InterMat Staff

Columbia concluded its long coaching search by naming Rutgers associate head coach Donny Pritzlaff their new head coach. At the time, the school has not publicly announced the hiring; however, multiple sources have confirmed the move. Pritzlaff comes to Columbia after spending the last ten years on Scott Goodale’s staff at Rutgers. While at Rutgers, Pritzlaff has seen 66 wrestlers qualify for the national tournament, 16 earn All-American honors and five Big Ten champions. In 2019, the Scarlet Knights finished ninth in the country after crowning a pair of national champions. During his tenure, Rutgers went 102-58 in dual competition. Prior to his time at Rutgers, Pritzlaff was on staff at Michigan, and had two stints at his alma mater Wisconsin, and Hofstra. At Michigan, Pritzlaff assisted as Kellen Russell captured his second national title and became the Wolverines first four-time Big Ten champion. During his most recent spell on the Wisconsin staff, Pritzlaff worked closely with NCAA champion Andrew Howe. In 2010, when Howe captured his national title, the Badgers claimed an NCAA team trophy with a fourth-place finish. Pritzlaff was instrumental in signing Howe and four-time All-American Tyler Graff - two standouts in the 2008 recruiting class that was ranked second in the nation. As a student-athlete at Wisconsin, Pritzlaff was a four-time NCAA All-American and two-time national champion. He took fifth as a sophomore and sixth as a freshman. In both NCAA finals matches, Pritzlaff defeated eventual champion Joe Heskett of Iowa State. Pritzlaff went 135-15 at Wisconsin with three Big Ten titles. He was only the fourth Wisconsin wrestler to claim multiple championships and the third four-time All-American. Internationally, Pritzlaff grabbed a bronze medal at the 2006 World Championships. Pritzlaff is a native of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, which should work out well when on the recruiting trail at Columbia. Pritzlaff has been one of the names thrown around as a strong candidate during head coaching searches over the last decade-plus.

One of the most sought-after young coaching prospects is on the move and he’s headed out west. Today, Stanford announced that Hayden Hidlay would be joining Chris Ayres’ staff for the 2024-25 season. Hidlay finished a decorated career at NC State in 2022 and stayed in Raleigh as the team’s “Student-Athlete Development Coordinator.” In 2023-24, Hidlay took his first official coaching position with North Dakota State. He was a part of Obe Blanc’s first staff as head coach in Fargo. The pair had previously crossed paths while Blanc was an assistant coach at NC State. Though North Dakota State was hit hard by transfers during the coaching transition, the Bison managed to finish 11th in the competitive Big 12. Hidlay likely worked closely with Gaven Sax, who ended up making the Big 12 finals at 174 lbs and advanced to the NCAA Round of 12 as the #14 seed. In five years of competition at NC State, Hidlay made the NCAA podium four times (2,4,5,3) and earned a top-two seed on three occasions. He also captured four ACC titles and was an integral part of a 2018 squad that tied for fourth place at NCAA’s and brought home an NCAA team trophy. Stanford has a very promising team in place for year two under Chris Ayres. They are set to return all five NCAA qualifiers from a group that amassed 34 points and took 16th place at the 2024 NCAA Championships. Both of the team’s returning All-Americans (Daniel Cardenas and Hunter Garvin) have multiple years of eligibility remaining. If that isn’t enough, the Cardinal recruiting Class of 2024 just finished second in InterMat’s recruiting class rankings. After the release of MatScouts final 2024 Big Board, Stanford has inked seven of the top 105 seniors and five of them fall within the top 50. With a handful of quality coaching openings nationwide, Hidlay’s name generated plenty of buzz in coaching circles.

Cardinal Gibbons

We had about a week or two with a lull on the coaching hiring front. That came to a halt at the end of last week as we documented the hiring of Tony Cassioppi, Dean Heil, and David McFadden. A few more were announced that we weren’t able to cover and those include Doug Zapf and Andrew Dunn. Zapf might have to change offices but doesn’t have much of a move. The Penn alum officially joins the coaching staff after spending the last two years on the mat competing for the Pennsylvania RTC. Zapf was a three-time national qualifier for the Quakers - each time coming at a different weight class between 141 and 157 lbs. As a senior, Zapf was 2-2 at the national tournament after starting as the 11th seed. Later in the 2023, Zapf earned a spot on the U23 World Team after claiming a title at U23 Nationals. In Albania, he won three matches and advanced to the quarterfinals, but ultimately was a match shy of earn a world medal. Dunn will be heading north to join Donnie Vinson’s first coaching staff at Buffalo. He comes to Buffalo after spending a year as the Director of Operations at the University of North Carolina. Dunn held the same position for a season at Stanford - both under Rob Koll. Koll is a link between the two, as Vinson spent time on the Cornell staff under Koll. As a competitor, Dunn started his collegiate career at Virginia Tech and qualified for the NCAA Tournament as a freshman. He would later transfer to DII Kutztown and won a national title at 285 lbs in 2019. A year later, he was undefeated, but unable to participate in the national tournament at the outset of the Covid pandemic. During his final year, Dunn fell in the national finals. He was named Kutztown’s Male Athlete of the Year in each of those three years. It sounds as if we’ll have news break this week about the Columbia head coaching position along with Purdue’s assistant coaching vacancy - so pay attention to InterMat! Offseason Coaching Movement Binghamton: Louie DePrez - Assistant Coach (Binghamton athlete) Brown: Micky Phillippi - Assistant Coach (Brown Director of Ops) Buffalo: Donnie Vinson - Head Coach (Cornell Associate Head Coach) Buffalo: Andrew Dunn - Assistant Coach (North Carolina Director of Operations) Buffalo: Hunter Richard - Assistant Coach (Appalachian State Assistant Coach) Campbell: TJ Dudley - Assistant Coach (Brown Assistant Coach) Central Michigan: Ben Bennett (Central Michigan Associate Head Coach) Cornell: Scottie Boykin (Air Force Assistant Coach) Cornell: David McFadden (Drexel Assistant Coach) Edinboro: AJ Schopp - Head Assistant Coach (Purdue Assistant Coach) George Mason: Dean Heil - Head Assistant Coach Lock Haven: Gavin Hoffman - Volunteer Assistant (Ohio State athlete) Navy: Barry Davis - Assistant Coach NC State: Zack Esposito - Associate Head Coach (USOPTC) Oklahoma State: David Taylor - Head Coach (NLWC Athlete) Oklahoma State: Thomas Gilman - Assistant Coach (NLWC Athlete) Oklahoma State: Jimmy Kennedy - Associate Head Coach (Penn State Assistant Coach) Penn: Matt Valenti - Associate Head Coach (Penn athletic administration) Penn: Doug Zapf - Assistant Coach (PRTC athlete) Penn State: Nick Lee - Assistant Coach (NLWC athlete) Pittsburgh: Lou Rosselli - Assistant Coach Princeton: Anthony Ashnault - Assistant Coach (NYC RTC athlete) Princeton: Cody Brewer - Head Assistant Coach (Virginia Tech Assistant Coach) Princeton: Nate Jackson (NJ RTC athlete) Utah Valley: Adam Hall - Head Coach (NC State Associate Head Coach) Utah Valley: Andrew Hochstrasser - Unannounced Role (Utah Club Coach) Utah Valley: Timmy McCall - Assistant Coach Virginia Tech: Zach Tanelli - Associate Head Coach (Columbia Head Coach) Wisconsin: Tony Cassioppi - Assistant Coach (HWC athlete) Non-Coaching Roles Oklahoma: Mark Hall - Director of Operations (Penn Assistant Coach) Oklahoma State: Bryan Pearsall - Recruiting Coordinator (Penn Associate Head Coach) RTC’s and Wrestling Clubs Navy WC: Peyton Walsh Tar Heel WC: Vincenzo Joseph (SKWC Athlete) Current Openings Air Force: Assistant Coach Appalachian State: Assistant Coach (x2) Army West Point: Assistant Coach Binghamton: Assistant Coach Campbell: Assistant Coach Central Michigan: Assistant Coach Columbia: Head Coach Davidson: Assistant Coach Drexel: Assistant Coach (x2) George Mason: Assistant Coach Hofstra: Head Coach Oregon State: Director of Operations Penn: Assistant Coach Purdue: Assistant Coach Stanford: Assistant Coach Utah Valley: Assistant Coach

