One of the longstanding traditions at InterMat is the re-ranking of high school recruiting classes five years after the wrestlers enrolled in college. During normal circumstances, this would encompass nearly all of the wrestlers in the high school Class of 2020. But we still aren’t in a typical stretch of wrestling seasons. Due to the extra year of eligibility for wrestlers active in 2021, due to COVID, about half of the wrestlers in this recruiting class have another year of eligibility remaining, should they choose to use it. With another season’s worth of accomplishments, there could be some more shuffling on this list if it were revisited a year from now.
When it comes down to it, this isn’t quite as strong of a group as other classes before it. Only two wrestlers have captured national titles from this group and only four have made an NCAA final. Last year, we noted how four wrestlers from the Class of 2019 with national titles was a bit of a low number. That figure looks much better now as three wrestlers from that group won their first titles in 2025 - so this is a number that could change in the future. Overall, we have 24 wrestlers from the Class of 2020 that have already earned All-American honors. Again, that number is lower than in past seasons - the Class of 2019 had 31 at this time, a year ago.
Looking at the top group from the Class of 2020 - it’s a bit of an outlier from recent years. As we’ve gotten access to more information and video, there have been fewer wrestlers in the top ten that didn’t go on to superstar status, compared to ten or 15 years ago. Four wrestlers from the top ten have not yet earned All-American honors (a few are still active).
As we tried to sort through careers, it was rather easy to figure out who should earn the number one ranking in 2024. Keegan O’Toole was the only multiple-time champion from this class and the sole five-time All-American - never finishing lower than third.
Since he has multiple years of eligibility remaining and a national title already under his belt, AJ Ferrari gets the second slot over Beau Bartlett. If we revise this in the future, there’s a chance that Ferrari could have an argument over O’Toole for the top spot. As of now, Bartlett has more NCAA placements than Ferrari, but AJ has the title and a record with only two losses.
In turn, Bartlett gets the number three spot over Dustin Plott because of his number of high NCAA finishes and multiple NCAA #2 seeds.
So, let’s get down to it! Below are the top 50 wrestlers from the Class of 2020, re-ranked after considering their collegiate accomplishments. They are listed along with the schools they attended, along with their original high school class ranking via Willie Saylor’s MatScouts site.
After the top 50 is a list of the top 50 from 2019. On that list, wrestlers are noted by the schools they initially signed with.
1. Keegan O’Toole (Hartland, WI) - Missouri (High School Rank: #5)
2x NCAA Champion, 5x All-American (2,3,1,1,3), 4x Big 12 Champion
2. AJ Ferrari (Allen, TX) - Oklahoma State/CSU Bakersfield (High School Rank: #1) - Still Active
2021 NCAA Champion, 2x All-American (3,1), 2x Conference Champion (Pac-12, Big 12)
3. Beau Bartlett (Tempe, AZ) - Penn State (High School Rank: #7)
3x All-American (3,2,3), 2024 Big Ten Runner-Up
4. Dustin Plott (Tuttle, OK) - Oklahoma State (High School Rank: #2)
4x All-American (4,2,6,6), 2x Big 12 Champion
5. Rocky Elam (Kansas City, MO) - Missouri (High School Rank: #9) - Still Active
4x All-American (6,3,4,5), 2x Conference Champion (Big 12, MAC)
