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how does this all work with the scholarship limits? Is it 9.9? Are you just talking NIL money to offset the scholarship value if the scholarship isn’t there?
Yes, anything after the 9.9 becomes NIL but it’s not NIL money they’re putting in their pocket if they are giving 30,000 NIL for scholarship money they have to pay for the school with her money so they’re actually not putting money in your pocket
 
You could make the case that getting Guerrero was likely all along, so Sommer & Giddens were not as big of a need at the middleweights. And Teague helps there too.

I'm more curious about whether there's been a change in how the higher ranked recruits are evaluated. Routledge seems similar to Voinovich in HS. Ranked about the same, made the finals of some big tournaments, strong positionally with limited offense. I wonder if there's been a shift toward targeting higher upside recruits.
If they’re not a number one or two, they’re not a high target
 
whether you’re right or wrong, I love the thoughts
Tyler Caldwell did a Trackwrestling interview a few years back and was asked what OSU looks for in a recruit. He said top PFP guys, love/live the sport, excellent student, team player.

Might not answer your original question, but it gives some insight. The love/live the sport was related to guys getting distracted once in college. The excellent student means possible academic $ and also helps the team GPA. As an example, I think Hickman has almost a 4.0 GPA.
 
If they’re not a number one or two, they’re not a high target
Ok, but there has to be more to evaluating recruits, no?

Balmeceda wrestled in WNO, so he was top 2 at his weight. When he committed he was ranked #12 PFP in the 2019 class. In HS he could barely stand up after the first period. He'd get a lead and then hang on for the win.
 
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Ok, but there has to be more to evaluating recruits, no?

Balmeceda wrestled in WNO, so he was top 2 at his weight. When he committed he was ranked #12 PFP in the 2019 class. In HS he could barely stand up after the first period. He'd get a lead and then hang on for the win.
Sounds like the perfect fit!
 
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Looking like it'll be another #1 class for 2025 and getting Merrill makes the 2024 class great.

CWC is doing a great job building relationships in state with youth wrestlers. Zo is establishing himself as one of the premier youth coaches in the country. Perry and Caldwell hit the pavement hard and kids love them and want to wrestle for them.

If the program can turn around this streak of bad luck we've hit the last few years then things will be cooking. The recruiting, club, and money are there. Facilities are almost ready. Plus there's a clear willingness to go into the portal and pull guys when needed.

As long as the NCAA doesn't nuke non-revenue men's sports, OSU will be competitive soon. I think 2025 has a ton of potential. Hell I think this team could be special but there's a lot up in the air with Spratley, Jamison, and Williams. If two of those guys plus Surber can make the podium with Plott, Daton, and Olejnik then it's a trophy team. The three young guys need to make big jumps and everybody needs to stay healthy. Penn State is cooking and overcoming that will be very difficult. But if it was easy everybody would do it.

I don't post here often but work has slowed down for Christmas.
Appreciate the insight Lee and all you do for the program, and glad to see you in here!

If I'm not mistaken, isn't Zo pretty close with Jax Forrest? Would love to see Jax come to OSU, with Lilledahl going to Penn State and already stacked room/recruiting classes coming for them, don't see him going there. I like our chances against the rest of the pack. Glad to hear Zo's kicking butt for us! Along with Perry and Caldwell, you'd have to think Coleman helps a lot with recruiting, he was bringing in some good recruits to NC.

Agree on bad luck, progress with club, portal willingness. We had a very good year with Transfer Portal, love to see it and John's comments about "waking up", maybe woke up a sleeping giant!

Also agree that Matscouts is the clear #1 in HS rankings, Willie & Co's track record is impressive, their HS coverage in general is second to none IMO. Appreciate you always keeping/updating a running list for us!

Hope Blair is right once again, Veazy would be an awesome pick up! As others have mentioned love not only his wrestling but his name, would be sick to yell that out at GIA!
 
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Ok, but there has to be more to evaluating recruits, no?

Balmeceda wrestled in WNO, so he was top 2 at his weight. When he committed he was ranked #12 PFP in the 2019 class. In HS he could barely stand up after the first period. He'd get a lead and then hang on for the win.

Character and lifestyle
 
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Ok, but there has to be more to evaluating recruits, no?

Balmeceda wrestled in WNO, so he was top 2 at his weight. When he committed he was ranked #12 PFP in the 2019 class. In HS he could barely stand up after the first period. He'd get a lead and then hang on for the win.
Character lifestyle love for wrestling if they have all that and they’re at one too it’s all there is to it
 
Character lifestyle love for wrestling if they have all that and they’re at one too it’s all there is to it
Those are big. Hopefully OSU has gotten better at identifying those traits. I looked at the 2017-21 recruiting classes to see who was a top 15 PFP recruit and also wrestled at WNO (so top 2 at their weight).