Fennimore

Father Ryan

Hawken

Marshfield

Edmond North

St. Edward

Last week, InterMat released its recruiting class rankings for 2024. As always, there was plenty of competition for spots within the top-25. You could make a case that any one of 32 teams could have been included in the top-25. Just because there isn’t enough room in the rankings, doesn’t mean that a particular recruiting class can’t be useful and important to their particular school. For those reasons, we also highlight five honorable mentions after announcing the rankings. These coaching staffs (and many more) have hit the recruiting trail hard and have brought some incoming freshmen that will be important in the coming months and years. They are - in no particular order: Lehigh Recruits: #78 Logan Rozynski: Blair Academy, NJ (157 lbs), #98 Dom Federici: Wyoming Seminary, PA (184 lbs), #115 Jadon Skellenger: Bishop Kelly, ID (149 lbs), #151 Matty Lopes: Blair Academy, NJ/CT (141 lbs), #217 Mason Ziegler: Quakertown, PA (125/133 lbs), #247 Calvin Lachman: Quakertown, PA (285), NR Seamus Mack: Hempfield, PA (149 lbs), NR Bekhruz Saddriddinov: Council Rock South, PA (174 lbs) In a decent-sized, but not overly large class, Pat Santoro’s staff managed to add help at nearly every weight class. Like many Lehigh classes before it, this one features plenty of Pennsylvania flavor with some New Jersey mixed in. A pair of top-100 recruits lead the way here with Logan Rozynski and Dom Federici - both National Prep finalists in 2024. Years of solid recruiting have led Lehigh to have a room that is filled with lots of talent and depth. As it stands today, there isn’t a spot in the lineup with a noticeable hole or in dire need of future help. That lets the Mountain Hawk staff bring in a class like this and gives them time to develop and make the room stronger. While you may not think this class has sure-fire stars, remember that 2024 EIWA champion and All-American Luke Stanich was ranked #75 in his class. Maryland Recruits: #100 Oscar Williams: Edmond North, OK (285 lbs), #141 Mekhi Neal: St. Mary’s Ryken, MD (165/174 lbs), #165 Abram Cline: Granite Hills, CA (125 lbs), #182 Branson John: Buchanan, CA (165 lbs), #236 Sammy Gautreau: Owen J Roberts, PA (165 lbs), NR Tyler Garvin: Rising Sun, MD (125 lbs), NR Presden Sanchez: Creighton Prep, NE (125 lbs), NR Alex Uryniak: North Hunterdon, NJ (197 lbs) Maryland has really upped their recruiting game under Alex Clemsen and this narrowly missed being his second-ranked class in College Park. That being said, it’s probably his second-best after the #8 class of 2021. The Terps had to adjust on the fly in 2023-24 as Braxton Brown needed to move up from 125 lbs in the early months of the regular season. With that in mind, there’s plenty of help for the opening weight class, led by two-time California state third-place finisher Abram Cline. In recruiting, a career 125 lber may be the hardest thing to find, so having multiple potential 125’s is not a bad idea. Maryland seems to have found a niche in California after signing Dario Lemus in 2023 and adding Seth Nevills as a transfer. On the opposite side of the lineup, the Terps also picked up heavyweight prospect Oscar Williams, a three-time Oklahoma state finalist and one-time champion. He is one of five Big Board prospects to ink with Maryland in 2024. Looking way ahead, if most of this class redshirts and continues to develop, Maryland could field a pretty imposing lineup for 2025-26, when the Class of 2021 is redshirt seniors. North Dakota State Recruits: #86 Ezekiel Witt: Junction City, KS (125 lbs), #110 Max Magayna: Waterloo East, IA (174 lbs), #140 Andrew McMonagle: Huntingdon, PA (184/197 lbs), #167 Shilo Jones: Mountain View, ID (285 lbs), #173 Aiden Hight: Chambersburg, PA (197 lbs), #221 Tyler Secoy: Columbus, GA (174/184 lbs), NR Jack Castagneto: Bishop Kelly, ID (133 lbs), NR Tayshaun Glover: Dudley, NC (197 lbs), NR Schey Huff: First Colonial, VA (285 lbs), NR Dante Hutchings: Pomona, CO (165 lbs), NR Michael Olson: Albert Lea, MN (133 lbs), NR Kody Tanimoto: All Saints, TX (125 lbs) This is the first full recruiting class for Obe Blanc as head coach at North Dakota State. The Bison were hit hard during the coaching transition and had plenty of transfers. That means a class like this one is just what the doctor ordered and should be very beneficial. The group includes six of the top-250 seniors in the country and one top-100 recruit. While there is plenty of help throughout the group, there is a lot of focus on the upperweights. Five of the six Big Boarders project at 174 lbs or higher. 197 and 285 lbs can be difficult to project at the next level, so it’s good to have plenty of options. That group of top-250 prospects is led by late signee Ezekiel Witt. Witt has placed three times in Fargo and at UWW Cadets. You have to like the fact that this class has some East Coast flavor. Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia - along with some mainstays on the NDSU recruiting trail; Minnesota, Iowa, and Idaho. With Blanc’s time coaching on the East Coast, this should probably continue. Penn Recruits: #60 Davis Motyka: Wyoming Seminary, PA (125 lbs), #81 Nathan Taylor: Greens Farms Academy, CT (197 lbs), #95 Paul Ognissanti: Blair Academy, NJ/MD (165 lbs), NR Omer Barak: Lake Highland Prep, FL (184 lbs), NR Caden Bellis: Tioga Central, NY (157), NR Isaias Jimenez: Valiant Prep, AZ (157 lbs), NR John Pardo: Kennett, PA (285 lbs) Penn has become a consistent force on the recruiting trail with top-25 classes in each of the last three years. If not for a couple of flips, Penn would have likely made the cut again. They barely missed the top-25 this time, but still have a very solid group headed to Philly. Three top-100 recruits carry the bulk of the weight for the Quakers. You’ll also notice this class featuring some of the usual suspects, recruits from Wyoming Seminary, Blair, and Lake Highland Prep. These schools have been useful to Penn in the past and likely in the future. Some standouts from the National Prep tournament in this class are two-time champion Davis Motyka and runner’s-up Paul Ognissanti and Nate Taylor. Because of years of strong recruiting and the additional firepower that this class provides, Penn shouldn’t drop off much despite the loss of three NCAA qualifiers to graduation following the 2023-24 campaign. Wyoming Recruits: #47 Eddie Neitenbach: Buckeye, OH (174/184 lbs), #82 Tyson Charmoli: St. Francis, MN (141/149 lbs), NR John Alden: O’Neill, NE (133 lbs), NR Antonio Avila: Thunder Basin, WY (141/149 lbs), NR Tucker Bowen: Soda Springs, ID (125/133 lbs), NR Christian Herrera: Bakersfield, CA (157 lbs), NR Weston Hoffschneider: Ponderosa, CO (197 lbs) You might have overlooked the fact that Wyoming has inked top-20 classes in 2022 and 2023. The 2024 class was dangerously close to joining its two predecessors. But the whole point of these honorable mentions is to show that even if you don’t have a class in the top 25, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be very useful to your school.

St. Edward

One of the top uncommitted prospects from the high school Class of 2025 is off the board as #57 Jarrel Miller (St. Edward, OH) has committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Miller is a three-time Ohio DI state runner-up. His most recent state finals appearance came at 190 lbs, where he dropped a 6-1 match to Indiana recruit Matt Kowalski. Miller projects as a 197 lber at the next level. Not only is Jarrel Miller headed to Iowa City, but his twin brother #86 Tyrel Miller is also committed to the Hawkeyes and projects at 184 lbs. The Miller twins will wrestle for the Brands twins at Iowa. Jarrel has also placed twice at the Walsh Ironman (2,4) and was a finalist in both styles in Fargo’s 16U division in 2022 (winning in freestyle). Also in freestyle, Miller was eighth at UWW Cadet freestyle in 2023. After each of his first two years of high school, Jarrel attended the NHSCA grade-level championships, winning as a freshman and finishing second as a sophomore. Tyrel was also a state finalist in 2024 and was third in 2023. He also was a NHSCA Sophomore National runner-up and a placer in both styles in Fargo's U16 division in 2022 (7th/FS, 8th/GR). The Miller twins join #7 Leo DeLuca (Blair Academy, NJ) in Iowa’s Class of 2025. The Hawkeyes also have commitments Leister Bowling IV (Mead, CO) who is not currently mentioned in MatScouts national rankings. Looking at the Iowa Hawkeye roster, the twin's addition will certainly be needed. The only true 197 currently in the mix is 2024 Big Ten runner-up Zach Glazier; however, Glazier is headed into his final year of eligibility. 184 has some depth to it as Aiden Riggins and Mickey Griffith are both headed into their sophomore seasons. With Jarrel Miller off the board, there are only five of the top-60 recruits from the Class of 2025 that are currently uncommitted. Editors Note: Initially Tyrel Miller had not publicly announced his commitment to Iowa. Later in the day, it has been confirmed that he's committed.

