I've been watching collegiate wrestling now for 34 years & I've been writing about collegiate wrestling for 23 years. Evaluating what I desire and how to get it, I know I want the 2025-2026 to start off with a huge bang. I want there to be something that everyone everywhere is talking about. Something with so much build up and hype that every wrestling fan will see as "can NOT miss." I want everyone within a 100 mile radius to think it's nothing to make the drive, and everyone else sitting at home watching "must watch" television.
I gave this a lot of thought.
Youth is something that our sport seems over obsessive with. We get overtly excited when someone young exceeds expectations and achieves on a high level. Go to wrestling message boards and wrestling Facebook pages, and the #1 topics usually involve the current best high school wrestlers, the potential/current status of true freshmen, and the potential/current status of redshirt freshmen.
How can wrestling use this to its advantage?
I say our All-Star dual should be the top high school recruits Vs the top returning DI wrestlers.
I've been around the sport for nearly three and a half decades now. I already know some of the rebuttals I'll get on this proposal.
"They're not ready for that yet." "That's not fair. That's throwing them to the wolves!"
No it isn't.
Let's look at what would have happened, had we done this idea last year.
At 125 lbs, we would have had Luke Lilledahl Vs Richard Figueroa. Lilledahl showed that he would have been fine against the returning NCAA DI champ & might even have beaten him. By season's end, Lilledahl was a BIG 10 champ & 3rd in the DI nation, while Figueroa came up short of AA #2.
133, Ben Davino also would have been fine. He could have competed against Ryan Crookham or Nasir Bailey or whoever was put out there. Davino went 19-1 on the year, winning the Clarion Open & placing 3rd at the Midlands. Had wins over All American Tyler Wells, as well as qualifiers Ethan Oakley, Ryan Miller, Sean Spidle & Ethan Berginc.
184 Could have had Angelo Ferrari for crying out loud. He majored Evan Bockman & defeated four time All American Dustin Plott, while giving five-time NCAA DI champion Carter Starocci one of his biggest scares of the season!
I could keep on going on with example after example of Grigor Cholokyan, Brock Mantanona, Zack Ryder, Aedon Sinclar, ect. The point stands. Many of last year's top high school recruits heading into their true or redshirt freshmen years were ready to compete immediately. 2025 is no different.
I say this idea of top h.s. recruits vs top DI returnees would be a major money maker for collegiate wrestling. I even bet it'd be the most watched and talked about All Star dual of all time.
Picture it if you will...
Anthony Knox Vs Vincent Robinson 125 |
We have the #4 recruit in the nation taking on the redshirt sophomore, who won an NCAA DI title last year as a redshirt freshman. Cornell has been doing pretty good on the recruiting front, and many Big Red fans are excited for the future of white & red wrestling. This would give them a great opportunity to see exactly what they're getting out of St. John Vianney, New Jersey.
Marcus Blaze Vs Lucas Byrd 133 |
Penn State has ruled the roost from the Heavens above, as everyone else seems to duke it out far, far below for the silver trophy. One of the many ways Penn State has been able to maintain their utter dominance is through getting the best of the best in recruits. This year marks no different. Marcus Blaze, the most talked about incoming freshman, and the #1 recruit in the nation, is going to be a Nittany Lion this season. Why not see him on the mat Vs the returning NCAA DI National champion Lucas Byrd? The hair on my arms is standing up just thinking about it. You can't tell me this marquee matchup isn't something you'd love to see.
Seth Mendoza Vs Jesse Mendez 141 |
Mt. Carmel, Illinois has been producing phenomenal talent longer than I've been around. Of course we all remember studs like Tony Davis as well as the Williams brothers, Steve, Joe and T.J. All these years later, Seth Mendoza is yet another Golden Ace that will soon be showing off his skills on the mat. The #6 recruit in the nation has decided to be a Missouri Tiger. No doubt about it, he'll have an outstanding career. Question is, how at the moment would he match up against two-time NCAA DI champion Jesse Mendez? I'd like to see, wouldn't you?
Sergio Vega Or Daniel Zepeda Vs Caleb Henson 149 |
At 149 I think it'd be fun to see either Sergio Vega or Daniel Zepeda against Caleb Henson. Vega is the #7 recruit in the nation & Zepeda is the #8. From a marketing standpoint, might give the nod to Vega, simply because he's going to Oklahoma State. Okie State has a bigger fanbase, and even more noteworthy, the Cowboys seem to be the team hottest on the trail of the Nittany Lions. Promotional consideration in mind, that doesn't mean that I don't think Zepeda Vs Henson wouldn't too be a great contest, because it would be.
