Recruits

[TheWombat]

I finally got some time to break down the SD state tournament. Here's what I saw.

106: Tyler Graff Looked very good. He’s small, he’s weak, and he’s not exceptionally quick for the weight, he’s just very technically skilled and he has a good mentality. When he grows up a little bit, he could be someone to watch. He’s one where you really don’t know what a growth spurt is going to do to him. I was a little bothered with his bowing to the crowd, but he’s a freshman.
113: Brendan Salfrank is a good wrestler. He’s aggressive and he’s athletic but he’s probably too small for the next level at the moment. We’ll see if Northern picks him up and tries to bulk him up.
120: Owen Hanson dropped a heartbreaker to Riley Weber from Parkston who he’s beaten twice earlier in the year. Hanson has some upside but he’s young. Once he fills out, I think he’ll tear through the state.
126: Kaiden Kaiser looked good but not great. He needs to keep improving and diversifying his game. He won’t be able to score points using the methods that he is now at the next level. I do like his top game and I suspect it will only get better in the years to come.
132: Braden Sehr seemed to have had a better year last year, but he did have a very good tournament. He looked athletic and explosive and he wrestled with a lot of confidence. He’s not great technically, but he has the tools to do well. Ty Althoft seem to be the opposite. He’s a dynamic top wrestler with a lot of skill but not top-end physical attributes. Althoft is the better wrestler, but Sehr might be the better recruit.
138: Kellyn March is possibly the worst wrestler that I’ve ever seen. I became physically ill watching him stall through his finals match (against a freshman) and I’m still picking the dried vomit out of my keyboard. We should all be glad that we avoided buying that lemon. He will no doubt sit on the Bison bench for five years taking up scholarship money while he fumbles his way through practice. At some point, you have to feel bad for the kid. (sarcasm for those who don’t know)
145: Lukas Anglin did well but didn’t blow anyone away. He is not a particularly athletic guy but he keeps good position and he is very good on top. Looking at him, he might be a 141 at the next level. I like Jackson Eklund a lot after seeing him at this tournament. He is very quick, he’s very strong and he is very skilled on top. It’s great to see him get a state title after losing to the best that South Dakota has to offer for the previous three years. I would love to see him showcase his skills somewhere this summer (maybe folkstyle nationals). Coaching staff, please recruit him. He’s the kind of guy that I’m always going on about having great potential and then going to work on a farm or something after high school. If I was going to pick one graduating senior for the Jacks to take a chance on, it would, without a doubt be Jackson Eklund.
152: If I was going to pick two graduating seniors for the Jacks to take a chance on, the second would be Eli Kadoun. He’s a good scrambler and he’s very good on top. These things will translate very well to the college game. Isaac Klinkhammer is also good and could be a target for next year.
160: I also spoke highly of Cooper Voorhees, so everything I said about March also applies to him. Sam Kruger is an interesting prospect. He’s got attributes; he’s very long but he’s still strong and is quick to legs. He could do well at the next level with some coaching.
170: Shaeden Scheidt looked good. Best of luck to him next year at St. Cloud.
182: Josh Crownover took a loss here and ended up having a very close match to take third. I don’t feel as bad about not landing him now. Damion Schunke is the clear next South Dakota stud wrestler with Hutmacher and March graduating. He reminds me a lot of Zahid Valencia with his build and style. He is going to need to fill out quite a bit before he can handle a higher level of competition but he is only a sophomore, so he has plenty of time to do that. I get the feeling that there will be a lot of disappointed jackrabbit fans if they can’t land this wrestler.
195: Cody Donnelly seems like an interesting prospect. He is very tall (~6’5”) and still moves fairly well. If he can hold 197, he could be an interesting DII or DIII prospect.
220: I don’t know how KJ St. Pierre wins matches he doesn’t seem particularly big or strong or quick, and his technique is pretty basic. I might be missing something with this kid. Owen Warren exposed some chinks in his armor. He’s going to run into people that he can’t throw at some point and unless he grows quite a bit, he’s going to have to learn to shoot more effectively and defend shots to compete at the next level. He’s got another two years to develop and I’m sure he’ll be fine, but he wasn’t what I was expecting. Navarro Schunke is going to be the next great South Dakota heavyweight with is technical superiority, but he is very much an eighth grader in terms of his body. When his body catches up to his skill he is going to be a great talent. They Jacks need to get Damion partially to make sure that they’re able to land Navarro.
285: Hutmacher performed as expected. He’s one of the greatest to ever do it in South Dakota. Beau Foote is a descent prospect. He has a descent frame for a sophomore and he had great pace. I think he has the agility to be a shooting heavyweight if he’s able to develop the strength to finish shots. It’s a shame that he had Hutmacher in his bracket for his first two years and he’ll have Schunke in his bracket for his last two.