Recruiting class rankings are always unique in their own sort of way. This year, the number one spot was decided relatively early in the game and without much competition. The second spot kind of spoke for itself as well. After that, there were a lot of teams that could make a case for the remainder of the top-ten. Then, as you made your way down to the 25 spot, there were a handful of teams that could’ve made a case for their inclusion. Some of it came down to how you value quantity over quality. As you peruse the rankings, you’ll see plenty of classes that had both. Recruiting rankings mark the end of the respective class and put a bow on the hard work of coaching staffs around the nation. The question you ask is, how are these rankings tabulated? First, we have used the big board rankings courtesy of our sister-site MatScouts. Willie Saylor has taken the arduous task of projecting the top-250 wrestlers in the Class of 2024, making calculating these rankings slightly easier. Some of the factors that are taken into account when putting these rankings together include: - Numbers: Where were the signees ranked? How many top-ten, top-50, top-100, top-250, etc., does a school have? - Fit: After years of following these programs and their coaching staffs, does a particular recruit fit the "type" of kid that has success at their respective team. Or maybe a style of wrestling. - Filling a need: In years past, I have weighed this very heavily. Signing two highly ranked 184 lb prospects doesn't appear to fit a need when you have a stud junior returning at the same weight. However, after coming off a "free year" in 2021, that throws a loop into everything. At this time, we don't know whether everyone will actually use that extra year of eligibility. Compared to years past, this category doesn't factor in, as much, unless it's very evident that a team has a glaring logjam at a particular weight or weight range. Fear not….we should be through this soon! - Impact on a program: This is subjective, but tends to favor teams that aren't consistent NCAA trophy contenders. If Iowa or Penn State sign the #80 overall recruit and he turns out to AA twice, taking seventh and eighth for them, it has a particular impact. But if California Baptist or Campbell sign the same prospect and he has the same career, it will have a much more significant impact on those two programs. Both California Baptist and Campbell may have benefitted from this criteria in 2024. So, with that out of the way, enjoy InterMat's 2024 Team Recruiting Rankings. 25. Bucknell Recruits: #50 Dillon Bechtold: Owen Roberts, PA (197), #203 Tyler Bienus: Mount Olive, NJ (184), #219 Creed Thomas: Jefferson, GA (184), #231 Kaden Schaefer: Fleming Island, FL (149), NR Ty Kapusta: Franklin Regional, PA (125), NR Chris Nucifora: Bergen Catholic, NJ (125) 2023 Ranking: #19 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: NR For the second consecutive year, the Bison have cracked the top-25. The 2023 class provided a pair of starters that qualified for nationals in year one. I’m sure Bucknell head coach Dan Wirnsberger would like that sort of production from the 2024 group. Two-time Pennsylvania state finalist and one-time champion, Dillon Bechtold, leads the way. Bechtold is the first top-50 recruit to sign with the Bison in Wirnsberger’s tenure in Lewisburg. In addition to his PA state title, Bechtold was seventh in both styles last summer in Fargo and placed at the Super 32. Joining Bechtold providing reinforcements to the upperweights are big board’ers Tyler Bienus and Creed Thomas. Bienus was third in New Jersey this year and Thomas has earned All-American honors at the NHSCA grade-level tournament. The hard-to-address 125 lb weight class was bolstered with the addition of Ty Kapusta and Chris Nucifora. Kapusta was a Pennsylvania runner-up in 2024 - his third time making the state podium. Bucknell returns a team that features four national qualifiers so a talented class like this will continue to push the Bison in the right direction. 24. California Baptist Recruits: #46 Paul Kelly: Poway, CA (149), #156 Sonny Kling: Palm Desert, CA (197), #163 Caeden Olin: Millard South, NE (285), #232 Jeremy Ginter: Whitmer, OH (149), NR David Alonso: Palm Desert, CA (165), Damian Alvarez: Selma, CA (125/133), NR Devan Carter: Graham-Kapowsin, WA (165), NR Remy Murillo: Canyon Springs, California (133/141) 2023 Ranking: HM 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: NR Last year, California Baptist was noted in our honorable mention section - now they’ve moved into the top-25 in our recruiting rankings for the first time since becoming a DI program. In-state recruiting will always be key for Derek Moore’s team and they were able to ink three wrestlers that finished in the top-three at the one-class California state tournament. Sonny Kling is the champ of the bunch; however, Paul Kelly is the highest-ranked of the crew. Kelly, a 2024 state runner-up, was fourth last summer in both styles in Fargo and then at the Super 32. Not only has California Baptist been able to nab some of the top in-state talent, but they’ve also ventured outside of the state borders and inked top-250 wrestlers from Nebraska and Ohio. The exposure from wrestling in the Big 12 should only enhance that ability to extend their recruiting reach going forward. Caeden Olin was a two-time state champion for one of Nebraska’s power programs, while Jeremy Ginter was a third-place finisher in Ohio’s largest classification. Depending on the strategy of the CBU staff, this class could have netted the Lancers multiple starters in one year. 23. Arizona State Recruits: #23 Kyler Larkin: Valiant Prep, AZ (141/149), #31 Pierson Manville: State College, PA (149), NR Caleb Camp: Buena Vista, CO (133/141), NR Nick Hutchins: Arizona College Prep, AZ (285), NR Javani Majoor: Falcon, AZ (157/165) 2023 Ranking: NR 2022 Ranking: #10 2021 Ranking: #2 If you pay attention to recruiting for long enough, you’ll notice different recruiting strategies at different schools. Even when Arizona State has gotten into the top-ten with their classes, they’ve tended to go with quality over quantity. This year is a prime example signing the #23 and #31 ranked wrestlers, but no other Big Boarder’s. The Sun Devils ranking is largely reliant on the two; however, even if they signed more top-250 kids, Kyler Larkin and Pierson Manville would be expected to make the biggest impact. Both of ASU’s marquee signees come from notable wrestling families. Kyler Larkin’s father, Eric, was a Hodge Trophy winner for the Sun Devils in 2003 and has begun to churn out top collegiate prospects at Valiant Prep. His older brother, Kaleb, is ready to be unleashed as a redshirt freshman for Arizona State. Kyler has won national freestyle titles at both age groups in Fargo and was a U17 world team member in 2022. Pierson Manville is the youngest of a highest decorated trio of brothers and has experienced success at every level thus far. Manville has placed third in both styles in Fargo, at the Junior level, in 2022 and 2023. At the 16U age division, Manville was a finalist in both styles. Last fall, in folkstyle, Manville earned a win at Who’s #1 and at the Walsh Ironman. In some instances, we may dock a team if they have a potential logjam with their signees. That certainly could happen with the Larkin brothers and Manville; however, Eric Larkin moved up in weight three times in college, so his sons likely will at least once. For the rest of the signing class, look at heavyweight prospect Nick Hutchins. He’s an Arizona state champion who might be the successor to 285 lb stalwart Cohlton Schultz. 22. Campbell Recruits: #89 Kendrick Hodge: Somerset, FL (165), #137 Phil Lamka: Fenton, MI (174), #143 Eugene Harney: Sycamore, OH (165), #145 Brent Slade: Southeast Polk, IA (184), #238 Lane Kiser: Trinity, Kentucky (197), #241 Colby Crouch: Triad, IL (133), NR Matthew Beem: Glenwood, IA (133/141), NR Jonathan Chang: Clarksburg, MD (141/149), NR Reese Courtney: Center Grove, IN (141), NR Brock Hacker: Johns Creek, GA (197), NR Seth Larson: Flowery Branch, GA (184), NR Parker Lyden: Forest Lake, MN (149), NR Ryan Phillips: Winter Springs, FL (141), NR Aaron Ries: Wadsworth, OH (285), NR Landon Sargent: Cape Fear, NC (285), NR Mikey Trujillo: Wyoming Seminary, PA/NM (141), NR Sawyer Van Rider: New Smyrna Beach, FL (184), NR Kaleb Wright: Gloucester City, NJ (165/174) 2023 Ranking: NR 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: HM Campbell has been known for bringing in large recruiting classes and they have another this year. Six of them fall within the top-250 prospects in the nation - led by #89 Kendrick Hodge. Florida has been good to the Campbell program and Hodge is one of two signees from the Sunshine State headed to Buies Creek in the fall. Hodge has excelled at the NHSCA grade-level tournaments. He has made the finals in each of the last two years and won as a senior. Though Campbell has had success recruiting in the south (and continues to do so) they have brought in talent from all over the midwest. Just about every power state in that region is represented in this class. Others to watch in this class include Eugene Harney, an Ohio DI state champion and an Ironman placer. Brent Slade was a UWW U17 All-American in both styles in 2023 and Lane Kiser was an NHSCA Junior National All-American (4th). While this group has reinforcements for almost every weight class, it could most benefit the upperweights as 197 lber Levi Hopkins and heavyweight Taye Ghadiali are out of eligibility after the 2024-25 season. 21. Air Force Recruits: #20 Karson Tompkins: Midlothian, TX (197), #88 Layton Schneider: Edmond North, Oklahoma (165), #99 Logan Fowler: Murfreesboro, TN (149), #146 Gianni Maldonado: Lake Gibson, Florida (165), #209 Gunner Cramblett: Graham, OH (174), #213 Talon McCollom: Edmond North, Oklahoma (184), #228 Anders Kittleson: Osage, IA (149), #244 Charlie LaRocca: Center Grove, IN (125), NR Jack Estevez: Poway, CA (149), NR Lincoln Gregersen: Ralston Valley, CO (133/141), Roman Lermer: Tampa Prep, FL (125), NR Cristian Rivera: Sunnyside, AZ (149), NR Tanner Spalding: Woodward Academy, GA (133), NR Jesse Vanorden: Wantagh, NY (149/157), NR Jake Wood: Perrysburg, OH (174) 2023 Ranking: #23 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: HM At one time, Air Force making the recruiting rankings was a nice, new addition. We’re now at the point where it’s come to be expected after consecutive years in the top-25 and an honorable mention in 2021. The cornerstone of this group is 197 lb prospect Karson Tompkins. He is the first top-20 recruit to commit to Air Force since the Class of 2023 and is ranked higher than two-time AA Wyatt Hendrickson. Tompkins was a Junior placer in both styles in Fargo, fourth at the Super 32, and got a win at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. Last year’s recruiting class was very heavy on upperweights and Air Force got one of the best in the nation with Tompkins. After his, this group focused heavily on the middleweights. Of Air Force’s eight Big Boarder’s, five fall within the projected range of 149-174. This group also features a pair of Big Boarder’s from Edmond North High School in Oklahoma, a team that finished the season ranked fourth in the nation. You have to like the idea of getting recruits from a proven high school program and one they could hit up in the future as well. One of them, Layton Schneider, was a fifth-place finisher at the Ironman and a two-time Fargo Junior freestyle All-American. 20. Lock Haven Recruits: #27 Tucker Hogan: Daniel Boone, PA (197), #112 Cole Bartram: Northern York, PA (184), #130 Dean Houser: Daniel Boone, PA (125/133), #149 Nick Kunstek: Pottsville, PA (157), #200 Ousmane Duncanson: Tioga, NY (165/174), NR Clayton Carr: Wyalusing, PA (133), NR Wyatt Dillon: Northern York, PA (149/157), NR Darren Florance: Harpursville, NY (125), NR Rocco Fratelli: Northern York, PA (141), NR Lucas Fye: Bald Eagle Area, PA (125), NR Hunter Gould: Conneaut Lake, PA (133), NR Wyatt Lazzar: Commodore Perry, PA (157), NR Alex Reed: Shikellamy, PA (125), NR Brandon Stiehler: Pocono Mountain West, PA (285), NR Griffin Walizer: Central Mountain, PA (141/149), NR Hudson Ward: Canton, PA (165) 2023 Ranking: NR 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: NR This is the first time in this version of InterMat that Lock Haven has cracked the top-25 in recruiting rankings. Typically, Bald Eagle head coach Scott Moore and staff find some overlooked gems and coach them up to be productive collegiate wrestlers. That could be the case again here, but they also have some highly-ranked prospects in the mix, too. Lock Haven needs help at the upperweights and those have been addressed by the signings of Tucker Hogan and Cole Bartram - who are also the highest-ranked of the bunch. The pair go hand-in-hand, as they’ve met in the AAA state finals in each of the last two years, with Hogan getting his hand raised both times. It appears that one of the two could see action right away at 197 lbs. The Lock Haven staff has been proactive in their approach at the opposite end of the lineup, as well. In case Anthony Noto moves up or in preparation for life after Noto, there are some quality 125 lb prospects. Dean Houser was a three-time AAA state placer and Lucas Fye got on the podium twice at the AA level. Coming in from New York is three-time champion Darren Florance. A late addition to the Lock Haven class was two-time Fargo All-American Nick Kunstek. He was fourth in a deep PIAA AAA weight class and has been very active nationally for his entire high school career. This group, combined with existing talent on the Lock Haven roster, should be able to push the tiny PA power back into the national rankings. 19. Nebraska Recruits: #13 LJ Araujo: Bismarck, ND (165/174), #61 Omar Ayoub: Dublin Coffman, OH (149), #108 Marco Christensen: Minnetonka, MN (184), NR Colin McAlister: Mill Valley, KS (174) 2023 Ranking: #7 2022 Ranking: #8 2021 Ranking: #13 A staple in the recruiting rankings, Nebraska is actually lower than you’ve come to expect, but that’s a product of a very small class - after years of strong recruiting. Technically, Kael Lauridsen and Camden McDanel are both part of the Class of 2024 after grayshirting last year. They were already factored into the 2023 rankings. The highest-ranked of this bunch is LJ Araujo who rose in the final Big Board update and might still be unknown to some fans. In the past, Araujo’s best results came in Greco - two Junior Fargo placements (2,6); however, he dispelled the notion of being a Greco specialist by winning the Super 32 in the Fall of 2023. Two-time Ohio state champion Omar Ayoub has an incredible track record placing at most of your big national tournaments. Twice at the Ironman, twice in Junior freestyle in Fargo, twice at the Super 32, and once in UWW U17 freestyle. He joins his older brother, Ismael, who is already a member of the Husker team. Minnesota’s Marco Christensen was also a double All-American in Fargo last year. Looking at this group, the most attention was given to the 165-184 range, which is a smart decision based on the age of Nebraska’s starters and the depth behind them. 18. Cornell Recruits: #24 Jaxon Joy: Wadsworth, OH (149), #56 Lou Cerchio: Delbarton, NJ (174), #70 Cash Henderson: Woods Cross, UT (285), #109 Cy Kruse: Totino-Grace, MN (285), #129 Gabriel Bouyssou: Scituate, RI (157), NR Carter Chamberlain: Clearfield, PA (184/197), NR Luca Stefanelli: Delbarton, NJ (141/149), NR Ryder Yoshitake: San Marino, CA (149) 2023 Ranking: #4 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: #3 Cornell tends to have huge recruiting classes in one year and then smaller ones the following year. They rarely have a medium-sized (or ranked) one like this class. In fact, the Cornell staff already has the pieces in place for another huge, highly-ranked group in 2025. But that’s for another time. Three-time Ohio state champion Jaxon Joy leads the 2024 class. Joy probably has the best opportunity to come in and make an immediate impact. Cornell has returning EIWA champion Ethan Fernandez at 149 lbs; however, Joy might be able to make a push. Joy placed twice in Junior freestyle and at the Ironman, plus he was third at the Super 32 last fall. It appears there was a concerted effort to add depth and bodies to the 285 lb weight class. Going back to the beginning of the Koll-era, that’s the only weight in which the Big Red have failed to produce an All-American, plus they’ve lost Lewis Fernandes to graduation. Cash Henderson is a top-100 recruit who projects at 285 lbs. He was a 16U freestyle national champion and was fourth in both Junior freestyle and UWW U17. Cornell also has some veterans in the 165-184 range, so it’s good to get #56 Lou Cerchio in the fold. The 2023 New Jersey state champion was a 16U freestyle national champion back in 2021. He and Luca Stefanelli hail from Delbarton, alma mater to head coach Mike Grey, and a frequent stop for Cornell on the recruiting trail. 