Interesting breakdown by Josh Lowe of Intermat (link below) about where the 80 Division1 All Americans were ranked coming out of college. Using his data, I see the following:

14 (17.5%) of the 80 AAs were top 10 recruits coming out of HS;
19 (or nearly 24%) were NOT top 100 recruits; and
27 (or 34%) were NOT top 50 recruits.

Lowe didn’t add much narrative analysis to his breakdown other than noting that PSU’s 5 finalists this year were all “can’t miss” recruits. My own take-aways are:

(1) There are some can’t-miss, top-ranked guys coming out of high school who will immediately and consistently compete for NCAA championships – like Snyder, McIntosh, Bo Jordan (all #1s), Retherford (a #3), Myles Martin ( a #4), Chisko (#11) and McFadden (#12), and coaches will always covet them; BUT

(2) being top-ranked in HS does not guarantee success at the college level;

(3) lower or unranked wrestlers can develop into top tier D1 competitors;

(4) smart coaches/recruiters are looking beyond the numbers to assess talent, drive, untested upside, coachability and other intangibles; and

(5) how hard a guy works in college and how well his coaches and training partners push/direct him are enormous factors. See Nashon Garrett (#49) and our own Ty Walz (ranked nationally at 285, but not a top 100 recruit). The football analogy is best demonstrated by NFL defensive studs JJ Watt and Luke Kuechly, who were both just 2-star (not 5-stars) recruits.

Dresser and Robie have recruited their share of top tier HS talent, but they also seem to have a keen eye for guys who maybe flew a little under the radar and have a higher ceiling than the HS rankings may suggest. Which all means, keep up the great work in the recruiting process and in the wrestling room!!