Uncommitted prospects with possible DI potential:

2020: Jackson Eklund (149) Eli Kadoun (157)
2021: Braden Sehr (141) Isaac Kinkhammer (165) Sam Kruger (165)
2022: Logan Graff (125) Owen Warren (197) Damion Schunke (197) Kaiden Keiser (141)
2023: Owen Hansen (149) Trason Oehme (133)
2024: Navarro Schunke (285)

[TheWombat]

There were a couple of very good wrestlers who showed some skill in Minnesota the other day as well. Some that they might want to look at:

Trevor Eisfield (184) He was the first ever state champion at his high school. He only wrestles during wrestling season so he pretty much pulled it off on pure athletic ability. He finished the season as a state champ at 51-0 after taking second last year. This kid has potential. His current plan is to "try to walk on to the SDSU football team" according to this article https://www.marshallindependent.com/...r-of-the-year/. This kid is going to be on campus scholarship-free anyway and his current plan is to be a very undersized football player. Hahn needs to give this give kid a call and talk some sense into him.

Colton Krell (184) Colton has been looked at as someone with great potential since he was in eighth grade. He finally broke through and won a championship after placing second, third and fourth in previous years. He's explosive and has great feel. I could see them taking a chance on him. He also has ties to the school so they might be able to pick him up as a recruited walk-on.

Charlie Pickell (133) He's been looked at as a solid DI prospect for a while now but hasn't committed. He may not want to pursue wrestling in college but he has the credentials and the skill to pick up a scholarship somewhere. I'm not sure if he has as high of a ceiling as some others, but he's very polished and he will at minimum provide good depth.

Trey Kruse (149) He's another very seasoned wrestler who's been doing this at a high level for a long time. He was able to secure a state championship after placing twice before. He's one of those borderline DI / DII guys. He could provide some depth here.

Both with these wrestlers and the wrestlers I mentioned from South Dakota, I recognize that the roster is pretty close to full and that they have to be selective with who they're bringing in at this point. None of these guys are wasted roster spots, but they'll probably only pick up one or two more wrestlers in this class.

[GopherHole]

Really enjoyed reading your analysis of wrestlers in both state tourneys! Keep up the great work.

[TheWombat]

Article on Derrick Cardinal: https://www.mnwrestlinghub.com/news_...e/show/1098932

[stchrist]

Pretty nice story. He'll fit in well with this staff and team.

[TheWombat]

Sadly Old Dominion dropped it's program the other day. This is a big loss for wrestling but a lot of programs are going to be sifting through the rubble to see what pieces they can snag. I'm feeling particularly heartless today so I outlined which pieces might be worth pursuing for the coaching staff.

Killian Cardinale, RSo, 125: in and out of the rankings this year, 25-9, national qualifier
Kevin Budock, RJr, 149: two year starter for ODU, had a rough year finishing 7-5, but was 28-16 and 21-15 the years that he started
Sage Serbenta, 2020 recruit, 184: State champion from Michigan, #109 on flo's big board
Adrien Cramer 2019 recruit, 184: State champion from Illinois, #91 on flo's big board
Steve Bleise Volunteer Assistant Coach: Obviously, our coaching staff is great and I wouldn't want to make any changes. But, as we've seen, coaches come and go all the time in every sport for every reason, and, if we were to lose someone, he would be a good contributor as he was highly regarded as a leader in the gopher room and as a coach at ODU.

[opinionsaremyown]

Article on Derrick Cardinal: https://www.mnwrestlinghub.com/news_...e/show/1098932

Looking forward to Derrick coming to Brookings. He is really good but will jump levels with the leadership we have. Will be an absolute hammer in the BLUE.