17. West Virginia Recruits: #25 Rune Lawrence: Frazier, PA (285), #28 Hoke Hogan: Commerce, GA (184), #54 Shawn Taylor: West Allegheny, PA (174), #129 Mason Kernan: Bethel Park, PA (141), NR Bryce Arbogast: Benedictine Prep, VA (133), NR Anthony Clem: Wantagh, NY (133), NR Joey Clem: Wantagh, NY (125/133), NR TJ Langley: Western Reserve, OH (157), NR Tyler Wood: St. Mary’s Ryken, MD (125/133) 2023 Ranking: NR 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: NR 2024 saw West Virginia place in the top-18 at the NCAA Championships for the first time in almost two decades and there’s potential for more after adding this impressive group of incoming freshmen. WVU makes the recruiting rankings for the first time in the last four years after inking a group that includes three of the top-54 recruits in the nation. The WVU staff has specifically targeted the upperweights with their most highly regarded recruits. Leading the way is Rune Lawrence, a three-time Super 32 placewinner - each time coming at fourth place or higher. Oh yeah, he’s also a four-time Pennsylvania AAA champion, an incredibly difficult feat for a freshman starting his high school career at 172 lbs. Also in the upperweights is Hoke Hogan, a two-time winner at the Georgia State tournament and NHSCA’s grade-level tournaments. Hogan was also a Junior freestyle All-American last summer in Fargo. You have to like what the West Virginia coaching staff has done from a regional recruiting standpoint. They’ve signed some of the best from western Pennsylvania and also prospects from neighboring Ohio and Maryland. While the big-name recruits in this class are upperweights, there are a lot of prospects at the hard-to-fill 125 lb weight class, along with 133. It appears that West Virginia should have some upperclassmen at those weights, so they should have time to develop. Overall, it’s great to see West Virginia amongst the recruiting heavyweights and could it be the start of many more rankings? 16. Oklahoma State Recruits: #2 Cody Merrill: Gilroy, CA (285), #21 JJ McComas: Stillwater, OK (133/141), #188 Kolter Burton: American Falls, ID (141), NR Rin Sakamoto: Jiyugaoka Gakuen, Japan (133) 2023 Ranking: #1 2022 Ranking: #6 2021 Ranking: #6 This is the recruiting class that was assembled by the previous Oklahoma State regime and Tyler Caldwell, the only holdover after David Taylor was hired. At this time, it appears all are still intending on wrestling for the Cowboys. As you look at recruiting classes years after the fact, there aren’t “that” many recruits that end up earning All-American honors and even fewer winning national championships. So, when you have a recruiting class that features a #2 overall recruit and a #21, it’s probably more likely to produce high achievements than a larger class with less credentialed prospects. Cody Merrill was arguably the top wrestler in the entire class. In each of the last two summers, Merrill dominated his way to Junior freestyle titles in Fargo. In 2021, he was a runner-up in 16U freestyle and a champion in Greco-Roman. Merrill also made a U17 World Team in Greco-Roman and he came away with a bronze medal. Maybe the only concern with Merrill is whether he’ll be able to grow into the 285 lb weight class. Last summer, JJ McComas had a huge breakout with a runner-up finish in Junior freestyle in Fargo and then he kept that momentum going with a Super 32 finals appearance. The other ranked wrestler in the class is Kolter Burton who was a five-time All-American in Fargo. Perhaps the most interesting member of the class is Japan’s Rin Sakamoto. Last year, Sakamoto was a U20 world team member in Japan. Obviously, there will be a transition period to folkstyle, but we have seen some recent examples of this gamble working out. 15. Illinois Recruits: #37 Colin Kelly: Mt. Carmel, IL (174), #39 Ryan Bennett: St. Edward, OH (149), #205 Anthony Ruzic: Auburn, IL (125), #218 Jayden Colon: St. Charles East, IL (141/149), NR Marko Ivanisevic: Hinsdale Central, IL (285), NR Jackson Herman: Cinco Ranch, TX (133/141) 2023 Ranking: #11 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: NR A late flip by two-time Illinois state champion Colin Kelly helped push this class from the border of the top-25 to a second consecutive top-15 group for Illini head coach Mike Poeta. Kelly was an Ironman runner-up and previously had committed to Wisconsin. Right behind Kelly in the national rankings is two-time Ohio state champion Ryan Bennett. Bennett hails from the fabled St. Edward High School in Ohio which has been closely linked to Illinois for decades. In order for Bennett to claim his second state title he had to take out a top-100 prospect in Omar Ayoub. Despite being ranked lower than others in the recruiting class, Anthony Ruzic and Jayden Colon are both three-time Illinois state champions. Now Poeta has two full recruiting cycles under his belt and top-15 classes in both years. Illinois looks to be a major player now and going forward in the recruiting game. 14. Indiana Recruits: #71 Tyler Guerra: St. Charles East, IL (149), #96 Nick Pavlechko: State College, PA (285), #127 Caleb Marzolino: Abingdon Heights, PA (197), #138 Matt Hart: Western Reserve, OH (149), #148 Chris Crawford: Wyoming Seminary, PA (165), #150 Ryan Garvick: Central Dauphin, PA (165), #191 Lucas Peters: Kaukauna, WI (133), NR Chase Leech: Garrett, IN (174) 2023 Ranking: HM 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: NR Two years in a row with a mention in the recruiting rankings - is it the start of something big in Bloomington? This wasn’t the best year for in-state talent in Indiana, so the Hoosier staff plucked talented recruits from power states within the Big Ten footprint. Indiana hasn’t had a national qualifier from Pennsylvania in over two decades. That could certainly change with this recruiting class - one that features three PA natives and another that went to high school in the state. Indiana has boosted its upperweights with a pair of state finalists from the Keystone State, Nick Pavlechkov and Caleb Marzolino. Pavlechkov placed in the top-three at the AAA state tournament on three occasions, while Marzolino was a 16U freestyle All-American in Fargo (Pavlechkov placed in Fargo in JR FR too). One of the late pickups, Tyler Guerra, was a Super 32 and Ironman placewinner who was second in Illinois AAA as a junior and third his sophomore year. An injury at the 2024 state tournament prevented him from that elusive title. The next tier of recruits for the Hoosiers includes an Ironman placer (Matt Hart), a UWW U17 freestyle AA (Chris Crawford), a three-time Pennsylvania state finalist (Ryan Garvick), and a three-time Wisconsin state finalist (Lucas Peters). Also, #59 from 2023, Sam Goin, is technically included in this class; however, for the purposes of our rankings he was counted last year - then he took a grayshirt. The 2024 NCAA Tournament saw Indiana with six representatives, which is the most for the school in almost 15 years. With back-to-back recruiting efforts like 23/24, it’s not hard to imagine them topping that number in the near future. 13. Iowa Recruits: #7 Angelo Ferrari: Melissa, TX (174/184), #64 Miguel Estrada: Frontier, CA (157), #66 Kael Voinovich: Iowa City, IA (165), #189 Keyan Hernandez: Billings West, MT (125), NR Dru Ayala: Fort Dodge, IA (125), NR Brady Benham: Sperry, OK (165), NR Otto Black: Mead, CO (141), NR Jake Howell: Cherry Creek, CO (197/285), NR Joey Kennedy: Kasson-Mantorville, MN (157) 2023 Ranking: #6 2022 Ranking: #11 2021 Ranking: #4 This is a lower-ranked recruiting class by Iowa’s standard, but one that still could be very useful. The headliner is Angelo Ferrari, a three-time Ironman champion, who was a winner at each of the last two Who’s #1 duals. Ferrari has the goods and should be in the national title hunt for the entirety of his collegiate career. On talent alone, Ferrari could have been in the hunt for the #1 overall ranking. The elephant in the room is the way his older brother's careers have played out thus far. Ordinarily, this may not be a concern; however, they are a very tight-knit family. The bottom line is, if Iowa gets four years of competition out of Ferrari, he likely outwrestles his ranking (and therefore the team’s would look better, as well). We mentioned family earlier, there are plenty of family ties between the Hawkeye Class of 2024 and the current roster. Kael Voinovich, Dru Ayala, and Joey Kennedy all have older brothers on the Iowa squad. They should help the transition from high school to college for the trio. Coming in from California is Miguel Estrada. Estrada’s ranking dropped after a tough state tournament, where he was prevented from winning his fourth state title. But, winning three California titles is an accomplishment in and of itself. Estrada was selected for the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic and notched a win over Indiana recruit Ryan Garvick. Voinovich already followed his older brother to Iowa and notched a fourth-place finish at the Super 32 and an Iowa 3A state title. Recently, unranked Otto Black earned a spot on the U20 World Team in Greco-Roman. In 2021, he fell in the bronze medal match at the U17 World Championships. 12. NC State Recruits: #30 Latrell Schafer: Veterans, GA (165), #77 Jaydon Robinson: Homewood-Flossmoor, IL (157), #92 Draegen Orine: Seckman, MO (133), #93 Louie Gill: Reynolds, PA (125), #118 Gavin Linsman: Liberty, MO (141/149), NR Luca Felix: University, West Virginia (174), NR Eric Grant: Iona Prep, NY (157), NR Tre Wilfong: Charlotte Christian, NC (174/184) 2023 Ranking: #18 2022 Ranking: #3 2021 Ranking: #5 This is a bit of a chance from some of the gigantic recruiting classes that NC State has hauled in in the past. Even without the huge numbers, there’s a lot to like. After the 2024-25 season, NC State will be hit hard by graduation/eligibility. Projected starters at four of the first five weights are seniors, so getting plenty of reinforcements in that area is well-timed. That being said, I’m not sure if they “need” any of them to wrestle immediately as true freshmen. This group follows a blueprint that has generally held steady for NC State recruiting over the years. They tend to get studs from Georgia (Latrell Schafer), Pennsylvania (Louie Gill), a sibling of a current wrestler (Draegen Orine, Jaydon Robinson), New York (Eric Grant), and a potential overlooked in-state kid (Tre Wilfong). Schafer, the head of the class, is a two-time Super 32 placer and a 2023 NHSCA Junior National champion. Though he moved up from 145 to 175 from his junior to senior year - Schafer still put together his second undefeated season in Georgia. Also with NHSCA success is Jaydon Robinson who was second at Senior Nationals after taking fourth at the Ironman. 11. Michigan Recruits: #10 Brock Mantanona: Palm Desert, CA (157), #41 Cam Catrabone: Williamsville North, NY (165), #65 Justin Gates: Davison, MI (149), #67 Chris Kiser: Ponca City, OK (125), #113 Teddy Flores: Maine South, IL (125/133), NR Zar Walker: Mishawaka, IN (133) 2023 Ranking: #2 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: NR Coming off a #2 recruiting class in 2023, Michigan turns in another strong performance with the Class of 2024. For the second year in a row, a Mantanona is headlining the Wolverine’s class. Last year it was Beau, this year it’s younger brother Brock. Brock is a two-time Fargo 16U freestyle finalist (one-time champ) and was a member of the 2023 U17 World Team in freestyle and came back from Istanbul with a bronze medal. Mantanona finished his high school career with a second California state title. He recently beat future teammate Dylan Gilcher on his way to third place at the U20 World Team Trials. Another familiar name to long-time Wolverine fans is Cam Catrabone. His father, Jeff, was a three-time All-American for Michigan. The younger Catrabone was a two-time New York state champion and a three-time Super 32 medalist. Michigan was also able to ink the highest-ranked in-state senior for the year in Justin Gates - a three-time state champion. With Michael DeAugustino out of eligibility at 125 lbs, either Chris Kiser or Teddy Flores may get pushed into the Wolverine lineup in year one. Kiser was a Junior Freestyle champion last summer in Fargo (at 113 lbs) and Flores is a late riser who capped his high school career with an Illinois 3A state title. Michigan’s 2024 recruiting class has targeted the first five weights, which is much needed. The Wolverines could have senior starters at two of those weights and the uncertainty at 125 lbs. 10. Virginia Tech Recruits: #22 Gage Wright: Parkersburg South, WV (174), #57 Dillon Campbell: Legacy Christian, OH (133), #58 Matt Henrich: Southern Regional, NJ (157), #83 Parker Ferrell: Christiansburg, VA, #176 Frank DiBella: St. Joe’s, NJ (165), #179 Gunner Garelli: Lyons Township, IL (165), NR Durben Carpenter: Chattahoochee, GA (125/133), NR Caden Smith: Robinson, VA (125) 2023 Ranking: #9 2022 Ranking: #7 2021 Ranking: #22 Virginia Tech continues to turn in great efforts on the recruiting trail and has signed a top-ten class for the third consecutive year. A couple of well-placed transfers will make it so that Tony Robie’s team can redshirt this entire class, if needed. Initially, Gage Wright was not the highest-ranked recruit in this class; however, he had an excellent senior season and rose to #22 overall. Wright sandwiched a third-place finish at the Beast of the East between titles at the Ironman and Powerade. He finished his senior year ranked number two in the nation at his weight class. Like clockwork, the Hokies have Big Board’ers from Ohio and New Jersey. Dillon Campbell became Ohio's 33rd four-time state champion and placed three times in Fargo in Junior freestyle, while Matt Henrich was his high school’s first state champion in almost 15 years (in 2003), then did it again as a senior. Neighboring Christiansburg has been very good to Virginia Tech in the past and has another top-100 prospect in Parker Ferrell. In 2022, Ferrell won the Super 32 and was fifth in Fargo’s Junior freestyle. The Hokies do have a lot of talent at heavyweight so Ferrell has time to develop, but also may need time to get in the lineup. 