #83 Caleb Dennee (Marshfield, WI) - Much has been made of late about the talent in Wisconsin that has escaped the state borders; however, the Badger staff was able to secure a recent verbal commitment from a top-100 recruit in Caleb Dennee. Though he’s searching for his first state title in 2025, Dennee has established himself as a top recruit based on his production on the national scene. Dennee put himself on the radar last summer with a third-place finish in 16U freestyle in Fargo. This spring, Dennee showed it was no fluke by making the finals of the UWW Cadet Trials at 80 kg. During the high school season, Dennee has made the state finals in each of the last two years. 174 lbs is where Dennee initially projects. That might be a weight in high demand for the Badgers. They have redshirt freshman Lucas Condon coming off of redshirt. Condon started the season competing at 174, but moved up to 184 later in the year. Dennee is Wisconsin’s second verbal from the Class of 2025, but their first member of the Big Board. Wisconsin’s current Class of 2025 #101 Brody Saccoccia (Steubenville, OH) - Purdue got their first verbal from the Class of 2025 with Brody Saccoccia’s commitment. Saccoccia is a three-time Ohio State placewinner and a one-time champion. He’s coming off a DII state title at 150 lbs. Saccoccia has steadily moved up in weight throughout his high school career. As a freshman, he fell in the 120 lb state finals to current Ohio State 125 lb starter Brendan McCrone. A year later, he was fifth at 132 lbs. Saccoccia was not mentioned in the previous version of the Big Board but flew up to #101 in the most recent release. He’ll project stick at 165 lbs for the Boilermakers. Purdue has veterans at the weight, but plenty of youth below at 157 lbs. #119 Casen Roark (Father Ryan, TN) - Fresh off a #17 national ranking in InterMat’s Class of 2024 Recruiting Rankings, West Virginia is starting to assemble a follow-up class that might be worthy of a ranking. Casen Roark’s commitment gives the Mountaineers a pair of Big Boarders for 2025. Roark is aiming for his fourth Tennessee state championship in 2025 with his most recent coming at 132 lbs. Before claiming title number three, Roark ventured up to Western Pennsylvania for December’s Powerade Invitational. He made the podium with an eighth-place finish at 133 lbs. A few months later, Roark made the NHSCA Junior National finals at 132 lbs. Roark projects at 141 lbs which will be a need for WVU as starter Jordan Titus is heading into his junior season. The Mountaineers have an abundance of young talent at 125/133, so somebody can always move up; however, there is no clear-cut successor to Titus. West Virginia’s current Class of 2025 #169 Anthony Lucchiani (Sherando, VA) - George Mason scored a huge coup when they got a verbal commitment from one of the top incoming seniors in-state, in Anthony Lucchiani. The three-time Virginia 4A state champion, Lucchiani, has placed twice at the NHSCA grade-level tournament. He was a runner-up as a sophomore and fourth as a junior. Last year, he also made the fifth-place bout at the Beast of the East. Though not known as a traditional power state, Virginia does have a solid crop of rising seniors, so it was important for George Mason to take advantage of some of the local talent. The Patriots have junior Kaden Cassidy holding down the 149 lb slot for them currently, but after a redshirt, Lucchiani could be ready to slide into that spot. #184 Hayden Hochstrasser (Southern Regional, NJ) - Army West Point continues to pile up the ranked recruits as Hayden Hochstrasser is the sixth Big Boarder for the Black Knights in 2025. For the time being, Hochstrasser’s best credentials have come at the New Jersey state tournament. He’s gotten on the podium in Atlantic City on two occasions - finishing eighth as a sophomore and third in 2024 at 165 lbs. Hochstrasser projects as a 174 lber for Kevin Ward’s team. With so many recruits headed to West Point and a huge roster - it’s difficult to project a future place in the lineup for any Army recruit. Army West Point’s current Class of 2025 #185 Jason Kwaak (Brentwood, NY) - NC State received their fourth commitment from a member of the 2025 Big Board when they got the verbal from Jason Kwaak. Kwaak is a two-time New York state placewinner - taking fourth in 2024 at 152 lbs after making the podium as a freshman at 110 lbs. Kwaak got on the radar after placing sixth in 16U