[witness]

Is the staff looking at any former Old Dominion recruits or wrestlers since they closed the program? I believe they had 2 Top 100 recruits too

[TheWombat]

Is the staff looking at any former Old Dominion recruits or wrestlers since they closed the program? I believe they had 2 Top 100 recruits too

They had a lot of good 184 recruits that we could go after; Sage Sebenta, Ashton Heble, and Aiden Kramer. They could fork out some money for one of them, it all depends on how they feel about Martin Mueller, Nick Casperson, and Jacob Schoon. The coaching staff might feel really good about 184 if Mueller is healthy or Casperson has been good in the room or they might feel like they need to bolster the weight-class if they think that Schoon is the guy and he's not up to it. I can't see them going for any of the other ODU recruits, either they're aren't at weight-classes of need or they are from far away.

[KSjack]

They had a lot of good 184 recruits that we could go after; Sage Sebenta, Ashton Heble, and Aiden Kramer. They could fork out some money for one of them, it all depends on how they feel about Martin Mueller, Nick Casperson, and Jacob Schoon. The coaching staff might feel really good about 184 if Mueller is healthy or Casperson has been good in the room or they might feel like they need to bolster the weight-class if they think that Schoon is the guy and he's not up to it. I can't see them going for any of the other ODU recruits, either they're aren't at weight-classes of need or they are from far away.

Can I ask what is your fixation with Schoon? He was a way under the radar recruit who had an 11-9 record with no real big wins like Sloan had. As of now I see no reason for him to be in the conversation for starting. IMO, the way I view it is if Marty is healthy it’s 110% him. If he’s not then I’m 110% rolling with Casperson who was a legit top 100 recruit and a high school all American. Even if Marty is healthy I think he still will be pushed hard by Casperson.


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[TheWombat]

Can I ask what is your fixation with Schoon? He was a way under the radar recruit who had an 11-9 record with no real big wins like Sloan had. As of now I see no reason for him to be in the conversation for starting. IMO, the way I view it is if Marty is healthy it’s 110% him. If he’s not then I’m 110% rolling with Casperson who was a legit top 100 recruit and a high school all American. Even if Marty is healthy I think he still will be pushed hard by Casperson.


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To be clear, if the line-up that I predicted materializes, I think he will most likely be the worst wrestler in the line-up. I see problems with both Marty and Casperson as viable options.

Mueller: He didn't wrestle a match this year, he was plagued by injuries his junior year, he would need to be granted a medical redshirt to be eligible at all, and he is most likely already graduated so it remains to be seen if he woiuld take a sixth year if he got one.

Casperson: He hasn't wrestled a competitive match since high school. He hasn't weighted 184 pounds since his junior year of high school. All of his notable wins in highschool were in freestyle and greco. I know that he had a serious shoulder injury that kept him off of the mat and I'm unsure just how healed up he is at this point and if he could reinjure it.

These guys are both huge questions marks. We know that Muller is good when he's at his best, but we have no idea if he'll be at his best or if he'll be wrestling at all. Casperson we know nothing about. We don't know if he's healthy. We don't know if he can make the weight. We don't even know if he's good at folkstyle wrestling. He could be, but I've seen nothing that convinces me of that.

I do like Schoon a lot, I have since before he was recruited. I don't think he sees a lot of success if he's the starter next year but I do think that he will continue to improve to the point where he can contribute and maybe be a good starter in the future. We know what we're getting in Schoon; a good athlete with a good mentality who's technically deficient. He takes shots that he shouldn't, he has poor mat tactics, he's undersized, and he's a liability on bottom. All of these problems are very fixable and he's in the ideal place to have them fixed. I would be shocked if he didn't improve dramatically as time goes on.

[KSjack]

To be clear, if the line-up that I predicted materializes, I think he will most likely be the worst wrestler in the line-up. I see problems with both Marty and Casperson as viable options.

Mueller: He didn't wrestle a match this year, he was plagued by injuries his junior year, he would need to be granted a medical redshirt to be eligible at all, and he is most likely already graduated so it remains to be seen if he woiuld take a sixth year if he got one.

Casperson: He hasn't wrestled a competitive match since high school. He hasn't weighted 184 pounds since his junior year of high school. All of his notable wins in highschool were in freestyle and greco. I know that he had a serious shoulder injury that kept him off of the mat and I'm unsure just how healed up he is at this point and if he could reinjure it.

These guys are both huge questions marks. We know that Muller is good when he's at his best, but we have no idea if he'll be at his best or if he'll be wrestling at all. Casperson we know nothing about. We don't know if he's healthy. We don't know if he can make the weight. We don't even know if he's good at folkstyle wrestling. He could be, but I've seen nothing that convinces me of that.