P.J. Duke Vs Antrell Taylor 157 |
Now here's a good one. The state of New York doesn't get brought up enough in discussions of high school talent, but they've produced some outstanding wrestlers over the years. P.J. Duke, the #2 recruit in the nation, out of Minisink Valley, is one of them. This is what I mean by sitting around and thinking about the potential and possibilities of these young men right out of the gate. It's almost like a top secret project, and you're waiting for it to be revealed. "Penn State is reloading!" Of course they are, they always are. Let's take out that gun, lets up in those bullets and see if they can't penetrate the armor of a superior talent like Antrell Taylor. You can't tell me that a match like this wouldn't put asses in the seats and eyes glued to screens.
Ladarian Lockett Vs Mitchell Mesenbrink 165 |
After watching Mitchell Mesenbrink rip through the competition last year in route to the NCAA DI title, my immediate thoughts were, "No one will ever come close to this guy again." Yet this is collegiate wrestling. No matter how good you are, there is always someone lurking in the shadows to take you down. As said previously, Oklahoma State is on a mission to humble the blue & white Gods, and put the Pokes back on top. Maybe the #3 recruit in the nation, Ladarian Lockett, a native of Stillwater himself, can be the one who leads them to glory. There's backstory here. There is buildup and hype. There's marquee value. Let's do it.
Tyler Eise Vs Levi Haines 174 |
Coach Mark Manning has a habit of "coming out of nowhere" and getting the most out of his wrestlers. Nebraska finished 2nd in both the BIG 10 & the NCAA DI tournament last season. Most eyes are on Oklahoma State, with a few on Iowa, but maybe we ought to be paying more attention to what the Huskers have in store. Maybe it'll be the scarlet and cream that overcomes the seeming unstoppable train hailing from the Mount they call Nittany. Tyler Eise, the #17 recruit in the nation out of Gilroy, California is one of the best newcomers to the team. Is he good enough to go toe-to-toe with 2nd-1st-3rd DI finisher Levi Haines?
William Henckel Vs Max McEnelly 184 |
Now here's an intriguing match. Two seasons ago, Max McEnelly the #4 recruit in the country went to Minnesota & had himself a very telling redshirt season. Last year as a redshirt freshman, he had an outstanding season, doing things that seemed unreal for a freshman to be doing in an upperclassmen dominated weight. Park Keckeisen of Northern Iowa was 3rd-3rd-2nd-1st going into his fifth NCAA DI championship tournament, and McEnelly gave him everything he could handle in a close & well contested semi-final bout. Doesn't it blow your mind to think that someone coming up in the ranks could potentially knock McEnelly out of the *1 spot in the DI rankings, that he has more than earned? Literally this is like trying to comprehend the true size of the universe. At nearly 600 sextillion miles, it's incomprehensible to the human mind. Yet you know Penn State rarely gets it wrong on recruiting. So you know damn good and well that William Henckel is worth every penny that Penn State is spending on him. The #13 overall recruit in the nation, that you know is going to get even that much better once Cael works his magic on him. The more I think about this dual, the more I want it to happen.
Harvey Ludington Vs Josh Barr 197 |
You know good and well that Iowa, and the black & gold faithful are going to want in on this action if it happens. Iowa has shown tremendous growth and potential with a great hope in Angelo Ferrari, who could very well start off the season easily ranked #1 at 184 lbs. Perhaps the Hawkeyes have such talent at 197 in Harvey Ludington? The #15 overall recruit from Brick Memorial, New Jersey has a lot of cornfed wrestling fans excited. Iowa also has three-time NCAA DIII champ Massoma Endene in the lineup as well, so I would imagine Ludington will redshirt this season, as did Ferrari in '23-'24. Can you imagine the kind of excitement it would generate if he were able to knock off or even wrestle NCAA DI finalist Josh Barr to a competitive match?
Jude Correa Vs Isaac Trumble HWT |
Within the mix of things, Cornell is looking pretty good in the recruiting front and at HWT they are getting the #12 overall recruit out of powerhouse Wyoming Seminary, Jude Correa. It'd be fun to see how he matches up with upperbody specialist Isaac Trumble.
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There you have it. What I believe would be a fantastic idea for this year's NWCA All Star Classic. It's the type of idea that would draw a huge crowd and something to get everyone, everywhere super excited about it.
Let me know what you think!
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