6. Peyton Hall (Oak Glen, WV) - West Virginia (High School Rank: #45)
3x All-American (3,7,8), 2025 Big 12 Champion, 5x NCAA Qualifier
7. Lachlan McNeil (Toronto, Ontario) - North Carolina (High School Rank: #11) - Still Active
3x All-American (5,6,4), 2025 ACC Runner-Up
8. Anthony Noto (Lima, New York) - NC State/Lock Haven (High School Rank: #131)
2x All-American (3,4), 4x MAC Champion
9. Eddie Ventresca (Roxbury, NJ) - Virginia Tech (High School Rank: #65) - Still Active
2x All-American (5,7), 2025 ACC Champion
10. Dylan Shawver (Lorain, OH) - Rutgers (High School Rank: #73) - Still Active
1x All-American (7), 2024 Big Ten Champion, 2025 NCAA Round of 12
11. Dylan Ragusin (Elk Grove Village, IL) - Michigan (High School Rank: #68) - Still Active
1x All-American (5), 2024 Big Ten Runner-Up, 2022 NCAA Round of 12
12. CJ Composto (Westfield, NJ) - Penn (High School Rank: NR) - Still Active
2x All-American (4,8), 2025 Ivy League Champion, 3x NCAA Qualifier
13. Ed Scott (Dubois, PA) - NC State (High School Rank: #18)
1x All-American (5), 2x ACC Champion, 2x NCAA Round of 12
14. Isaac Trumble (Springfield, NE) - NC State (High School Rank: #29) - Still Active
1x All-American (4), 2x ACC Runner-Up
15. Silas Allred (Anderson, IN) - Nebraska (High School Rank: #15) - Still Active
1x All-American (7), 2023 Big Ten Champion, 2x NCAA Round of 12
16. Ryan Jack (Danbury, CT) - NC State (High School Rank: #17) - Still Active
1x All-American (4), 2024 ACC Champion, 3x NCAA Qualifier
17. Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, MN) - Iowa (High School Rank: #4) - Still Active
1x All-American (4), 2023 Big Ten Runner-Up, 3x NCAA Qualifier
18. Isaiah Salazar (Greeley, CO) - Minnesota (High School Rank: #30)
1x All-American (6), 2024 Big Ten Champion, 2023 NCAA Round of 12
19. Cael Happel (Lisbon,IA) - Northern Iowa (High School Rank: #22)
1x All-American (5), 2025 Big 12 Champion, 2024 NCAA Round of 12
20. Aaron Nagao (La Habra, CA) - Minnesota/Penn State (High School Rank: #77) - Still Active
1x All-American (5), 2023 Big Ten Runner-Up, 2024 NCAA Round of 12
21. John Poznanski (Colonia, NJ) - Rutgers (High School Rank: #16)
1x All-American (4), 2024 NCAA Round of 12, 3x NCAA Qualifier
22. Caleb Fish (Eaton Rapids, MI) - Michigan State/Oklahoma State (High School Rank: #137)
1x All-American (8), 2023 NCAA Round of 12, 4x NCAA Qualifier
23. Chase Saldate (Gilroy, CA) - Michigan State/Michigan (High School Rank: #14)
5x NCAA Qualifier, 2x NCAA Round of 12
24. Gavin Kane (Milton, GA) - North Carolina (High School Rank: #31)
1x All-American (8), 2x ACC Runner-Up, 4x NCAA Qualifier
25. Tanner Jordan (St. Paris, OH) - South Dakota State (High School Rank: NR)
1x All-American (8), 3x NCAA Qualifier
26. Sheldon Seymour (Troy, PA) - Lehigh (High School Rank: #108) - Still Active
1x All-American (6), 2025 EIWA Champion
27. Brevin Cassella (Clinton, MA) - Binghamton (High School Rank: NR)
4x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 EIWA Champion
28. Luke Surber (Tuttle, OK) - Oklahoma State (High School Rank: #43)
4x NCAA Qualifier, 2x Big 12 Runner-Up
29. Nick Stemmet (Yorkville, IL) - Stanford (High School Rank: #161)
4x NCAA Qualifier, 2x Conference Runner-Up (Pac-12/ACC)
30. Kurt Phipps (Norwin, PA) - Bucknell (High School Rank: #75)
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 EIWA Champion, 2024 NCAA Round of 12
31. Hunter Catka (Brookhaven, PA) - Virginia Tech (High School Rank: #6) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2024 NCAA Round of 12, 2x ACC Runner-Up