-Fix was #1 PFP when he committed
-Wittlake was #2 when he committed to PSU, still top 10 when he flipped to OSU
-Plott was #4 but didn't wrestle at WNO due to injury
-Ferrari was #1 but didn't wrestle due to injury

Besides those 4 there was Balmeceda plus...
#9 PFP
#5
#15
#15
#4
#6

None of the other 7 AA'd. Only 1 made the blood round, 4 didn't make the starting lineup.
 
Like AJ & Anthony at Iowa?
Nights Talladega GIF
 
Lockett said in an interview k saw on okwrestle that he was fully going to commit somewhere else and changed his mind last min after Ironman. Which school?
 
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I would say that the next few years are going to be very important for OSU wrestling. At the moment, we are still playing with house money, but that will run out fast. When our top wrestlers in state, especially Stillwater, are going somewhere else, that is not good.
 
I would say that the next few years are going to be very important for OSU wrestling. At the moment, we are still playing with house money, but that will run out fast. When our top wrestlers in state, especially Stillwater, are going somewhere else, that is not good.
You guys are doing fine. Caldwell and Perry do a great job of recruiting. It’s like Blair/Lee said - have to get guys willing to make good lifestyle decisions.
 
You guys are doing fine. Caldwell and Perry do a great job of recruiting. It’s like Blair/Lee said - have to get guys willing to make good lifestyle decisions.
I do agree. It’s discomforting to be back into general population but we are moving in the right direction. We just have to be patient, and that advice is for me as much as anyone. We have a history, a culture and an expectation that others don’t have. We are Oklahoma State!
 
Did @blair2000 @JAY45 @leecothran or anyone else ever do a breakdown of what ‘25 might look like at each weight?

I’m sure we’ll have transfers incoming and outgoing by that time but with what we know I’d like to see some guess on weights
2024-2025 125 Spratley soph. 133 Hughes Fr. 141 Jamison soph. 149 Williams soph. 157 Travis jun. 165 Portal again. 174 Thompson soph. 184 Plott sen. 197 Surber sen. Hwt Carroll. Yes it needs to be Carroll or we have had a real recruiting miss by our staff. This is a potential trophy team especially with good development. This year if we get in the top 10 we are doing fairly good if we finish in the top 6 we will have had an excellent year. I really hope to see improvement with Carroll in the 2nd semester.
 
2024-2025 125 Spratley soph. 133 Hughes Fr. 141 Jamison soph. 149 Williams soph. 157 Travis jun. 165 Portal again. 174 Thompson soph. 184 Plott sen. 197 Surber sen. Hwt Carroll. Yes it needs to be Carroll or we have had a real recruiting miss by our staff. This is a potential trophy team especially with good development. This year if we get in the top 10 we are doing fairly good if we finish in the top 6 we will have had an excellent year. I really hope to see improvement with Carroll in the 2nd semester.
I guess the small question I have is… why aren’t we addressing the 165 issue? At least long term. Do none of our recruits project to 165? If not, I guess I don’t get why we didn’t give Sommer a shot
 
I guess the small question I have is… why aren’t we addressing the 165 issue? At least long term. Do none of our recruits project to 165? If not, I guess I don’t get why we didn’t give Sommer a shot
Well ideally we would bring in a transfer at 165 that has a few years of eligibility left.
 
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2024-2025 125 Spratley soph. 133 Hughes Fr. 141 Jamison soph. 149 Williams soph. 157 Travis jun. 165 Portal again. 174 Thompson soph. 184 Plott sen. 197 Surber sen. Hwt Carroll. Yes it needs to be Carroll or we have had a real recruiting miss by our staff. This is a potential trophy team especially with good development. This year if we get in the top 10 we are doing fairly good if we finish in the top 6 we will have had an excellent year. I really hope to see improvement with Carroll in the 2nd semester.
Of these wrestlers the best wrestler will likely be Dustin Plott. If everything goes our way the next 3 best wrestlers will be our 2023 recruiting class Thompson, Hughes and Carroll. Next best for us would be if 1 or 2 of the sophomores really come thru of Williams, Spratley and Jamison. Surber could be an All American. 2025 -2026 could be where we challenge Penn St. if our recruiting and development is excellent because Sakamoto and Merrill could be high All Americans as redshirt freshmen. This with the 2023 class which could include Robb at 184, and also Spratley 125, Williams 149 and Jamison 149 will be our 1st chance to challenge Penn. St. in the future. Then we would have Lockett at 57 most likely or 65. This lineup would not have 1 senior in it and so 2026-2027 could be special also but we would need the breaks and development to win. But it is possible. Many of us old timers would like to see this forum change its name before we are gone.
 
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By 25-26 I see Hughes taking 141 from Jamison after a great year at 133 the year before. That would leave Jamison and Williams competing for 149. If Spratley does not jump a level I think we should recruit over him soon ( either portal or a top high schooler).
25-26 was what I was actually asking about earlier. I’m interested to see where we see them
 
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