9. Iowa State Recruits: #15 Sawyer Bartelt: South Dade, FL (197), #35 Daniel Herrera: Palm Desert, CA (285), #68 Adrian Meza: Valiant Prep, AZ (133), #90 Kane Naaktgeboren: Linn-Mar, IA (157), #101 Canon Acklin: Collinsville, OK (125), #106 Tucker Stangel: Osage, IA (157), NR Gabe Carver: Urbandale, IA (165), NR Osmany Diversent: La Habana, Cuba (125/133) 2023 Ranking: #10 2022 Ranking: #2 2021 Ranking: #16 This makes it four straight years with a top-16 recruiting classes for Kevin Dresser’s crew. The Cyclones obviously wanted to upgrade their big men and did so with their top two recruits. Each is one of the best options available at 197 lbs and heavyweight. Sawyer Bartelt was a four-time, undefeated Florida state champion who placed five times in Fargo and was top-four in both styles in UWW U17’s. He was the second-ranked 197 lber in the entire class. Daniel Herrera won a pair of California state titles, committed to the Cyclones, moved to Iowa and won a third championship. Prior to his senior year, Herrera was a finalist at the Super 32. In addition to Herrera, Kane Naaktgeboren and Tucker Stangel also won Iowa titles in 2024, while Gabe Carver was a runner-up. Arizona used to be a semi-regular spot for Iowa State to mine for recruits. That pipeline looks to be re-established with the signing of 2021 16U freestyle national champion Adrian Meza. Plus, there’s more potentially on the way. Meza is from a Valiant Prep program that is loaded with talent. The x factor in this class is Osmany Diversent who is the third Cuban to make his way to Ames. For some teams, his lack of folkstyle experience could be a risk; however, Dresser’s team has put the previous two on the NCAA podium, so they have a positive track record. In 2021, Diversent won gold at the Pan-American U20 Championships defeating Penn national qualifier Ryan Miller in the finals. 8. North Carolina Recruits: #36 Luke Simcox: Central Mountain, PA (149), #45 Nick O’Neill: Malvern Prep, NJ (141), #52 Laird Root: Poway, CA (157), #74 Jake Dailey: Wyoming Seminary, PA (184), #76 Collin Carrigan: Glenbard West, IL (165), #85 Cam Stinson: Mallard Creek, NC (125/133), #155 Elias Navida: Poway, CA (133), #159 Robert Platt: Poway, CA (197/285), #172 Mikey Calcagno: IC Catholic, IL (197), NR Aiden Schlett: St. Joes, NJ (197) 2023 Ranking: NR 2022 Ranking: #16 2021 Ranking: #21 What a recruiting class! And it was one that continued to develop in the final weeks leading up to the recruiting rankings. North Carolina brought in nine of the top-200 recruits in the nation and six of them had committed elsewhere, at one point in time. When it was all said and done, Rob Koll’s first class at UNC is massive and should provide help throughout the lineup. In 2024, this incoming group of Tar Heels was responsible for two National Prep finals appearances (Nick O’Neill and Jake Dailey), a Pennsylvania AAA title (Luke Simcox), three California state finals appearances (Elias Navida, Laird Root, and Robert Platt), and a pair of Illinois state titles (Collin Carrigan and Mikey Calcagno). And if that’s not enough, the UNC staff signed one of the most decorated wrestlers in North Carolina history, Cam Stinson. Stinson was just the third North Carolina high schooler to finish as an undefeated four-time state champion. A handful of offseason transfers have helped bolster the Tar Heel lineup so most, if not all, of this group could redshirt in 2024-25. Barring injuries, there may be one or two weights for a freshman to work their way into the lineup in year one. 7. Missouri Recruits: #3 Aeoden Sinclair: Milton, WI (184), #51 Jake Crapps: Cass, GA (133), #59 Gage Walker: Bixby, OK (133), #63 Jace Roller: Bixby, OK (149), #79 Jake Stoffel: Appleton North, WI (174), #125 Mack Mauger: Blackfoot, ID (125), NR Logan Cole: Billings, MT (174), NR Kolten Oborny: College Park, TX (157), NR Owen Uppinghouse: Quincy, IL (165) 2023 Ranking: NR 2022 Ranking: #2 2021 Ranking: NR Similar to Cornell, who was mentioned yesterday, Missouri tends to have a huge recruiting class followed by a smaller one. That pattern has continued after not being ranked in 2021 and 2023, but signing the #2 overall class in 2022 and #7 this year. The class is led by one of the highest-ranked signees ever for the Tigers, Aeoden Sinclair. The 2023 U17 World Team member was a two-time Super 32 finalist (one-time champ) and a Fargo 16U freestyle champion. He also defeated fellow Askren Wrestling Academy teammate Connor Mirasola at Who’s #1. Like current Tiger star Keegan O’Toole, Sinclair also wrestled under former Mizzou legend Ben Askren. The Tigers got a second Wisconsin Big Board’er this year with UWW U17 All-American Jake Stoffel. He and Sinclair could end up back-to-back in a future Missouri lineup. You have to like Mizzou getting a pair of top-100 high school teammates out of Oklahoma in Gage Walker and Jace Roller. The pair combined to win seven Oklahoma state titles at Bixby High School. Lightweight prospect Mack Mauger had one of the most decorated Fargo careers in recent memory. He placed six times with five titles - three of which came at the Junior age group. Keep an eye out for the unranked recruits in this class. Missouri does as good of a job as anyone at developing those prospects into productive collegiate wrestlers. 6. Minnesota Recruits: #9 Koy Hopke: Amery, WI (285), #29 Charlie Millard: Homestead, WI (165), #132 Wyatt Duchateau: Arrowhead, WI (149), #133 Jack Nelson: Mound Westonka, MN (133), #134 Dawson Johnson: Cumberland, WI (149), #224 Jed Wester: St. Michael-Albertville, MN (174), #243 Silas Dailey: Plymouth, WI (184), #246 Blake Beissel: Hastings, MN (125) 2023 Ranking: #14 2022 Ranking: HM 2021 Ranking: #7 Very impressive class from the Minnesota staff as they kept some solid prospects home and then headed to Trevor Brandvold’s home state to get even more talent. Is Koy Hopke the next in line when it comes to great Minnesota heavyweights? He has all of the pre-college makings of one. Hopke made the U17 World team in both styles in 2022, winning a gold medal in freestyle and placing eighth in Greco. A year later, Hopke grabbed a stop sign from Fargo with a Junior freestyle title. Two-time Junior freestyle All-American Charlie Millard, NHSCA Senior National champion Dawson Johnson, 16U Fargo All-American Silas Dailey, and three-time state champion Wyatt Duchateau all come over from Wisconsin. The in-state contingent is responsible for a total of seven state titles between Jack Nelson (3), Jed Wester (2), and Blake Beissel (2). The upcoming edition of the Gophers doesn’t have any glaring holes and adding this talented crop will only help push Minnesota back towards NCAA team trophy contention. 5. Ohio State Recruits: #4 Ben Davino: St. Charles East, IL (133), #17 Ethan Birden: Dublin Coffman, OH (165), #43 Carter Neves: Blair Academy, NJ (285), #120 Landon Desselle: Summit, TN (149), #177 Cayaen Smith: Pleasant Grove, UT (197), NR Daxton Chase: Pleasant, OH (149/157), NR Dakota King: Barnesville, OH (141), NR Jaxson Rosselli: Olentangy Liberty, OH (125/133) 2023 Ranking: #5 2022 Ranking: #1 2021 Ranking: #9 In the first half of the rankings, we mentioned some teams that tend to have enormous recruiting classes. Ohio State typically is on the opposite side of the spectrum, with smaller classes, and fewer top-100 recruits; however, the ones they get are among the best in their respective grades. That has proven to be true again as Tom Ryan’s team has signed two of the top-20 wrestlers in the nation along with another in the top-50. Ben Davino is the biggest name in the class and put together a remarkable high school career. A 2023 U17 World Team member, Davino won a pair of Walsh Ironman titles, the Super 32, 16U freestyle in Fargo and two Who’s #1 matches. Recently, Davino made the finals of the U20 World Team Trials. Although Davino could probably have immediate success in the Buckeye lineup, it appears as if they have the luxury of redshirting him in 2024-25. The second top-20 recruit is Ethan Birden, a two-time Ohio state champion who made the Ironman podium on three occasions including a finals appearance in 2022. The Buckeye also added one of the top big men in the class with Carter Neves. Neves had a senior year at Blair Academy that featured titles at the Ironman, the Best of the East, and National Preps. The only problem is how Neves fits into the lineup. After a redshirt season, he would still overlap returning All-American Nick Feldman by two years. Two-time Beast placer Landon Desselle and Cayaen Smith add much-needed depth to the Buckeye lineup. 4. Rutgers Recruits: #26 Conner Harer: Montgomery, PA (165), #32 Nate Blanchette: Central Catholic, MA (184), #34 Ayden Smith: Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA (125), #40 Andrew Barbosa: Palm Desert, CA (157), #53 Mason Gibson: Bishop McCort, PA (125/133), #117 Alex Nini: Christian Brothers, NJ (141), #183 Ryan Ford: Bergen Catholic, NJ (157), #206 Kurt Wehner: Donovan Catholic, NJ (125), NR Donovan DiStefano: Wall Township, NJ (149), NR Brandon Toranzo: Nutley, NJ (285), NR Nick Villani: Bernards, NJ (141/149) 2023 Ranking: HM 2022 Ranking: #12 2021 Ranking: #17 You have to go all the way back to the beginning of the Scott Goodale-era to find a recruiting class like this one. That 2008 class (#2) was important for setting a foundation and letting the rest of the country know Rutgers was on the rise. This one could push the school to a point where they’re consistently in the top-ten (or higher?). The 2024 group was solid on its own; however, late flips from Ayden Smith and Mason Gibson pushed it into the top-five. Smith and Conner Harer are both multi-time Pennsylvania state champions. Harer had three and Smith two. Gibson also comes across the border from PA. He was famously a Super 32 champion as an eighth-grader and made the finals two additional times throughout his high school career. We could see Smith and Gibson back-to-back starting off the Rutgers lineup in the future. The Rutgers staff ventured into some relatively uncharted territory, for them, with the signing of three-time New England champion Nate Blanchette. Blanchette steadily rose on the Big Board during his senior year from 78 to 42 before settling in at 32. The other top-50 recruit of the bunch is California runner-up Andrew Barbosa. Rutgers always recruits New Jersey well and this year was no exception as they signed state finalists Alex Nini and Kurt Wehner - along with four-time medalist Ryan Ford. For more on the Rutgers recruiting class, check out our interview with assistant coach Steve Mytych. 3. Oklahoma Recruits: #16 Beric Jordan: Stillwater, OK (125/133), #19 Alex Braun: Woodbury, MN (149), #55 Anders Thompson: Flathead, MT (197), #94 Landyn Sommer: Stillwater, OK (165), #104 Clayton Giddens-Buttram: Bixby, OK (165), #152 Ricky Thomas: Edmond North, OK (285), #153 Hunter Hollingsworth: Edmond North, OK (141), #185 Owen Eck: Andale, KS (149), #210 Cash Donnell: Piedmont, OK (125), #222 Jude Randall: Edmond North, OK (174), #225 Koufax Christensen: Waukee North, IA (125/133), NR Jacob Henry: Vandergrift, TX (285), NR Jake Moon: Rockwall, TX (149/157), NR Andrew Mullin: Bixby, OK (197) 2023 Ranking: NR 2022 Ranking: HM 2021 Ranking: #11 The first full recruiting class for Oklahoma head coach Roger Kish was a successful one. It’s also a bit of an understatement. The Sooners led everyone in the nation by signing 11 Big Board'er’s, which was the highest total in the country (by two). Oklahoma has talented new faces likely at all ten weight classes. Not only does Oklahoma have the quantity portion - but they also have two of the top-20 wrestlers in the nation in Beric Jordan and Alex Braun. Jordan was a three-time Ironman finalist and one-time champ. Last summer, he made the Fargo Junior freestyle finals at 120 lbs. Braun is a four-time Fargo placer who was third at the Super 32. Both were selected to compete at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic and notched victories. The Sooner staff did an excellent job of getting talent from within their borders. And from power programs. Stillwater, Bixby, and Edmond North to name a few. Prior to Kish’s arrival, Oklahoma hadn’t always recruited in-state well. Not only did they hit the in-state programs, but the Sooners also signed Big Board wrestlers from Minnesota and Iowa. Overall, this is a great start for the Kish-era. Oklahoma has potential early impact wrestlers in Jordan and Braun, but also lots of signees that can be developed and reshape the future of OU wrestling. For more on the Oklahoma recruiting class, check out our interview with assistant coach Cam Sykora. 2. Stanford Recruits: #11 Aden Valencia: Morgan Hill, CA (149), #18 Colin Guffey: Granite Hills, CA (174), #33 Jack Consiglio: Malvern Prep, PA (141), #38 Grigor Cholakyan: St. John Bosco, CA (157), #42 Jason Mara: Meridian, ID (157), #62 EJ Parco: Los Gatos, CA (157), #105 Cole Han-Lindemyer: Farmington, MN (184), NR Lars Michaelson: Bremerton, WA (197) 2023 Ranking: #8 2022 Ranking: #5 2021 Ranking: NR Three straight years with a top-eight recruiting class for the Cardinal! Those previous classes combined with this one have a pretty imposing potential lineup in place for second-year head coach Chris Ayres. Stanford was the only team this year that nabbed seven of the top 150 wrestlers - and five of the top-50 is an excellent total. The class is headlined by Aden Valencia who has proven himself time and again on the freestyle circuit. Earlier this month, Valencia was a runner-up at the U20 Trials. He might be a difficult one to keep out of the lineup immediately. In years past, Stanford has recruited on a national level almost moreso than in-state. This year was different as they inked California state champions Colin Guffey and Grigor Cholakyan, along with third-place finisher EJ Parco. Coming all the way from Pennsylvania is Ironman runner-up and three-time National Prep champion Jack Consiglio. Consiglio was also selected to compete in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. The only nitpick with this class is that they have a lot of signees around the 149/157 range. But the truth is if a couple of them turn into stars that will be forgotten. Stanford finished 16th in the nation in 2024. With three years of excellent recruiting classes, they could have an even greater national impact in 2025 and beyond. 1. Penn State Recruits: #1 Luke Lilledahl: Wyoming Seminary, PA/MO (125/133), #5 Connor Mirasola: West Bend West, WI (197), #6 Zack Ryder: Minisink Valley, NY (174/184), #8 Joseph Sealey: Wyoming Seminary, PA/NC (165), #14 Cole Mirasola: West Bend West, WI (285), #91 Brock Weiss: Jersey Shore, PA (157), NR Ty Watson: Penns Valley, PA (149/157) 2023 Ranking: #3 2022 Ranking: NR 2021 Ranking: #1 For the most anti-climatic ranking of the bunch, Penn State comes in at number one after signing four top-ten recruits and five of the top-15. Three of the wrestlers from this class earned a spot on the U20 World Team in freestyle (Luke Lilledahl, Zack Ryder, and Connor Mirasola). Another two finished third at the Trials (Joseph Sealey and Cole Mirasola). Lilledahl and Sealey already have world-level credentials under their belts with U17 world championships in 2022. Lilledahl has since captured a silver medal at the U20 world level. For almost a decade, 125 has been a weight that Penn State has had difficulty filling with a star that can match the rest of its lineup. Lilledahl has the potential to step in right away and become a contender at the weight. Connor Mirasola has established himself as the top 197 lb prospect in the class through his U20 Trials performance and a pair of Junior freestyle national titles in Fargo. He also made the U17 Trials finals on two occasions. His twin brother, Cole, is a two-time Junior freestyle All-American after making the finals last year. Ryder is a two-time U17 world bronze medalist and was third at the Ironman as a sophomore. Sealey has been selected to wrestle in Who’s #1 in each of the last two preseasons and is a three-time National Prep champion. Not to be overlooked is Brock Weiss who is also a top-100 recruit and a PA state finalist. Obviously, with a stacked lineup and a class of this caliber, there is sure to be some overlap. At the same time, we probably won’t remember that issue while reviewing this class in 2029.