32. Josh Edmond (Detroit, MI) - Missouri (High School Rank: #39) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2024 NCAA Round of 12
33. Luke Stout (Mt. Lebanon, PA) - Princeton (High School Rank: #24)
4x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 Ivy League Champion
34. Andrew Sparks (Costa Mesa, CA) - Minnesota (High School Rank: #49)
4x NCAA Qualifier
35. Tommy Askey (Pine Bush, NY) - Appalachian State/Minnesota (High School Rank: #176)
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2x SoCon Champion, 2x NCAA Round of 12
36. Andrew Cerniglia (Nazareth, PA) - Navy (High School Rank: #13)
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2x EIWA Runner-Up
37. Dominick Serrano (Windsor, CO) - Nebraska/Northern Colorado (High School Rank: #12) - Still Active
2x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 Big 12 Champion
38. Ethan Oakley (Trinity, North Carolina) - Appalachian State/North Carolina (High School Rank: NR) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2024 SoCon Champion
39. Willie McDougald (Niagara Falls, New York) - Oklahoma (High School Rank: #175) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2022 Big 12 Runner-Up
40. Ryan Miller (Stroudsburg, PA) - Penn (High School Rank: #100)
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 Ivy League Champion
41. Josh Ogunsanya (River Forest, IL) - Columbia/North Carolina (High School Rank: #99) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2022 EIWA Runner-Up
42. Maxx Mayfield (Lincoln, NE) - Northwestern (High School Rank: #72) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier
43. Gaven Sax (St. Robert, MO) - North Dakota State/Oklahoma (High School Rank: #93) - Still Active
2x NCAA Qualifier, 2024 NCAA Round of 12, 2024 Big 12 Runner-Up
44. Kysen Terukina (Ewa Beach, HI) - Iowa State (High School Rank: #102) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier
45. Joe Zargo (South River, NJ) - Wisconsin (High School Rank: #60) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier
46. Trevor Tinker (St. Louis, MO) - Cal Poly (High School Rank: NR) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 Pac-12 Champion
47. Gabe Willochell (Greensburg, PA) - Edinboro/Wyoming (High School Rank: #105) - Still Active
3x NCAA Qualifier
48. Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canonsburg, PA) - Purdue/Oklahoma/CSU Bakersfield (High School Rank: #10)
3x NCAA Qualifier
49. Zach Redding (Manorville, NY) - Iowa State (High School Rank: #54) - Still Active
2x NCAA Qualifier, 2023 NCAA Round of 12, 2023 Big 12 Runner-Up
50. Dylan Cedeno (Fair Lawn, NJ) - Virginia (High School Rank: #107)
2x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 ACC Champion
Class of 2020 Recruiting Rankings; As posted in 2020
1. AJ Ferrari (Allen, TX/Oklahoma State)
2. Dustin Plott (Tuttle, OK/Oklahoma State)
3. Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, WV/Wisconsin)
4. Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, MN/Iowa)
5. Keegan O’Toole (Arrowhead, WI/Missouri)
6. Hunter Catka (Sun Valley, PA/Virginia Tech)
7. Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, AZ/Penn State)
8. Josh Saunders (Christian Brothers, MO/Cornell)
9. Rocky Elam (Staley, MO/Missouri)
10. Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan, PA/Purdue)
11. Lachlan McNeil (Wyoming Seminary, ON/North Carolina)
12. Dominick Serrano (Windsor, CO/Nebraska)
13. Andrew Cerniglia (Notre Dame, PA/Navy)
14. Chase Saldate (Gilroy, CA/Michigan State)
15. Silas Allred (Shenandoah, IN/Nebraska)
