2013 Recruiting Class Rankings
1. Michigan
2. Virginia Tech
3. Pittsburgh
4. North Dakota State
5. Illinois
6. Nebraska
7. Penn State
8. Iowa
9. Missouri
10. North Carolina State
11. Ohio State
12. Stanford
13. Rutgers
14. Clarion
15. Oklahoma State
16. Virginia
17. Arizona State
18. Minnesota
19. Princeton
20. Indiana
21. Harvard
22. Oklahoma
23. Rider
24. Purdue
25. Cal Poly
When it comes to success in college wrestling -- be it at the team or individual level -- there is no substitute for pure talent and ability. The key driver in team success at the college level is procuring those talented individuals, and rankings are one indicator of that. Rankings include the individual weight class rankings and grade-level rankings, as well as these recruiting class rankings that seek to measure how Division I programs did in procuring the talent of the present class.
1. Michigan
2. Virginia Tech
3. Pittsburgh
4. North Dakota State
5. Illinois
6. Nebraska
7. Penn State
8. Iowa
9. Missouri
10. North Carolina State
11. Ohio State
12. Stanford
13. Rutgers
14. Clarion
15. Oklahoma State
16. Virginia
17. Arizona State
18. Minnesota
19. Princeton
20. Indiana
21. Harvard
22. Oklahoma
23. Rider
24. Purdue
25. Cal Poly
An analysis of the lineup for Penn State this past year confirms that premise. All ten wrestlers qualified for the NCAA tournament, and out of that group nine of them won at least one state title; eight of those wrestlers won their titles in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or at National Preps. In terms of how the national finalists from 2013 stood at the end of their senior year, sixteen were ranked inside the top 50 of their grade level, with over half inside the top 20.
Without further ado here are the 2013 team recruiting class rankings.
1. Michigan
Top 100 recruits: No. 2 Adam Coon (Fowlerville, Mich.), No. 4 Ben Whitford (St. Johns, Mich.), No. 11 Domenic Abounader (St. Edward, Ohio), No. 27 Brian Murphy (Glenbard North, Ill.), and No. 98 Payne Hayden (St. Johns, Mich.)
Weight class ranked: George Fisher (Marmion Academy, Ill.)
Other notables: Aaron Calderon (Brighton, Mich.) and Cameron Kennedy (Richmond-Burton, Ill.)
Commentary: This haul for the maize and blue is bar none the best in the nation this year with four truly elite prospects and two others that appear in the weight class rankings. A second consecutive super strong recruiting class validates the commitment that the administration and boosters have recently put into the wrestling program -- building the Bahna Wrestling Complex, retooling the coaching staff, and launching a rather strong Cliff Keen Wrestling Club RTC program. Now the onus is on the coaches and wrestlers to return the program to top ten and above finishes that the Wolverines had throughout the 2000s, eight consecutive from 2001-2008, including a runner-up trophy in 2005.
Read analysis for all 25 teams.
Not an InterMat Platinum subscriber? Subscribe now!
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now