I do like Schoon a lot, I have since before he was recruited. I don't think he sees a lot of success if he's the starter next year but I do think that he will continue to improve to the point where he can contribute and maybe be a good starter in the future. We know what we're getting in Schoon; a good athlete with a good mentality who's technically deficient. He takes shots that he shouldn't, he has poor mat tactics, he's undersized, and he's a liability on bottom. All of these problems are very fixable and he's in the ideal place to have them fixed. I would be shocked if he didn't improve dramatically as time goes on.

I know Caspersons senior year he bumped up a weight or might of been two to take on Nash and just about beat him plus he’s a state champ so that is no evidence of good at folk style? Plus having big wins in Greco and freestyle usually translate to that your good at wrestling! And literally I’m pretty sure an injured Marty or casperson still leaves us in a better spot than schoon. He’s got way to many deficiencies that you listed to be a freshman starter. I feel like he would have a worse season than king had this year. Prefer he just continues to develop by going to tournaments and if the results start coming up then try the lineup. Until then I’m sticking with Marty if he gets the 6th year and if not him then all casperson.


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[TheWombat]

I know Caspersons senior year he bumped up a weight or might of been two to take on Nash and just about beat him plus he’s a state champ so that is no evidence of good at folk style? Plus having big wins in Greco and freestyle usually translate to that your good at wrestling! And literally I’m pretty sure an injured Marty or casperson still leaves us in a better spot than schoon. He’s got way to many deficiencies that you listed to be a freshman starter. I feel like he would have a worse season than king had this year. Prefer he just continues to develop by going to tournaments and if the results start coming up then try the lineup. Until then I’m sticking with Marty if he gets the 6th year and if not him then all casperson.


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If Mueller applies for a medical redshirt, is awarded it, takes it, and is healthy enough to wrestler, he's the guy and nobody can make a strong argument against that. Casperson I'm not sure about. He wrestled for two years in a brace and than two years not at all so I'm uncertain of his health. I know that there are people on this forum who know him personally and it would be really cool if they could weigh in and let us know how he's doing. I don't think that anybody has ever said that he was going to be good to wrestle soon. I suspect that's something that they would share if it were the case.

In terms of his talent, I'm just not sold. His accomplishments are as follows: 1X SD state champ (it probably would have been 2 if he hadn't bumped up his senior year and it might have been three if he hadn't gotten headlocked as a sophomore), 2016 Cadet Freestyle and Greco 3rd place, and 2016 pre-season national champion. Being a two time or even a three time South Dakota state champion is fairly unimpressive as it pertains to a DI recruiting profile. During his career he didn't really bump into a lot of the good SD wrestlers around his weight class; Nelson, Schoon, Colcheski, Orris, etc. . . and there were no good out of state matches (through no fault of his own of course). The only significant high school match that a recruiter might look at is his match again Nash and he looked good, but he did lose that match. He looked good at Fargo, I went back and watched a handful of his matches and we was truly dominant but he did score most of his points in par-terre, on step-out or off of exposure and he had the advantage of being much better developed as a cadet 182 than pretty much everyone that he wrestled. It might be something or it might not be. He did get some takedowns against some good wrestlers, but it's hard to look at that and say that he'll be a good collegiate wrestler. I'm probably most impressed with his run at preseason nationals. It was a fairly weak bracket for a national tournament but he really did dominate there and he beat some wrestlers who would go on the be multiple time state placers and one future Missouri state champ. All said, he was a very good highschool wrestler but if you want to be a good division one wrestler you have to either be a transcendent talent who is ready to slide into the line-up right out of high school or be someone who can be developed into that guy. I don't Casperson isn't an incredible, blue-ship talent, he's just not that guy as far as I can tell, and he's less susceptible to development because 1.) he hasn't been able to wrestle for two years and 2.) he was as polished a wrestler as you are ever going to find in the state of South Dakota, right out of high school. I look at Schoon and I see a low cost recruit who the staff can make something out of. I look at Casperson and I see a high cost recruit near his ceiling as a wrestler, who may never step on the mat again.

[stchrist]

Everyone is going to have their opinion on this recruit or that recruit but the only question I have is how is NIck a high cost recruit? What is he getting for a scholly?

[GopherHole]

Personally, I loved this debate from KSJack and Wombat! I found after reading each post from those two that I agreed with each post. It was like a tennis match with great volleys from both sides. It beats the depressing debate over which politician failed her/his constituents by they actions the took with the coronavirus.