16. John Poznanski (Colonia, NJ/Rutgers)
17. Ryan Jack (Danbury, CT/NC State)
18. Ed Scott (Dubois, PA/NC State)
19. Robbie Howard (Bergen Catholic, NJ/Penn State)
20. Jesse Vasquez (Excelsior Charter, CA/Arizona State)
21. Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy, NJ/Oklahoma State)
22. Cael Happel (Lisbon, IA/Northern Iowa)
23. Greyden Penner (Liberty, MO/Oklahoma)
24. Luke Stout (Mt. Lebanon, PA/Princeton)
25. Thayne Lawrence (Frazier, PA/Lehigh)
26. Isaac Righter (Mt. St. Joseph, MD/American)
27. Cade Lautt (St. James, KS/North Carolina)
28. Gaige Garcia (Southern Columbia, PA/Michigan)
29. Isaac Trumble (Millard South, NE/NC State)
30. Isaiah Salazar (Windsor, CO/Minnesota)
31. Gavin Kane (Cambridge, GA/North Carolina)
32. Nathan Haas (St. John Bosco, CA/Nebraska)
33. Manzona Bryant (Western Reserve, OH/Lehigh)
34. Clay Ulrey (Lower Dauphin, PA/Virginia Tech)
35. Frankie Tal-Shahar (American Heritage, FL/Northwestern)
36. Greg Diakomihalis (Hilton, NY/Cornell)
37. Jesse Ybarra (Sunnyside, AZ/Iowa)
38. Sonny Santiago (St. John Bosco, CA/North Carolina)
39. Josh Edmond (Detroit CC, MI/Missouri)
40. Connor O’Neill (DePaul Catholic, NJ/Rutgers)
41. Derek Gilcher (Detroit CC, MI/Indiana)
42. Austin Boone (Lowell, MI/Penn State)
43. Luke Surber (Tuttle, OK/Oklahoma State)
44. Sam Hillegas (North Hills, PA/Virginia Tech)
45. Peyton Hall (Oak Glen, WV/West Virginia)
46. Luke Nichter (Chambersburg, PA/Drexel)
47. Jakason Burks (Omaha Burke, NE/Oklahoma State)
48. Kenny Hermann (Bethlehem Catholic, PA/Harvard)
49. Andrew Sparks (Calvary Chapel, CA/Minnesota)
50. Cole Handlovic (Bethlehem Catholic, PA/Cornell)
Oak Grove
Fargo North
Hughesville
Paramus Catholic
Kutztown
Mid Valley
Connellsville
Cedar Valley
Willow Canyon
Aurora
Odessa-Montour
Washington
Kingsway
Jonesboro
For the second day in a row, Rutgers added an experienced national qualifier through the transfer portal. Yesterday, the Scarlet Knights added Michigan State’s NCAA qualifier, Remy Cotton, who made the 2025 national tournament at 197 lbs. Today, they’ve added Lenny Pinto, a three-time national qualifier for Nebraska. Pinto has finished in the NCAA Round of 12 in each of the last two seasons for the Cornhuskers. In both seasons he was seeded in the top eight at nationals. In 2024, he was #5 and this year he was the #8. Pinto was seeded so highly partly because of top three finishes at the Big Ten Championships. He was a finalist this past season and third in 2024. Heading into his senior year, Pinto will be regarded as one of the top seniors in the nation who has not AA’ed before. This year he posted a win over a past All-American (Carson Kharchla) and the eventual NCAA fourth-place finisher (Patrick Kennedy). In 2023-24, Pinto amazingly downed four wrestlers who would go on to earn All-American honors in Kansas City. Should he remain at 174 lbs, Pinto would be a perfect fit for Rutgers. 2021 All-American Jackson Turley has exhausted his eligibility in 2025 and there did not appear to be a sure-fire successor to Turley on the Scarlet Knights roster. Despite the transfer of 125 lber Dean Peterson and losses to graduation, Rutgers could field a lineup that features seven wrestlers with past NCAA experience. The move also brings Pinto closer to home and reunites him with former training partner Mikey Labriola, who was added to Rutgers’ staff before the 2024-25 campaign. Pinto was a 2020 AAA state champion for Stroudsburg in Pennsylvania’s fabled District XI in the northeastern part of the state.