United World Wrestling announced today that they have made 16 wrestlers eligible to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes in the 2024 Olympic Games (for wrestling purposes). Wrestlers from Belarus and Russia have been able to compete under that designation (AIN) over the past two years. As they compete with the AIN designation, athletes are not permitted to wear uniforms with their nation’s flag and will not have their national anthem played in the event they win a gold medal. During the Olympic qualification process, there had been 26 quotas earned by Belarusian and Russian wrestlers, so some very notable athletes will not be permitted to compete. Most notable are Zaur Uguev, Zaurbek Sidakov, and Abdulrashid Sadulaev. Each were gold medalists in 2021. The Russians invited to compete in all three styles are: Freestyle Nachin Mongush (57 kg) Shamil Mamedov (65 kg) Arslan Bagaev (86 kg) Abdulla Kurbanov (125 kg) Greco-Roman Alan Ostaev (87 kg) Magomed Murtazaliev (97 kg) Women's Wrestling Natalya Malysheva (53 kg) Veronika Chumikova (57 kg) Alina Kasabieva (62 kg) Elizaveta Petliakova (68 kg) The Belarussians invited to compete in all three styles are: Freestyle Yahor Akulich (74 kg) Uladzislau Kazlou (97 kg) Greco-Roman Abubakar Khaslakhanau (97 kg) Dzmitri Zarubski (130 kg) Women's Wrestling Viyaleta Rebikava (53 kg) Krystsina Sazykina (62 kg) The release from the UWW stated that there will be a process for replacements in the ten weights which now have unused quotas. There was no clarification as to whether those countries would be able to provide a substitute or another nation could take the quota or whether the athletes that were not cleared could be cleared at a later date.

