Yes, Soldano was 8th ranked p4p class recruit and best NJ recruit that year…. Regarding Knox, it just feels like we are coming runner up a lot for the huge recruits… AJ Ferrarri, Angelo Ferrarri, Shultz, Mullen, etc… thankfully we landed Soldano, Poz and got Dean to transfer..
Recruiting
- Thread starter Racpack
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Soldano, Poz, Peterson, even Aragona were all #1 P4P in state at some point. Olivieri, Alvarez, Kannaird, Oneill, Glasgow, Janzer, Casale are all names that were also top recruits whether they panned out or not.
To be fair they always said it was 50:50 and he never seemed like the type of kid who would come to RU. I constantly heard he really wanted to go to an Ivy but grades were a concern so it was Cornell in my eyes. Princeton I believe would have been his #1 but don’t think he could have gotten in. Once I heard it was RU and Cornell in his top 2, I knew he was gone.
Cornell seems to overlook some academic stuff whether athletics come in but I don’t necessarily think Knox and Cornell is a marriage that will last forever. It obviously could but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a portal guy if things don’t go smoothly.
All those guys are NJ greats but maybe only Soldano, Peterson, and Aragona were a Knox lvl recruit coming out of hs…
Our 2 commits at Super 32 underperformed their seeds. But placed. So not a bad day.
It was disappointing to see Knox commit to Cornell. Also Ryan Burton of St. Joe's won the tournament at 175 and is committed to Va. Tech. The other NJ winner was Anthony Harris who beat Steve Mocco's son at 215. Harris is uncommitted and attends St. Peter's Prep Are we looking at him?. Leo DeLuca of Blair is yet to commit. Word is we have a great shot at him. Goodale needs to close on some top Jersey kids. The Pa. kids are good. But were not targets of Sanderson.
It was disappointing to see Knox commit to Cornell. Also Ryan Burton of St. Joe's won the tournament at 175 and is committed to Va. Tech. The other NJ winner was Anthony Harris who beat Steve Mocco's son at 215. Harris is uncommitted and attends St. Peter's Prep Are we looking at him?. Leo DeLuca of Blair is yet to commit. Word is we have a great shot at him. Goodale needs to close on some top Jersey kids. The Pa. kids are good. But were not targets of Sanderson.
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After the successes of the coming season, it will be easier to get some of these top recruits. Our ability to recruit top talent will get a big boost when the wrestling community sees that our coach can recover after a disappointing season. It will show that the success of the past can, and will be repeated.
Of course, but we’re not getting that level of in state kid of late. Thankfully PA is starting to open up because the Blairs Delbartons and SJMs of the world don’t have much interest in sending kids in state.
I had posted in here that few years back the father told my friend directly that he wanted to go to Cornell. And a few on here told me it was BS because of grades and whole bunch of other reasons why I was wrong.
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Yes we do have at shot at the Blair kid. We have nothing to feel badly about with Knox. We did everything humanly possible for him. Had a top Wall Street guy who is a former pro team owner contact him since Knox wants Wall Street and met with him and the family about his future after wrestling. One day he will realize this person could have set him up for his next 40 years after wrestling. I am sure that is hard for a 17 year old to realize now
Unless RU can write some big checks and/or build facilities to rival Cornell’s we will have this problem for a long time because Mike Grey is just getting started.
What are the facilities like at Cornell?
I've been to the Rutgers room lately and it is absolutely world class.
Everything looks brand new, huge. They have their own mini gym worth of equipment intra room not to mention the actual athletic facilities in the APC.
Everyone has their sources. Your's were better this time than others.
The key is more $ for top SKWC resident athletes and NIL. The APC and the RAC are better than Cornell's facilities, and the match atmosphere at the RAC is a million times better than Cornell's. They get a few hundred people.
I'd be shocked and don't think we have the $.
There is a tour of the completed Friedman Center upgrades somewhere on Flo but this is all I could find without much effort.
As of late? Soldano was a true freshmen last year. Who exactly are you talking about?
Antonio who beat Harer by 8-3 at Super 32 committed to West Point. Flo had Antonio ranked at 17. I guess Flo was off on that one. Or Harer had an off bout. I sure hope so as I think Harer is our highest ranked recruit.
Antonio had an awesome tourney, he will def move up in rankings, took 1 seed Locket into OT..
Harer bounced back for third and is still a great prospect but is still not a gtd at the next lvl imo.. he’s ranked in the 20s for class recruit and people are hyped he’s an elite from PA.. I’d rank Harer a 4 star recruit and guys like Knox, Deluca, Forrest 5 stars going into college.
Love that he’s taking classes in RU and def has the right mindset, from listening to his interviews, and all the tools to succeed. Def would not be surprised to see Harer contend for AA+ In college but some ppl might have too high expectations.
He was the graduating class of 2022. We’re well into recruiting for 2025. That’s a ton of in state talent in between committing elsewhere.
