Oklahoma State, Penn State and Northwestern highlight the top spots for the Division I Recruiting Rankings.

By Eric John

The Open Mat

Another year of recruiting is pretty much behind and below you will find the Class of 2014 Division I Recruiting Rankings.

A lot of rankings are highly subjective. TOM’s process attempts to remove as much subjectivity as possible. It’s easy to say “X-team signed the most highly-ranked kids” or “Hey, I like those kids, so they should be ranked first.” The TOM system is to consider the entire picture of not only the incoming recruits, but what situation they’re coming into and the makeup of the existing team to justify how well a team filled its needs. College wrestling can chew up and spit out some of the best high school wrestlers. Using high school success is not an accurate measure to project college success. Who does a team lose in the next two seasons? Does a wrestler have the ability to make an immediate impact? Numerous factors were taken into consideration when formulating the Class of 2014 Recruiting Rankings.

NOTE: TheOpenMat.com recruiting class rankings are based on incoming freshmen from the graduating high school class of 2014. Transfer athletes, while listed as recruiting classes for many schools, are not factored into TheOpenMat.com recruiting rankings.

Link: Full listing of signings, commitments and transfers

Link: Final Regular Season High School Rankings

Ranking by TOM Final Regular Season Rankings

No. 1 Oklahoma State

Key recruits

#1 Chance Marsteller (165) Kennard-Dale, Pennsylvania

#3 Ryan Blees (165) Bismarck, North Dakota

#3 Chandler Rogers (165/174) Stillwater, Oklahoma

#6 Gary Wayne Harding (141) Collinsville, Oklahoma

#6 Preston Weigel (197) Hays, Kansas

#8 Mike Magaldo (133/141) Watchung Hills, New Jersey

This is a really strong class with four legitimate blue chip recruits. The only real knock is that they bring in three guys for two weights in Blees, Marstellar and Rogers. Consider the Olympic and regular redshirt path Marsteller may take, this negates some of the concern. This class addresses four weights that the Cowboys needed and anytime you can address your biggest needs with blue chippers, it’s good thing. The one to watch in this group is Weigel. He has the potential to be a breakout type of wrestler and is a hammer from the top position. Keep a close eye on his career. If he can develop a consistent attack from his feet, he could be very dangerous at the next level.

No. 2 Penn State

Key Recruits

#1 Nick Nevills (285) Clovis, California

#2 Bo Nickal (174/184) Allen, Texas

#2 Jason Nolf (141/149) Kittanning, Pennsylvania

#9 Corey Rasheed (157/165) Longwood, New York

All four of listed above fill a specific need. One thing that kept them out of the top spot is that there is the lack of a top 125-pound recruit. Even with Jordan Conaway having two years of eligibility left, Penn State will most likely address that next year, but it would have been good to have a guy in the room to replace Nico Megaludis. Nevills is a possible superstar at heavyweight. TOM has been high on Nevills for a few years and he’s a tremendous addition for Penn State. The down side is that the conference is loaded with talented young heavyweights. Nickal should transition well into college and could be a big-time star by the time his career is over. Nolf is solid and consistent and should fit real nice into this room.

No. 3 Northwestern

Key Recruits

#1 Bryce Brill (157) Mount Carmel, Illinois

#1 Stevan Micic (125/133) Hanover Central, Indiana

#1 Johnny Sebastian (174/184) Bergen Catholic, New Jersey

#10 Regis Durbin (184/197) Lake Forest, Illinois

Hats off to coach Drew Pariano for hauling in three No. 1 recruits. All three in Brill, Micic and Sebastian fill a need for the Wildcats. Durbin may be considered a bit under the radar, but should fill in nicely at 197 pounds. Add this depth to the young talent already on campus and the Wildcats could be dangerous a few years down the road. They will need to address two weight specifically next year — 165 pounds and heavyweight.

No. 4 Cornell

Key Recruits

#4 Jeramy Sweany (197) Vacaville, California

#6 Joseph Galasso (149) Father Judge, Pennsylvania

#6 Jon Jay Chavez (157) Centennial, Idaho

#8 Dillon Artigliere (174) Roxbury, New Jersey

#9 Dalton Macri (125/133) Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania

The trio of Sweany, Chavez and Galasso are high-caliber recruits, but what made the class strong is the fact that they pulled in seven top 20 recruits (based on weight class). Another slight knock on the class is it seems like a best on the board deal and not necessarily a fill the need kind of class. But talent is talent and you care rarely go wrong filling the room with talented wrestlers. They were unable to address their need at heavyweight, which most likely will happen next season. Galasso could be the star to shine the brightest out of this class.

