2012 Recruiting Class Rankings
1. Iowa
2. Lehigh
3. Oklahoma
4. Cornell
5. Oklahoma State
6. Nebraska
7. Michigan
8. Illinois
9. Iowa State
10. Wisconsin
11. Minnesota
12. Ohio State
13. North Carolina
14. Stanford
15. Northern Iowa
16. Penn State
17. Cal Poly
18. Indiana
19. Northwestern
20. Harvard
21. Drexel
22. Oregon State
23. Old Dominion
24. Virginia Tech
25. Ohio
An analysis of the NCAA tournament qualifiers for two-time defending Division I national champion Penn State more than confirms this premise. Out of the 12 wrestlers that captured the 17 qualification spots in the last two seasons (eight in 2011, nine in 2012), 10 of them were multiple-time state champions and all had won at least one state or National Prep title. It should also be noted that during their high school career, 10 of these wrestlers were also finalists at the NHSCA Senior Nationals, Junior Nationals (Fargo), and/or a FILA Junior World freestyle medalist
1. Iowa
2. Lehigh
3. Oklahoma
4. Cornell
5. Oklahoma State
6. Nebraska
7. Michigan
8. Illinois
9. Iowa State
10. Wisconsin
11. Minnesota
12. Ohio State
13. North Carolina
14. Stanford
15. Northern Iowa
16. Penn State
17. Cal Poly
18. Indiana
19. Northwestern
20. Harvard
21. Drexel
22. Oregon State
23. Old Dominion
24. Virginia Tech
25. Ohio
There is also a clear correlation between being talented as a prep wrestler and the potential for success as a Division I college wrestler. Among this year's eight NCAA finalists from the Classes of 2009 through 2011, five were top five recruits in their graduating class, and all were inside the Top 50. Among this year's Division I All-Americans from the Class of 2009, right around two-thirds of them were Top 100 recruits coming out of high school.
For immediate impact stars, the correlation is even greater. Seven of the eight wrestlers to earn All-American honors at this year's NCAA tournament from the Class of 2010 were ranked as Top 100 recruits, six of them inside the Top 25. Finally, for the ultimate of immediate impact, all six true freshman All-Americans were ranked inside the Top 30 of the Class of 2011 -- with eight other Top 30 members earning qualifying spots in the NCAA tournament.
Without further ado here are the 2012 team recruiting class rankings.
1. Iowa
Top 100 Recruits: No. 8 Nate Skonieczny (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), No. 10 Thomas Gilman (Skutt Catholic, Neb.), No. 14 Sam Brooks (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.), No. 15 Cory Clark (Southeast Polk, Iowa), and No. 49 Alex Meyer (Southeast Polk, Iowa)
Impact Newcomer: Nathan Burak (Coronado, Colo./USOTC)
Other Notables: Topher Carton (Davenport Assumption, Iowa), Connor Ryan (Bettendorf, Iowa)
Commentary: This marks a second No. 1 class in three years, and third top five class in four years for Tom Brands and the Hawkeyes. Even though Penn State has won the last two national titles, Dan Gable and the Brands brothers have established Iowa as the brand in college wrestling. All aspects of the program sell itself, and the nation's elite have bought in. Gilman, Brooks, Clark, Meyer, and Burak were all Junior National freestyle All-Americans last summer; while Skonieczny brings significant off-season folkstyle credentials to the table (success at the Super 32, FloNationals, and Disney Duals).
Read analysis for all 25 teams.
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