One of the longstanding traditions at InterMat is the re-ranking of high school recruiting classes five years after the wrestlers enrolled in college. During normal circumstances, this would encompass nearly all of the wrestlers in the high school Class of 2020. But we still aren’t in a typical stretch of wrestling seasons. Due to the extra year of eligibility for wrestlers active in 2021, due to COVID, about half of the wrestlers in this recruiting class have another year of eligibility remaining, should they choose to use it. With another season’s worth of accomplishments, there could be some more shuffling on this list if it were revisited a year from now. When it comes down to it, this isn’t quite as strong of a group as other classes before it. Only two wrestlers have captured national titles from this group and only four have made an NCAA final. Last year, we noted how four wrestlers from the Class of 2019 with national titles was a bit of a low number. That figure looks much better now as three wrestlers from that group won their first titles in 2025 - so this is a number that could change in the future. Overall, we have 24 wrestlers from the Class of 2020 that have already earned All-American honors. Again, that number is lower than in past seasons - the Class of 2019 had 31 at this time, a year ago. Looking at the top group from the Class of 2020 - it’s a bit of an outlier from recent years. As we’ve gotten access to more information and video, there have been fewer wrestlers in the top ten that didn’t go on to superstar status, compared to ten or 15 years ago. Four wrestlers from the top ten have not yet earned All-American honors (a few are still active). As we tried to sort through careers, it was rather easy to figure out who should earn the number one ranking in 2024. Keegan O’Toole was the only multiple-time champion from this class and the sole five-time All-American - never finishing lower than third. Since he has multiple years of eligibility remaining and a national title already under his belt, AJ Ferrari gets the second slot over Beau Bartlett. If we revise this in the future, there’s a chance that Ferrari could have an argument over O’Toole for the top spot. As of now, Bartlett has more NCAA placements than Ferrari, but AJ has the title and a record with only two losses. In turn, Bartlett gets the number three spot over Dustin Plott because of his number of high NCAA finishes and multiple NCAA #2 seeds. So, let’s get down to it! Below are the top 50 wrestlers from the Class of 2020, re-ranked after considering their collegiate accomplishments. They are listed along with the schools they attended, along with their original high school class ranking via Willie Saylor’s MatScouts site. After the top 50 is a list of the top 50 from 2019. On that list, wrestlers are noted by the schools they initially signed with. 1. Keegan O’Toole (Hartland, WI) - Missouri (High School Rank: #5) 2x NCAA Champion, 5x All-American (2,3,1,1,3), 4x Big 12 Champion 2. AJ Ferrari (Allen, TX) - Oklahoma State/CSU Bakersfield (High School Rank: #1) - Still Active 2021 NCAA Champion, 2x All-American (3,1), 2x Conference Champion (Pac-12, Big 12) 3. Beau Bartlett (Tempe, AZ) - Penn State (High School Rank: #7) 3x All-American (3,2,3), 2024 Big Ten Runner-Up 4. Dustin Plott (Tuttle, OK) - Oklahoma State (High School Rank: #2) 4x All-American (4,2,6,6), 2x Big 12 Champion 5. Rocky Elam (Kansas City, MO) - Missouri (High School Rank: #9) - Still Active 4x All-American (6,3,4,5), 2x Conference Champion (Big 12, MAC) 6. Peyton Hall (Oak Glen, WV) - West Virginia (High School Rank: #45) 3x All-American (3,7,8), 2025 Big 12 Champion, 5x NCAA Qualifier 7. Lachlan McNeil (Toronto, Ontario) - North Carolina (High School Rank: #11) - Still Active 3x All-American (5,6,4), 2025 ACC Runner-Up 8. Anthony Noto (Lima, New York) - NC State/Lock Haven (High School Rank: #131) 2x All-American (3,4), 4x MAC Champion 9. Eddie Ventresca (Roxbury, NJ) - Virginia Tech (High School Rank: #65) - Still Active 2x All-American (5,7), 