Wyoming head coach Mark Branch talks to James Hackney about what living in Wyoming is like, the culture surrounding his team, and training at elevation. Coach Branch also talks about what makes All-American Jore Volk special, working with a young squad in 2024 and the expectations for 2025. They close by discussing the Battle at the Barn an impressive event on UFC FightPass. For the full interivew:

It’s been a minute since we took a step back and examined the conference as a whole and looked at all of the moving pieces. Let’s see what’s happening in the ACC as we enter the summer months. West Coast to the Atlantic Coast Conference The biggest change we will see in the conference this season is the addition of Stanford to the conference (California and Southern Methodist are also joining but do not have wrestling programs). The Cardinal has a strong core with an impressive #2 ranked recruiting class moving into Palo Alto this season. Current North Carolina head coach Rob Koll came to Chapel Hill after a stint as the head coach at Stanford. He was succeeded by Chris Ayres after his long tenure as head coach at Princeton. The addition of a scrappy Stanford team could provide some interesting wrinkles in the conference competition this year. We will take a deeper look at this as schedules are released and logistics are figured out. Coaching Changes Adam Hall left his post as Associate Head Coach at NC State to take the head coaching job at Utah Valley. Replacing Hall in Raleigh is an experienced and highly accomplished Coach Zack Esposito. Pat Popolizio and Esposito both have Oklahoma State ties; Esposito was on staff at OSU for several years, but his most recent post was as the Developmental Coach for the USOPTC. Cody Brewer moved north to take the Head Assistant Coach position at Princeton after several years on staff in Blacksburg. Moving south to join the staff is Zach Tanelli who had spent the previous eight seasons as the Head Coach at Columbia University and will serve as the Associate Head Coach for the Hokies. Tanelli wrestled under Jared Frayer in his first year coaching at Wisconsin and they have maintained a close relationship. Another former head coach will be joining an ACC staff, this time in Pittsburgh with Lou Rosselli joining as an Assistant Coach. Rosselli was the long-time Head Coach of the Ohio RTC - where he coached Pitt Head Coach Keith Gavin and was most recently the Head Coach for the University of Oklahoma, where Gavin spent a year before coming to Pittsburgh. Transfer Portal There are a lot of new faces joining the ACC via the transfer portal; as of the time of this article, nine wrestlers left the conference for new teams while 10 will be transferring into three teams in the ACC. The portal this year seemed to be very heavy with Ivy League wrestlers who have remaining eligibility after exhausting their allowed time at their schools - the Ivy League doesn’t allow grad students to compete in athletics. North Carolina was very active in the portal, adding four new wrestlers to the team. Ethan Oakley (133) will be moving across NC from Appalachian State, while Ryan Boersma (285) will be joining from Mizzou. Two former Columbia wrestlers will be donning a new shade of blue with Josh Ogunsanya (157) and Nolan Neves (285) joining the Tar Heels. Pittsburgh also took advantage of the portal; they have been very successful adding talent to their roster since the transfer portal became an option, with multiple starters coming from transfers in the past three years. The Panthers are also adding a Columbia wrestler in talented lightweight Nick Babin (125). They added a second lightweight in Evan Tallmadge (125) from the Naval Academy. Mateo de la Pena (165) transfers from California Baptist and Chase Kranitz (184) from Buffalo. Virginia Tech was the final ACC team to add wrestlers from the portal. The two new Hokies will be immediate impact guys in the lineup. Lennox Wolak (174) is the final Columbia wrestler making the move to the ACC; he announced his transfer prior to Tanelli being added to the staff. They also added Connor McGonagle (133) from Lehigh who will slide in at 133 with Sam Latona moving up to 141 next year. LIVE WRESTLING! As we all know, there is no real off-season from wrestling. Usually, freestyle takes center mat during the summer, but we will see ACC wrestlers competing in a couple different folkstyle and folkstyle-esque events in the next few weeks as two organizations are putting on showcase events in hopes of developing a professional wrestling league. The Championship Wrestling Association Showcase will be held on June 15th in Murrysville, PA. There will be several former ACC wrestlers taking the mat in their showcase bouts. Pittsburgh grad Micky Phillippi will face Nashon Garrett and fellow Panther grad Demetrius Thomas will square off with Jordan Wood. We will also have not one, but two Finesilvers returning to the mat, and they will both face other ACC alumni. Mitch Finesilver will wrestle former Tar Heel Evan Henderson while Matt Finesilver will face the LIVE WRESTLING man himself, Trent Hidlay. The following weekend, June 22-23, CLAW will host their second event, following their debut tournament last summer. The two-day event will feature a mini-tournament on Saturday to determine the finalists who will be in the main event on Sunday. CLAW features a modified rule set that they believe will excite fans and get more action on the mat. They are attempting to start a professional league in 2025. The full entrant list has not been released, but I expect to see several current ACC wrestlers in the mix.

