The Immediate Recruiting Impact of David Taylor at Oklahoma State

Recruiting is the lifeblood of a collegiate wrestling team. To make a significant impact at the NCAA Tournament you need to have the horses. As college wrestling has evolved, we find out who the real thoroughbreds are earlier and earlier. Looking at the 2024 NCAA finals, 14 of the 20 finalists were ranked in the top ten overall in their respective recruiting classes. Only one wrestler was from outside of the top-50 (Mitchell Mesenbrink) and he would have been much higher had the class rankings dropped a month later. 

Detractors of Penn State’s dynasty have often said, “They just get the best recruits,” as if it were a jab at the staff’s ability to coach and develop. I look at it as them being great at an area that accounts for a large portion of the coaching duties. 

Now bringing this topic to current events - David Taylor was officially announced as Oklahoma State’s next head coach on Monday night. Some skeptics of the hire were unsure how it would work having a head coach at a power program in his first collegiate coaching gig. I’m confident he’ll hire an experienced staff that can help fill in the gaps as he learns on the job; however, one area in which I think he’ll excel immediately is recruiting. 

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