2025 ACC Champion 10. Dylan Shawver (Lorain, OH) - Rutgers (High School Rank: #73) - Still Active 1x All-American (7), 2024 Big Ten Champion, 2025 NCAA Round of 12 11. Dylan Ragusin (Elk Grove Village, IL) - Michigan (High School Rank: #68) - Still Active 1x All-American (5), 2024 Big Ten Runner-Up, 2022 NCAA Round of 12 12. CJ Composto (Westfield, NJ) - Penn (High School Rank: NR) - Still Active 2x All-American (4,8), 2025 Ivy League Champion, 3x NCAA Qualifier 13. Ed Scott (Dubois, PA) - NC State (High School Rank: #18) 1x All-American (5), 2x ACC Champion, 2x NCAA Round of 12 14. Isaac Trumble (Springfield, NE) - NC State (High School Rank: #29) - Still Active 1x All-American (4), 2x ACC Runner-Up 15. Silas Allred (Anderson, IN) - Nebraska (High School Rank: #15) - Still Active 1x All-American (7), 2023 Big Ten Champion, 2x NCAA Round of 12 16. Ryan Jack (Danbury, CT) - NC State (High School Rank: #17) - Still Active 1x All-American (4), 2024 ACC Champion, 3x NCAA Qualifier 17. Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, MN) - Iowa (High School Rank: #4) - Still Active 1x All-American (4), 2023 Big Ten Runner-Up, 3x NCAA Qualifier 18. Isaiah Salazar (Greeley, CO) - Minnesota (High School Rank: #30) 1x All-American (6), 2024 Big Ten Champion, 2023 NCAA Round of 12 19. Cael Happel (Lisbon,IA) - Northern Iowa (High School Rank: #22) 1x All-American (5), 2025 Big 12 Champion, 2024 NCAA Round of 12 20. Aaron Nagao (La Habra, CA) - Minnesota/Penn State (High School Rank: #77) - Still Active 1x All-American (5), 2023 Big Ten Runner-Up, 2024 NCAA Round of 12 21. John Poznanski (Colonia, NJ) - Rutgers (High School Rank: #16) 1x All-American (4), 2024 NCAA Round of 12, 3x NCAA Qualifier 22. Caleb Fish (Eaton Rapids, MI) - Michigan State/Oklahoma State (High School Rank: #137) 1x All-American (8), 2023 NCAA Round of 12, 4x NCAA Qualifier 23. Chase Saldate (Gilroy, CA) - Michigan State/Michigan (High School Rank: #14) 5x NCAA Qualifier, 2x NCAA Round of 12 24. Gavin Kane (Milton, GA) - North Carolina (High School Rank: #31) 1x All-American (8), 2x ACC Runner-Up, 4x NCAA Qualifier 25. Tanner Jordan (St. Paris, OH) - South Dakota State (High School Rank: NR) 1x All-American (8), 3x NCAA Qualifier 26. Sheldon Seymour (Troy, PA) - Lehigh (High School Rank: #108) - Still Active 1x All-American (6), 2025 EIWA Champion 27. Brevin Cassella (Clinton, MA) - Binghamton (High School Rank: NR) 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 EIWA Champion 28. Luke Surber (Tuttle, OK) - Oklahoma State (High School Rank: #43) 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2x Big 12 Runner-Up 29. Nick Stemmet (Yorkville, IL) - Stanford (High School Rank: #161) 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2x Conference Runner-Up (Pac-12/ACC) 30. Kurt Phipps (Norwin, PA) - Bucknell (High School Rank: #75) 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 EIWA Champion, 2024 NCAA Round of 12 31. Hunter Catka (Brookhaven, PA) - Virginia Tech (High School Rank: #6) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2024 NCAA Round of 12, 2x ACC Runner-Up 32. Josh Edmond (Detroit, MI) - Missouri (High School Rank: #39) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2024 NCAA Round of 12 33. Luke Stout (Mt. Lebanon, PA) - Princeton (High School Rank: #24) 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 Ivy League Champion 34. Andrew Sparks (Costa Mesa, CA) - Minnesota (High School Rank: #49) 4x NCAA Qualifier 35. Tommy Askey (Pine Bush, NY) - Appalachian State/Minnesota (High School Rank: #176) 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2x SoCon Champion, 2x NCAA Round of 12 36. Andrew Cerniglia (Nazareth, PA) - Navy (High School Rank: #13) 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2x EIWA Runner-Up 37. Dominick Serrano (Windsor, CO) - Nebraska/Northern Colorado (High School Rank: #12) - Still Active 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 Big 12 Champion 38. Ethan Oakley (Trinity, North Carolina) - Appalachian State/North Carolina (High School