RU needs to shake things up because they aren’t getting REAL traction with top recruits. Courtesy visits don’t mean squat and Buxton is great but not a miracle worker. The reality is RU can’t match the academic profile of the Ivy League schools that sit in a 3 hour radius in almost every direction. And RU can’t match the wrestling/coaching legacies of the powerhouse programs. Not to mention RU doesn’t have the NIL funds to pay kids $10K+ per month. We are in a tough spot and our poster-boy Ashnault is MIA.
Agree. Buxton is great. Look what he did for Rivera. Kids that are juniors in high school must wonder how long he will be involved. Not sure of his age. But appears to be over 65 and he limps around. Seems like Goodale has burnt bridges with some folks in NJ. There must be a reason why Ashnault is not around. He was the face of Rutgers wrestling, signing when no one would take a chance on RU, won a national championship here, and coached for a year. Something must of gone down with Goodale and him. There are smart to keep it quiet. But, one has to wonder. Also the way Leonardis left the program and to my knowledge has not been around or gone to a match is not a good look.
Does AA have any association with the program whatsoever? I know Suriano was little more than a mercenary, but when your two national champs have nothing to do with the program that’s a bad look.
Just a heads up Conner broke his hand Tuesday before super 32 and wrestled with it at super 32! Still performed rather well. He’s gonna be just fine for rutgers
Ashnault wanted to continue to compete(and not coach) full time and thought a change of coaches would help him in his competition career. The changing of coaches and partners has not really changed his status on the 65kg ladder, but he still has the desire to compete. I would think he would stop competing after the 2024 cycle.
Every home football game, Bill Ashnault has a tailgate for the wrestling coaches, the current team, the recruits that are visiting and all friends of Rutgers wrestling. If there was a "reason" Anthony is not around, do you really think Bill would be hosting all the RU wrestling folks?
The Ashnaults are quality and love Rutgers athletes. That does not mean that something didn't go down between Goodale and Anthony. Other than training at the NYRTC, Anthony has been helping with Columbia's RTC eligible athletes as Rivera does for us, he helps his brother at CBA, has coached high school kids in tournaments, has run clinics in New England, and of course oversees the Mobbin Classic. Anthony is all over helping wrestlers get better as he works on his craft. Hope the legend returns to RU.
Harer when was healthy beat arujo for a Junior national title back in March. Arujo just won super 32 at 165. He’s pretty high level
Araujo is a 4x North Dakota state champion, but came into super 32 not ranked in the top 20 In his weight class.. his stock will certainly go up after a magnificent S32.. he beat the 9th, 11th and 3rd rank guys en route to a title..
For sure his stock will go up think he committed to Nebraska. Rutgers has the guy in Harer who beat him. Harer taking 3rd at super 32 with broken hand is pretty amazing feat shows he’s big ten tough!
UM spending serious $$$ on its wrestling program - which makes sense considering how little you need to spend in comparison to other team sports like football. With $1M or less you could easily buy one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
Dont worry, that number will continue to increase. Each wrestler's salary will continue to increase as elite recruits will demand more and more cash compared to those who went before them. The rich will continue to afford compared to the rest and the payrolls will continue to climb as teams will try and outbid one another. It's the free agent system applied to amateur athletics.
Define broken hand. I've had one and know it would have been impossible to use it like Harer did in that tournament. I watched and saw him using both hands with no apparent favoritism.
Broken left thumb palm side. He had wrapped first couple matches. Trainers didn’t wrap the way rutgers trainer did said it didn’t help with the way they wrapped it so took it off
REALLY?
RU signed probably it's best class ever...We Crushed Recruiting this year...Transfers are a Big part of the recruiting cycle now and that's not changing. I would much rather bring in a proven NCAA D1 wrestler who has qualified already and won bouts at NCAA Tournament and who are Nationally Ranked and have dropped weights classes for RU already then a 2 or 3x New Jersey Champ. Losing Knox was tough but what other NJ Recruit has his Resume? Lets put in the best Wrestlers every year on the Mat that want to be here and Represent The State University of NJ...Wrestle at Jersey Mikes Arena. Get a degree from a top 15 Public University in USA... Wrestle in front of raucous NJ Fan Base and Wrestle in front of the 3/4 best arenas in USA for College Wrestling... (Cornell wrestles in a HS GYM/Friedman Center with 800 fans) Princeton has about half that at most matches...Rider is like a good PA Middle School Program
Look how many Transfers Iowa brings in...Thats how your Recruiting is going.
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Yep. The portal is part of recruiting in modern day college athletics.
Yes. I can't find anything that RUAldo said that isn't true and nothing you said contradicts his points. But nice to know you're happy.
We are 2-0..Have 10/10 Ranked guys in Line up,..Team looks Great...Going to be exciting year...Enjoy Season! ...Lets Go!
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