freestyle in Fargo last summer. Also on a national level, Kwaak was third at NHSCA Junior Nationals this spring. Kwaak is the latest in a number of wrestlers who have worked with New York’s KD Training Center (run by Khaled Dassan) and made their way down to Raleigh. He projects in the 157/165 range which NC State will need after this season with the graduation of All-American Ed Scott at 157. Current 165 lb starter Derek Fields is a redshirt junior and would be gone after a redshirt season for the Class of 2025. NC State’s current Class of 2025 Liam Hickey (Cardinal Gibbons, NC) - The University of North Carolina kept one of their home state’s best within their borders with a commitment from 2024 North Carolina 4A state champion Liam Hickey. Hickey proved he was able to compete on a national stage earlier this year when he finished in eighth place at NHSCA Junior Nationals at 132 lbs. Hickey’s state title came at 138 lbs; however, he projects at 133 lbs for the Tar Heels. UNC had a massive first recruiting class under Rob Koll in 2024 and is assembling another one for 2025. 133 isn’t a huge need for the Tar Heels, but getting an influx of talent and multiple options at each weight is likely a must for Koll. North Carolina’s current Class of 2025 Tristan Steldt (Fennimore, WI) - This list has a heavy ACC presence with another school getting in on the action. Over the past few years, Wisconsin has turned into a hotbed for wrestling talent and the Panthers have got in on the action with a commitment from two-time state champion Tristan Steldt. Steldt’s most recent championship came at 160 lbs. That’s the same weight Steldt went when he won a 16U national Greco-Roman title in Fargo, back in 2022. Steldt was previously mentioned at MatScout’s Big Board at #133; however, he dropped off in the latest update. He projects in the 174/184 range which is sorely needed in the future for the Panthers. Their starter at 174 is headed into his junior season and 184 is projected to have a senior in the weight. Neither have sure-fire replacements behind them. Steldt joins a recruiting class that already has three current Big Boarders. Pittsburgh’s current Class of 2025 Ben Weader (Chantilly, VA) - Virginia Tech has all the making of a top-five recruiting class already with six of the top-90 recruits in the Class of 2025. They’ve added to it with the commitment of Ben Weader, a possible hidden gem from Northern Virginia. Weader won a Virginia 6A state title as a sophomore and was third during his other two years. He’s proven he can compete nationally with an eighth-place finish at 16U nationals in Fargo last year. During the 2023-24 school year, Weader got onto the podium at both the Beast of the East and the Powerade. Weader is the son of former George Mason head coach, Mark, so he has good bloodlines and coaching. Having watched him since middle school, Weader has made significant strides since getting into high school. During the 2023-24 season, Weader competed at 157 lbs. He’ll probably grow into the 165 lb weight class for the Hokies. With years of strong recruiting, Virginia Tech doesn’t necessarily have a huge need at that weight (or any weight); however, Weader will have time to develop and quality practice partners with which to work with. Virginia Tech’s Class of 2025 Will Greenberg (Hawken, OH) - On the heels of back-to-back ranked recruiting classes, the Bucknell staff has stayed busy on the recruiting trail and has a commitment from a potential heavyweight of the future in Will Greenberg. Greenberg made a splash last season when he qualified for the Ohio DII state tournament for the first time and advanced all the way to the finals. Though he lost, Greenberg still finished the year with an impressive 39-3 record. Greenberg will be at heavyweight in college, as well. With NCAA qualifier Dorian Crosby finishing up his career at Gannon, it appears Logan Shephard will take over in 2024-25. Shepherd has a few years of eligibility remaining, so Greenberg doesn’t have to be thrust into the starting role immediately. Bucknell assistant coach Tyler Smith recently spoke with our Austin Sommer about recruiting and talked about getting in early with little-known prospects. The one-time state qualifier (and state finalist) Greenberg could be another example of the Bison staff doing their due diligence on the recruiting front. Bucknell’s current Class of 2025

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