Recruiting season is in full force for college wrestling. Iowa had a very good recruiting class in 2016 that are true freshman in the program right now. This coming season we will see several of those recruits in the starting lineup. The recruiting class of 2017 is outstanding. Those recruits will be showing up this summer in Iowa City to begin their career as an Iowa Hawkeye and I look for all of them to redshirt.
I look for Iowa to recruit the middle weights hard and also the light weights for the Class of 2018. Iowa Wrestling has very good momentum on their side for recruiting from their success in 2016 and 2017. The connections that Iowa has made in recent recruiting classes in Pennsylvania and Ohio will be a strong factor in this year’s recruiting class. Recruits from Iowa are also always the foundation for Iowa Wrestling. There is not a more influential force for recruits than the wrestlers already in the program. That should bid well to have Kemerer, Marinelli, Lee, and Warner in the Iowa Wrestling program as recent recruits when 2018 recruits visit this summer and fall. It is vital for Iowa to put together another very strong recruiting class for 2018 and I am confident that they will.
Here are some prospects for the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2018:
Iowa has already received a verbal commitment from Nelson Brands of Iowa City (West HS), Iowa. Nelson is the son of Terry Brands and nephew of Tom Brands. Yes, this kid is Brand’s strong and tough. Brands is improving at an amazing rate and I look for him to climb up the recruiting ranks. Brands won a state title last year at 138 lbs. and this year at 152. Projecting his weight in college is just a guess. I can see Nelson Brands wrestling anywhere from 165/174/184. He grew a lot from last year. It is just difficult to project how much more he will grow.
Of all the recruits out there right now, I want to see Iowa get Sammy Sasso the most. I already knew about Sammy Sasso of Nazareth, Pennsylvania heading into the season so I was able to follow his matches online. This guy is tough and dominating. How tough? He wrestled three different weights this season that I know of in search of the best competition. He had very few close matches. Nazareth is in District 11 in eastern PA that has been very well know for producing real tough college wrestlers for decades. Sasso was rated number one by Flo at 145 but he dropped to 138 for the state tournament. At State, Sasso had two falls and a tech fall before winning 8-0 in the finals to capture the 138 lbs. AAA title. Sasso also looked great winning Flo Nationals last weekend. Flo has Sasso ranked as the sixth best recruit overall for the recruiting class of 2018 and number two at 138 lbs. It is always a guess with weight for college, but I see Sasso starting out at 149 and possibly moving up to 157.
The recruiting world was buzzing recently with Gavin Teasdale decommit to Iowa and giving a verbal commitment to Penn State. I am confident about Iowa Wrestling replacing Teasdale with someone at least as good. The first name that comes to mind is Roman Bravo-Young of Tuscon (Sunnyside HS), Arizona. RBY opened up his recruiting after the Teasdale announcement as he was committed to Penn State at the same weight. Look for Iowa to get right in there and pursue RBY. What a great story line it would be every time RBY would compete for Iowa against Penn State, especially if/when against Teasdale. It could happen.
RBY has credentials a mile long of titles he has won including state and national titles and is ranked as the number four recruit in the class of 2018 by Flo Wrestling. He was also a teammate of incoming Iowa Wrestling recruit Jacob Warner at the 2016 UWW Cadet World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia last September. RBY is projected to wrestle at 133/141. Absolutely everything is up in the air until the National Letter of Intent signing day on Wednesday, November 8. I see this being the top story for the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2018.
Here is a very good article that I found online. This should tell Iowa Wrestling fans all that they want to know about what type of person Roman Bravo Young is and the great wrestling environment that he comes from.
The top recruit in the state of Iowa is definitely Brody Teske of Ft. Dodge. Teske placed second at Cadet Nationals last summer in Fargo at 120 lbs. He is also on pace to be an undefeated four-time State champion. Teske had about as dominating season as you can have. In winning the 120 lbs. 3A State title this year, Teske was 49-0 and scored bonus points in every single match. Of his forty-nine wins, Teske had 24 pins, 15 tech falls, and four major decision. He also had six wins by forfeit or injury default. You cannot get a whole lot more dominating than that. Teske was named as the Dan Gable Mr. Wrestler of the Year in 3A.
I was able to see Teske wrestle at the Independence Invitational in January and I was impressed. Ft. Dodge has a long tradition for top wrestling and for being a very tough town. That definitely adds to Teske as a recruit. Teske is ranked third at 120 by Intermat and as the thirtieth best recruit in the class of 2018 by Flo. I would think that by being the biggest recruit in Iowa that Teske is being pursued by numerous colleges in and outside of Iowa. Teske is projected to wrestle at 125/133.
Another tough recruit from Iowa is Joel Shapiro of West Des Moines Valley. Shapiro was 46-0 with 30 pins this season in winning a 3A state title. At Cadet freestyle nationals last summer, Shapiro placed seventh at 170 lbs. and recorded four tech falls. In college Shapiro will probably be in the 165/174 range.
I had a blog in January about how great the recruiting is in the state of Ohio and I that I expected Iowa to continue to sign huge recruits from that state. True freshman Alex Marinelli of St. Paris Graham broke the ice for Iowa Wrestling recruiting in the state of Ohio last year. Rocky Jordan is one of those elite recruits in Ohio this year. Jordan in the younger brother of Ohio State wrestlers Bo and Micah Jordan. His dad, Jeff Jordan, is Rocky’s head coach at St. Paris Graham, the same program that sent us elite recruit Alex Marinelli. Most would think Rocky is a lock for Ohio State, but Iowa is an option. Jordan won a state title at 152 lbs. with a 8-0 major decision in the finals. With a 6’1” frame, guessing a weight for Jordan is tricky. With a frame like that, he could be anywhere from 157 to 184. I predict Jordan filling in at 174 or 184 in college.
Ryan Thomas is another top recruit in the St. Paris Graham program. Thomas won a state title at 160 lbs. this year and is ranked nineteenth in the country at 160 by Intermat. The St. Paris Graham program is turning out so many tough college wrestlers that it is easy to see Iowa pursuing Thomas. I would put Thomas in the 165/174 range.
One of the biggest recruits out there to not commit in the Class of 2018 is Trent Hidlay of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Hidlay is ranked sixth nationally at 160 lbs. by Intermat but the five wrestlers ranked ahead of him are all seniors. Hidlay is ranked as the sixteenth best recruit in the Class of 2018 by Flo. Hidlay won a state title this season and looked great winning Flo Nationals last weekend.
As I mentioned earlier, absolutely nothing is chiseled in stone for recruiting until the National Letter of Intent signing day on November 8 at 7 AM EST. Iowa Wrestling fans, it will be another roller coaster time period between now and then with a lot of drama, rumors, lies, B.S., and speculation. The internet has taken recruiting to a whole other level. That is recruiting, folks. I for one am looking forward to the ride. Recruiting is a lot of what I do for Iowa Wrestling Fan. I will keep you up to date the best that I can as we see the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2018 take shape. I am very confident that we as fans will really like the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2018.
Let’s get ‘em in the middle.
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Todd Conner