No. 5 Minnesota

Key Recruits

#3 Tommy Thorn (125/133) St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota

#4 Nathan Rose (197) Sibley East, Minnesota

#7 Ethan Lizak (125) Parkland, Pennsylvania

#11 Jack Bass (157) Robinson, Virginia

Minnesota keeps looking to fill a void at 125 pounds as they bring in three guys in the 2014 class. Thorn most likely will grow into a 133 pounder, another area they could use some somebody. This knocks them down some. They pick up two guys who should fit into the puzzle with Rose and Bass. They are not immediate needs but could be needed after a redshirt and add depth to the room. They need to address 141 pounds soon and mostly likely will look to the 2015 class for that.

No. 6 Nebraska

Key Recruits

#4 Tyler Berger (157) Crook County, Oregon

#5 Derek White (197) Edmond North, Oklahoma

#7 Hayden Tuma (133/141) Centennial, Idaho

#10 Colton Adams (141) Scottsbluff, Nebraska

This is a nice class for the Cornhuskers. The biggest get may be White, who has looked really good this past year and has the size and athleticism to do well at the next level. This is a group of hard-nosed guys who should do well. Coach Mark Manning, for the most part, filled the needs, which is good. Berger should serve as a nice replacement for three-time All-American James Green when he is done.

No. 7 Stanford

Key Recruits

#1 Joey McKenna (141/149) Blair Academy, New Jersey

#5 Brian Rossi (125) Lockport, Illinois

#12 Mason Pengilly (133) Porterville, California

#13 Isaiah Locsin (133/141) Gilroy, California

Coach Jason Borrelli lands a solid, balanced class. McKenna is a great pick-up and should have a long successful career for Stanford. The rest of the recruits fill in at areas of need and add some real good depth to the room. There should not be any need to rush any of them into the line-up allowing them all a year to develop.

No. 8 Oklahoma

Key Recruits

#5 Ryan Millhof (133) Collins Hill, Georgia

#10 Joel Dixon (184/197) Edmond, Oklahoma

#10 Lance Dixon (174/184) Edmond, Oklahoma

#11 Andrew Dixon (184/197) Edmond, Oklahoma

The Sooners bring in the Dixon triplets which is a nice class in and of itself. The issue is that there is a good chance only two of the three wrestle at any given time. Unless they can all get on weight and fill from 174-197, which is possible. Millhof was a nice get as well. They will be a little logged-jammed at the weight for a year or two which makes us wonder if in a year or so two-time All-American Cody Brewer moves up to 141.

No. 9 Ohio State

Key Recruits

Kyle Snyder (197/285) Good Counsel, Maryland/OTC

#1 Micah Jordan (157/165) St. Paris Graham, Ohio

#3 Thomas Haines (285) Solanco, Pennsylvania

Two concerns here despite the talent they are bringing in. The first is that they did not address 149, which could become an area of real need. The second is what happens if Snyder grows into a heavyweight, which after seeing him this spring is very realistic. That would give you two top guys at one weight. Yes there is nothing wrong with that kind of depth, but it does not help your overall recruiting ranking.

No. 10 North Carolina

Key Recruits

#3 Chip Ness (184/197) Buford, Georgia

#6 Jack Clark (149/157) St. Augustine Prep, New Jersey

#11 Matthew Moore (285) Apalachee, Georgia

#12 Cory Daniel (197/285) River Hill, Maryland

This class is a good example of targeting your needs. The Tar Heels were able to do that and do it with some strong recruits. Ness and Clark should have impacts sooner than later. Moore will battle it out with another ranked recruit for the heavyweight spot. North Carolina needed help in their upper weights and they addressed that in good fashion.

Rest of the Top 25 (Division I)

11. Iowa

12. Iowa State

13. Old Dominion

14. Indiana

15. Lehigh

16. Maryland

17. Illinois

18. Buffalo

19. Michigan

20. N.C. State

21. Wisconsin

22. Army

23. Arizona State

24. Princeton

25. Bucknell