Rank: NR) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2024 SoCon Champion 39. Willie McDougald (Niagara Falls, New York) - Oklahoma (High School Rank: #175) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2022 Big 12 Runner-Up 40. Ryan Miller (Stroudsburg, PA) - Penn (High School Rank: #100) 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 Ivy League Champion 41. Josh Ogunsanya (River Forest, IL) - Columbia/North Carolina (High School Rank: #99) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2022 EIWA Runner-Up 42. Maxx Mayfield (Lincoln, NE) - Northwestern (High School Rank: #72) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier 43. Gaven Sax (St. Robert, MO) - North Dakota State/Oklahoma (High School Rank: #93) - Still Active 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2024 NCAA Round of 12, 2024 Big 12 Runner-Up 44. Kysen Terukina (Ewa Beach, HI) - Iowa State (High School Rank: #102) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier 45. Joe Zargo (South River, NJ) - Wisconsin (High School Rank: #60) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier 46. Trevor Tinker (St. Louis, MO) - Cal Poly (High School Rank: NR) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 Pac-12 Champion 47. Gabe Willochell (Greensburg, PA) - Edinboro/Wyoming (High School Rank: #105) - Still Active 3x NCAA Qualifier 48. Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canonsburg, PA) - Purdue/Oklahoma/CSU Bakersfield (High School Rank: #10) 3x NCAA Qualifier 49. Zach Redding (Manorville, NY) - Iowa State (High School Rank: #54) - Still Active 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2023 NCAA Round of 12, 2023 Big 12 Runner-Up 50. Dylan Cedeno (Fair Lawn, NJ) - Virginia (High School Rank: #107) 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2025 ACC Champion Class of 2020 Recruiting Rankings; As posted in 2020 1. AJ Ferrari (Allen, TX/Oklahoma State) 2. Dustin Plott (Tuttle, OK/Oklahoma State) 3. Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, WV/Wisconsin) 4. Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, MN/Iowa) 5. Keegan O’Toole (Arrowhead, WI/Missouri) 6. Hunter Catka (Sun Valley, PA/Virginia Tech) 7. Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, AZ/Penn State) 8. Josh Saunders (Christian Brothers, MO/Cornell) 9. Rocky Elam (Staley, MO/Missouri) 10. Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan, PA/Purdue) 11. Lachlan McNeil (Wyoming Seminary, ON/North Carolina) 12. Dominick Serrano (Windsor, CO/Nebraska) 13. Andrew Cerniglia (Notre Dame, PA/Navy) 14. Chase Saldate (Gilroy, CA/Michigan State) 15. Silas Allred (Shenandoah, IN/Nebraska) 16. John Poznanski (Colonia, NJ/Rutgers) 17. Ryan Jack (Danbury, CT/NC State) 18. Ed Scott (Dubois, PA/NC State) 19. Robbie Howard (Bergen Catholic, NJ/Penn State) 20. Jesse Vasquez (Excelsior Charter, CA/Arizona State) 21. Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy, NJ/Oklahoma State) 22. Cael Happel (Lisbon, IA/Northern Iowa) 23. Greyden Penner (Liberty, MO/Oklahoma) 24. Luke Stout (Mt. Lebanon, PA/Princeton) 25. Thayne Lawrence (Frazier, PA/Lehigh) 26. Isaac Righter (Mt. St. Joseph, MD/American) 27. Cade Lautt (St. James, KS/North Carolina) 28. Gaige Garcia (Southern Columbia, PA/Michigan) 29. Isaac Trumble (Millard South, NE/NC State) 30. Isaiah Salazar (Windsor, CO/Minnesota) 31. Gavin Kane (Cambridge, GA/North Carolina) 32. Nathan Haas (St. John Bosco, CA/Nebraska) 33. Manzona Bryant (Western Reserve, OH/Lehigh) 34. Clay Ulrey (Lower Dauphin, PA/Virginia Tech) 35. Frankie Tal-Shahar (American Heritage, FL/Northwestern) 36. Greg Diakomihalis (Hilton, NY/Cornell) 37. Jesse Ybarra (Sunnyside, AZ/Iowa) 38. Sonny Santiago (St. John Bosco, CA/North Carolina) 39. Josh Edmond (Detroit CC, MI/Missouri) 40. Connor O’Neill (DePaul Catholic, NJ/Rutgers) 41. Derek Gilcher (Detroit CC, MI/Indiana) 42. Austin Boone (Lowell, MI/Penn State) 43. Luke Surber (Tuttle, OK/Oklahoma State) 44. Sam Hillegas (North Hills, PA/Virginia Tech) 45. Peyton Hall (Oak Glen, WV/West Virginia) 46. Luke Nichter (Chambersburg, PA/Drexel) 47. Jakason Burks (Omaha Burke, NE/Oklahoma State) 48. Kenny Hermann (Bethlehem Catholic, PA/Harvard) 49. Andrew Sparks (Calvary Chapel, CA/Minnesota) 50. Cole Handlovic (Bethlehem Catholic, PA/Cornell)
