Penn State commit Seth Nevills is ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2018 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The month of June is upon us. It is a big month for high school wrestlers, in particular those in the Class of 2018. At least three significant events are on the calendar: UWW Cadet Nationals, which just happened; AAU Scholastic Duals (aka Disney Duals); and Junior National Duals. These serve as key evaluation opportunities prior to July 1, which marks the first date coaches can officially contact prospective student athletes in the Class of 2018.
That being said, lots of unofficial contact has already been taking place, with a bunch of key evaluations being made. Both by schools, in terms of which student-athletes to offer and bring in, and the student-athletes in terms of which schools they are interested in attending. The trend across all sports is that the decision making process has shifted earlier and earlier by the year.
Already here in the first week of June, only 11 of the current top 25 Class of 2018 prospects remain uncommitted. Similarly, only 25 of the top 50 prospects are uncommitted.
Let's examine the top recruiting classes so far.
Penn State
The obvious winner in early Class of 2018 recruiting is Penn State. National champions in back-to-back years, and clear favorites to make it a three-peat, the Nittany Lions are well on their way to making sure this dynasty -- currently at six titles in the last seven years -- is further extended. They already have verbal commitments from wrestlers ranked second through sixth in the class, plus the No. 16 overall prospect.
No. 2 Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.)
No. 3 Travis Wittlake (Marshfield, Ore.)
No. 4 Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson-Morgan, Pa.)
No. 5 Roman Bravo-Young (Sunnyside, Ariz.)
No. 6 Michael Beard (Malvern Prep, Pa.)
No. 16 Joe Lee (Evansville Mater Dei, Ind.)
The rest of the country is out there trying to put on their best face and procure top-end talent of their own so they can maintain and/or improve their program's standing. Two schools currently have verbal commitments from three top 50 Class of 2018 prospects respectively.
Ohio State
The only school to interrupt Penn State's national title winning in the last seven seasons, and runners-up to the Nittany Lions each of the last two years, the Buckeyes are continuing to position themselves among the elite in the nation. Three elite commitments, one a middle weight, one an upper weight, and one a lower weight continue that momentum: No. 13 Jaden Mattox (Grove City Central Crossing, Ohio), No. 17 Gavin Hoffman (Montoursville, Pa.), and No. 47 Malik Heinselman (Castle View, Colo.).
Northwestern
While the deck is stacked against the Wildcats with a tight roster quantity cap, which makes it tough to create depth on the roster, they have been able to procure some good individuals on their rosters over the years. The recent coaching transition, along with some hard luck on injuries, set the program back slightly. However, this upcoming recruiting class seems positioned to provide a positive reboot. So far verbal commits from No. 25 Ryan Karoly (Malvern Prep, Pa.), No. 29 Jack Jessen (Willowbrook, Ill.), and No. 33 Anthony Cassioppi (Hononegah, Ill.). The back third of the lineup has been addressed … and to think if Beard didn't de-commit from this class just over two months ago.
Four other programs have landed a pair of top 50 verbal commits already at this point in the process.
Missouri
It's a pair of in-state wrestlers in middleweight Jarrett Jacques (Father Tolton Catholic) and lower-weight Malik Johnson (Christian Brothers College). Johnson recently qualified for the Cadet World team in Greco-Roman at 58 kilograms. The Tigers also have a verbal commit from another in-state middle-weight in Brock Mauller (Father Tolton Catholic), who is very likely to be a top 100 prospect when that list comes out towards the end of this month.
Nebraska
Coach Mark Manning always does a solid job both in terms of recruiting and in terms of roster development. The Cornhuskers always have balance up-and-down the lineup with competitive wrestlers in each and every weight class. Their two out-of-state verbal commits, something that has been key for Manning with the home state not being the most talented for scholastic wrestling, are most excellent. No. 15 Josiah Rider (Grand Junction, Colo.) projects as a middleweight, while career undefeated No. 28 Alex Thomsen (Underwood, Iowa) projects as a lower-to-middleweight.
Rutgers
Head coach Scott Goodale has made in-state recruiting a priority in positioning the Scarlet Knights as a nationally ranked and nationally competitive program. They already have verbal commitments from No. 42 Malcolm Robinson (Blair Academy) and No. 48 Billy Janzer (Delsea Regional), plus another from state champion Jake Benner (Ocean Township), though he is more of a bubble prospect for a top 100.
South Dakota State
There's something special going on with the Jackrabbits, who saw Seth Gross make the national finals this past season with an additional All-American finisher in David Kocer. Head coach Chris Bono also nabbed a pair of top 100 recruits in his 2017 class, Connor Brown from Missouri and Kevin Vough from Ohio. This year, it's already a pair of top 50 commits coming from Minnesota in best buddies No. 41 Alex Lloyd (Shakopee) and No. 43 Peyton Robb (Owatonna); Robb was runner-up at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle this past weekend.
Additional programs with multiple impact 2018 commits include:
Iowa State: Weston DiBlasi (Park Hill, Mo.) and Ben Kamali (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.)
Minnesota: No. 1 Gable Steveson (Apple Valley, Minn.) and Patrick McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.)
Wisconsin: Jared Krattiger (Waterford, Wis.) and Tyler Dow (Stoughton, Wis.)
Below are the top 13 uncommitted recruits in the Class of 2018:
No. 7 Sammy Sasso (Nazareth, Pa.)
No. 8 David Carr (Massillon Perry, Ohio)
No. 9 Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg, Ind.)
No. 11 Joey Silva (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.)
No. 18 Brayton Lee (Brownsburg, Ind.)
No. 19 Patrick Glory (Delbarton, N.J.)
No. 21 Trent Hidlay (Mifflin County, Pa.)
No. 22 Real Woods (Montini Catholic, Ill.)
No. 23 Anthony Artalona (Tampa Prep, Fla.)
No. 24 Anthony Madrigal (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.)
No. 26 Will Lewan (Montini Catholic, Ill.)
No. 30 Brody Teske (Fort Dodge, Iowa)
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