InterMat releases 2009 recruiting class rankings

July 8, 2:44 PMCollege Wrestling ExaminerMark Palmer

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Looking down the road, which college wrestling programs can expect the brightest futures, based on the talent they’ve recruited?

Right now, the Oklahoma State Cowboys have the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, according to InterMat.

The amateur wrestling website just released its recruiting class rankings for 2009. Oklahoma State, on the strength of five top 100 recruits, along with some talented transfers, sits atop the rankings. The University of Minnesota boasts four top 100 recruits and comes in at No. 2. The Oklahoma Sooners, Nebraska Cornhuskers, and Iowa Hawkeyes round out the top five in the InterMat rankings. (By contrast, the top five finishers in the team standings at the 2009 NCAA Division I wrestling championships were, in order, Iowa, Ohio State, Iowa State, Nebraska, and Cornell University.)

In its analysis of the college recruiting classes for each wrestling program, InterMat looked at how many recruits were from its own list of Top 100 recruits, as well as other ranked recruits, and notable recruits… then factored in what it calls “impact transfers” (wrestlers transferring in from other colleges). The website also includes a concise commentary on that particular program’s overall recruiting class.

For example, in ranking Oklahoma State as having the No. 1 recruiting class for 2009, InterMat cites the Cowboys being able to recruit five out of InterMat’s Top 100 recruits, including No. 3 Chris Perry (Stillwater, OK), No. 11 Jon Morrison (Carl Sandburg, IL), No. 21 Dallas Bailey (Catoosa, OK), No. 53 Ladd Rupp (Perry, OK), and No. 71 Zach White (Woodward, OK). InterMat’s ranking also factors in the transfers of Mike Benefiel (from Northwestern), Albert White (from North Iowa Area Community College), and Alan Gelogaev (Russia).

In its commentary on Oklahoma State’s recruits, InterMat reports, “Two of the best wrestlers from the Class of 2007 combine with five of the best high school wrestlers in the nation this year to provide the Cowboys a staggering recruiting haul. This group should help assure that Oklahoma State returns to the top of the NCAA leader board, and stays there for a while, a position from which they had a rare absence this past season. Morrison is a two-time Junior Nationals champion in freestyle, while Perry earned that title this past season.”

InterMat has provided a similarly detailed analysis for the other top 25 recruiting classes, available here.