Kennedy Blades, a junior at the University of Iowa, was voted the 2025 winner of the USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Award, which goes to the nation’s best college wrestler annually. In her first collegiate season with the Hawkeyes, Blades recorded a 25-0 record, which included a 100% bonus rate, 23 technical falls and two pins. She earned the 160-pound title at the 2025 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships and was named Outstanding Wrestler of the event. Her efforts also helped Iowa claim it’s second-straight national team title. Blades won a silver medal at 76 kg at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, for Team USA. She is a three-time age-group World medalist, which includes a U20 World gold medal from 2021. This was first announced on Tuesday afternoon on FloWrestling’s The Bader Show. “Kennedy, I call her a showstopper. She bring a lot of great energy. She draws a lot of great people to her and does a great job, like being respectful to her opponents…she’s fun because she cares about wanting to put points on the board for her teammates, for the team title.” said Clarissa Chun, University of Iowa head coach. The award was selected by a vote from three major constituent groups: wrestling journalists, women’s college head coaches and the fans. Each of these groups accounted for one-third of the vote. Blades was voted the winner by all three distinct voting groups to secure the award over seven other finalists, all of whom are college national champions. Blades carried 11-of-18 first place votes in the journalist voting bloc, 23-of-58 first place votes in the coaches voting bloc, and 30% of the fan vote. “What a year for Kennedy Blades. From being an Olympic finalist to earning a college national title, it was one of the more dominating seasons in women’s wrestling history. Congratulations to Kennedy on this sensational achievement,” said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director. The other finalists, in alphabetical order, were Amani Jones of North Central College, Macey Kilty of the University of Iowa, Esther Kolawole of William Penn University, Sage Mortimer of Grand Valley State University, Christianah Ogunsanyah of William Penn University, Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane University and Kylie Welker of the University of Iowa. Blades is the third recipient of the USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year award. Yelena Makoyed of North Central College was presented the inaugural award in 2023. Adaugo Nwachukwu of William Penn University was last year’s recipient. Women’s college varsity wrestlers from all of the recognized college organizations were eligible for the award, including NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA/junior college programs. The finalists were selected by a committee overseeing the award program, featuring representatives of the media, college coaches and wrestling fans. USA Wrestling’s goal is to elevate this award to have the significance and impact as other college athletic awards, such as the Dan Hodge Trophy for men’s college wrestling, the Heisman Trophy for college football, the Hobey Baker Award for men’s college hockey, the Patty Kazmeier Award for women’s college hockey, the Naismith College Player of the Year in men’s and women’s basketball, the Dick Howser Trophy in college baseball, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and similar college awards. USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Award winners 2025 – Kennedy Blades, junior, University of Iowa 2024 – Adaugo Nwachukwu, junior, William Penn University 2023 – Yelena Makoyed, senior, North Central College
Chattanooga Christian
Gulf Breeze
Detroit Central Catholic
Lewiston
Wrightstown
McPherson
Dover
Vilseck