Steubenville

Fresh off a second consecutive mention in InterMat's recruiting rankings, assistant coach Tyler Smith sits down to talk about recruiting with Austin Sommer. Smith talks about identifying prospects early (don't call them diamonds in the rough), making connections throughout the country, and how the class has already made it to campus. Other topics touched on are the "new look" EIWA, NIL, leaders like Kurt Phipps and Dylan Chappell, the engineering program at Bucknell and much more. For the full interview:

Good morning everyone and welcome back to another edition of the mailbag as we head into the summer season and all that goes with it. What exactly goes with it? Beats me. But I’m required to put words down and you’re required to read them, so that’s what we are doing here. I won’t even waste any more time so let's open some mail and see what you had to say! The season is full of ups and downs, but the offseason can have some slow news days. How do you keep yourself from getting stagnant? How do you stay locked in? Doc Rhino You can’t get complacent out there. Go to WrestleStat and peruse some lineups. My man Dan has a finger on the pulse and another finger on Instagram for all those transfer announcements from guys you’ve never heard of and he’s constantly updating rosters for you. The IM gang is breaking into the video world and putting up some nice interviews to keep you tuned into what’s going around the country. Holmes and the conference guys are still doing their thing to keep you sharp. Our mystery man at Fantasy Championship Wrestling is locked into all the breaking news from CLAW, so you can see who Billy Baldwin might draft, while he ignores my challenges. Richard Mann is still out there letting you know what former wrestlers are fighting so you don’t miss Austin O’Connor slamming a dude’s head into the canvas. Wrestling has no offseason anymore and if you just flop on the couch and look away you’ll get left in the dust. Do you think I want to be writing all this on June 14? Of course not. But if you want Scott Green to mention you in his year-end roundup, You have to be able to put in the work during the summer. Will this (Christian Carroll) swing the CyHawk dual ISU’s way? Redacted It’s way too early to tell but as of now, I don’t think so. Iowa had a bit of a down year in 2024 by Iowa standards but I do believe they will be very good next season. So since it’s mid-June and there is nothing else going on, we shall take a gander at both teams and see what’s cooking. Drake Ayala is a title contender for his remaining two years. Next topic. At 133, State found a live one in Evan Frost and he should be too much to handle for the redshirt frosh, Kale Peterson. Cullan Schriever moves up to 141 for Iowa and it appears that the other Frost brother, Jacob, will be the guy for the Cyclones. You have to take the Hawkeye veteran as he finally gets a chance to start for a full season in what should be his final year of eligibility. Now is where things start to get interesting. Anthony Echemendia appears to have called 911 on his career just in time and resuscitated it to grab a fifth-place finish last March. He moves up to 149 just in time for Iowa to bring in that weight’s fifth-place finisher in Kyle Parco. For now, I’m giving the edge to Parco but it’s really a tossup in my book. In a sentence I never thought I’d write, we see the returns of two guys off of gambling suspensions in Cobe Siebrecht and Paniro Johnson. I like Cobe but my money is on Paniro right now. For those keeping count, I have it 9-7 Iowa State at the break but the second half is where Iowa starts to flex their muscle. Michael Caliendo is a finals contender in the new-look 165 class and while Connor Euton and Manny Rojas look to have some promise, I have to go Iowa here possibly with bonus points. Whatever combo of Arnold and Brands we get at the next two weights I still feel is too strong for State to overcome. And now we get to CC2. Who I assume is going 197, thus pushing fellow transfer Evan Bockman to 184. Even if Carroll comes as advertised, he still has to deal with Zach “The Clincher” Glazier in yet another clinching situation as I have it 17-9 Iowa at the moment. For argument’s sake, I’ll give CC2 the win and set up last year’s breakout star of the regular season in Yonger Bastida with a chance to possibly win the dual if he can pin…Ben Kueter. Yeesh. A tough enough task if Ben walked onto the mat straight out of football practice but now, even if it’s for one year, we are getting a fully-realized Ben Kueter and it will be a massive difference maker for Iowa throughout the year. Final score Iowa 20 Iowa State 12. Sorry Cyclone Nation and I’m on your side in this rivalry, so take solace in the fact that I don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, and hopefully very wrong as usual. And now to the Burger King of Kings portion of the show. My most loyal reader gets his own section now. Aside from talking about wrestling, what hobbies do you do? None, and I should get some. But entertaining you folks is a full-time job so it's a hobby enough for me. I also enjoy knitting, watching my baseball team lose, and watching my WNBA team win. Go Liberty! The current best player on Earth, Breanna Stewart, has the Libs rolling right now as she attempts to break the Jagger curse and get me a title. It will happen. Should high schools move to shorter time post weigh-ins? Matside scales for all levels if you ask me. Would be enormous drama. What is a Met & why are they a mascot of NYC? If you must know, Met is short for Metropolitan which is what we call New York City and the surrounding area. The colors blue and orange represent the two teams they replaced in the Dodgers and Giants who both moved west in 1958 and were never heard from again. It’s a stupid name for a stupid team who plays a stupid sport. A man with four balls cannot walk. Have you ever found a wrestling celeb using a chat-bot? because I have. Is it Billy Baldwin? Who is the scariest assistant coach you've ever seen (in person) and why is it Frank Molinaro? I have not been in the same room as Frank Molinaro or many other coaches for that matter. I did go see Iowa wrestle Princeton a few years ago so Terry Brands wins by default. We need more young people in the trades. What is a good trade for former wrestlers to get into? Welding. Metal will always need to be bonded to other metal and you have to have some grit to do the job. It’s the perfect job for former wrestlers. Tough people who are able to work in tough conditions. Or you can just start a YouTube page and see how that goes. Work sucks and you’ll likely make more money being a fool on the internet because this world is a ridiculous place now. And with that, it’s a wrap for this week. Have a good weekend, all! If I didn’t get to your question, there’s always next week.

Cornell rounded out their coaching staff today with the announcement that David McFadden has come aboard as the team’s volunteer assistant. McFadden comes to Cornell after spending the last three years on the Drexel coaching staff. During his time at Drexel, the Dragons sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships and saw two of them (Mickey O’Malley and Brian Bonino) advance to the bloodround. O’Malley also captured an EIWA championship in 2022. While coaching, McFadden also was a member of the Penn RTC and was a fixture on the freestyle circuit. In 2022, McFadden captured a title at the US Open over Vincenzo Joseph at 79 kg. He earned a spot in the 2024 Olympic Team Trials after posting a 12-2 tech over former Penn State national runner-up Morgan McIntosh at the Last Chance Qualifier at 86 kg. In his excellent post-match interview, McFadden described returning from an injury at Senior Nationals and his desire to continue competing for another Olympic quad. At the Trials, McFadden went 0-2 after getting knocked off in the opening round by Penn State signee Connor Mirasola and a consolation loss to Evan Wick. McFadden competed collegiately at Virginia Tech where he earned All-American honors on three occasions (6,5,5) and captured a pair of ACC titles. He was named an NWCA first-team All-American in 2020 after the NCAA Tournament was canceled at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic. McFadden was slated to be the seventh seed at his final national tournament. McFadden is the second coach added to Mike Grey’s coaching staff during this offseason. In May, Grey brought aboard Scottie Boykin as an assistant coach. Cornell finished second in the nation in 2024 and has claimed NCAA team trophies in each of the past two seasons under Grey’s leadership. The Big Red lost Vito Arujau and Jacob Cardenas in the offseason, but return All-Americans Meyer Shapiro and Chris Foca, along with two-time EIWA champion Julian Ramirez.

Christian Carroll, the #2 overall recruit in the high school Class of 2023, has announced today that he’ll transfer to Iowa State University. The transfer portal was open for 30 days after David Taylor took over the head coaching position at Oklahoma State and Carroll entered the portal on the final day of that extension. Carroll was listed in the portal with a “Do Not Contact” designation, which means he didn’t want coaches to contact him and likely had his own list of potential suitors. Carroll is a two-time U20 World Team member, making the squad in 2022 in Greco-Roman and a year later in freestyle. He was able to compete in the 2024 Olympic Team Trials at 97kg after winning the Last Chance Qualifying event. In State College, Carroll went 1-2 with an opening round win over 3x All-American Tony Cassioppi before falling 1-1, on criteria, to two-time world champion J’den Cox. Two weeks ago, at the U23 National Championships, Carroll finished in third place at 92 kg with wins over Oregon State All-American Trey Munoz and Campbell national qualifier Levi Hopkins. It’s still unclear what Carroll’s ideal collegiate weight will be. Initially, he was slated to be a heavyweight, but he’s rather short for the weight; however, he is extremely muscular and 197 lbs seems to be a difficult cut. He’d still need to drop five more pounds from his U23 weight. Carroll is one of only two transfers to leave the Oklahoma State program after Taylor took over (AJ Heeg was the other). One would assume he’ll still attempt to drop to 197 lbs at Iowa State. The Cyclones return Big 12 champion and NCAA #2 seed Yonger Bastida at 285 lbs. They also have brought in Evan Bockman, who was a three-time national qualifier at 197 lbs for Utah Valley. Bockman is in his final year of eligibility. Carroll got his #2 ranking in the Class of 2023 based on his Junior World Team accomplishments along with a pair of belt-winning performances at the Super 32 and a Junior freestyle title in Fargo (in 2021). During his redshirt year at Oklahoma State, Carroll went 2-1.

The University of Wisconsin announced their new coaching hire today as they will add 3x NCAA All-American Tony Cassioppi to the staff. Chris Bono’s staff had an opening after Seth Gross opted to focus on coaching at the Wisconsin RTC. Cassioppi was a four-year starter for the Iowa Hawkeyes at 285 lbs from 2020-23. As a redshirt freshman, Cassioppi was named a first-team All-American by the NWCA after the national tournament was canceled at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. For the remainder of his career, Cassioppi was a top contender for the Hawkeyes. In 2020-21, Cassioppi got on the NCAA podium for the first time, placing third and helping Iowa to a team title. He would take seventh the following season and fourth in 2023. Cassioppi never finished lower than third at the Big Ten Championships - hitting that mark on three occasions and making the finals in 2022. Cassioppi was initially eligible to compete during the 2023-24 campaign, but lost that year of eligibility during the Iowa sports gambling probe. In addition to his collegiate success, Cassioppi has been excellent on the freestyle scene. Prior to the 2021-22 college season, Cassioppi went to the U23 World Championships and won gold. A year later, he came back from Spain with a bronze medal. Though he competed at heavyweight during his entire career at Iowa, Cassioppi slimmed down as his career progressed. That was evident as he’s competed at 97 kg recently. Cassioppi was at that weight for the 2024 Olympic Team Trials and earned his spot there with a fifth-place showing at 2023 Senior Nationals. Getting an upperweight coach sounds like a good idea for the Badgers as they have signed #12 Dillan Johnson (Joliet West, Illinois). Johnson was an Ironman champion and a Fargo Junior freestyle runner-up in 2022. He has committed to wrestling and playing football at Wisconsin. Bono’s staff has also signed a pair of upperweight prospects (Wyatt Ingham/WI and Matty Jens/IL) who finished their high school career amongst the top-250 recruits in the nation.

Southern Regional

InterMat's recruiting rankings were released over the past two days (Part One and Part Two) and the first day coaches can have official contact with rising juniors is looming. That makes it the perfect time to talk all things recruiting with Willie Saylor of MatScouts/InterMat. Topics of discussion include under-the-radar 2024 recruits, up-and-coming (and underachieving) states, recruiting strategies, compiling recruiting rankings, the evolution of recruiting rankings, and much more. For the full discussion: