2016 Recruiting Class Rankings

[Marion Co. Fan]

WVU not in the top 25!!!

[indywvu]

The 2015 recruiting class was ranked #4. Signed 12 quality wrestlers.

[indywvu]

Well, we are now down to 4 recruits from last year's class of 12. The most recent defection is Austin Myers probably the projected starter at HWT. He is transferring to Missouri. Is it common to have 8 of 12 recruits leave in their very first year of collegiate wrestling?

[dunbar76]

Well,...... what are some of the reasons for the lost recruits?

[russling]

From The Mat.com wrestling forum comments



With 8 of the 12 major recruits from last year's #3 recruiting class, I think it's safe to say something is going on with Henson's new regime. I've heard rumblings from Morgantown not happy with Henson's coaching style. Dom Bradley was not happy either. Are we finding out why Henson was a career assistant and not a head coach?


The word I've gotten from Morgantown is one of a toxic culture led by some of the main starters. The club coaches in SW PA (I'm looking at Quest, led by former WVU AA Jim Akerly, and Young Guns) explicitly do not want their guys going to WVU.

I've heard similar rumblings here in SW PA. I've never met Henson, and only have heard things 2nd/3rd hand, but they haven't been great.

With that said, I a lot of new HC go through growing pains. I think it would be fair to wait 2-3 more years and see what shakes out

[dunbar76]

I was hoping by now WVU would be pushing Penn St. for wrestling recruits. By the way, I see University of Minnesota has it's hands full right now.

[russling]

Agree. WVU should be up there.

JRobinson is on paid administration leave.

[Bearhugger]

I know nothing about any of this but I would be curious to know where these 8 wrestlers are now.

1. How many of them are still wrestling anywhere?
2. How many of them are even still in school?
3. How many moved back closer to home?

How many of us have hired people to only fire them later on?
How many of us are divorced?
How many of us accepted a job and then had to leave it?

You never know what you have or got until you get in deep with the situation or person.

In this day and age, you can put 12 people in a room and there is a great chance that something is significantly wrong with at least 8 of them.

To repeat, I know nothing about WVU except it recently dropped to #2 in terms of partying. Maybe these 8 partied too much and missed practice?

[dunbar76]

What ever happened with JRobinson at Minnesota?

[russling]

Robinson led the Gophers to three national championships and would’ve entered his 30th season as the program’s coach. He was put on administrative leave earlier this year while the school investigated the use and sale of Xanax among wrestlers on the team.

Robinson told WCCO’s Mike Max that he started to get suspicious, reported it to university officials and was told to test the entire team. He said the school would not pay for the testing. He also said he was hoping to continue as wrestling coach when the investigation was complete.

Robinson told his athletes that if they confessed to be involved with drugs, they could turn in the pills for amnesty. A student athlete who came forward says his coach tried to cover it up by making the team turn in the drugs they had. And, he alleges, the coach sat on the information for up to a month and a half, until the wrestling season was over.

A search warrant was executed at the coach’s office. With it, police say they found essays that team members wrote about getting caught and what they learned from it.

One included this statement: “I should have known I would get caught eventually and that my teammates could have gotten in serious trouble or I could have even killed someone if they overdosed.”

Coyle issued a letter to Robinson on Wednesday, notifying him of the immediate dismissal.

The letter states Robinson engaged in multiple acts of serious misconduct. Robinson also repeatedly failed to answer key questions during the course of the Xanax investigation.

The letter states Robinson didn’t disclose information about the drug-related activity, including sales by current members of the team. It also states he disposed of the drugs that were turned over to him by wrestlers, directly impacting the investigation. Coyle said Robinson promised amnesty and confidentiality to wrestlers who turned in drugs, which Robinson didn’t have authorization to do.

According to the letter, Robinson did not refute the findings of the investigation.

“I’m terminating coach Robinson’s contract because he was not forthcoming with his superiors while reporting his suspicions about selling and abusing prescription medication. While he did report drug suspicions, he chose not to share many other important details about what he knew,” Coyle said. “Furthermore, he did not fully cooperate with our investigation into the matter. He did not meet with us for interviews promptly and when he did, he did not answer some of our most critical questions.”

Coyle said he called Robinson twice to let him know if his dismissal, but Robinson didn’t answer and Coyle couldn’t leave a voicemail because his message box was full. He sent Robinson a text, email and got no response.

Coyle said Robinson’s termination was for cause and there was no financial settlement.

The Associated Press left messages for Robinson’s agent and attorney seeking comment.

“I do not intend to address each inaccuracy and/or omission in the report because there are far too many,” Robinson wrote to the university in a response provided by school officials. “For now, suffice it to say that the report sacrifices accuracy to create a narrative to support a pre-determined outcome to find fault with me and exculpate the university and senior employees in the athletic department.”

James C.W. Bock, an attorney and agent for Robinson, said in May that his client did comply with university regulations and informed his superiors, including former interim athletic director Beth Goetz, of the drug issues within his team.

No criminal charges were filed by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in the case. Xanax is not an illegal drug, and it is not a banned substance by the NCAA.

[dunbar76]

Thanks for the update. I had not seen anything.

[ZombieSlayer]

I know nothing about any of this but I would be curious to know where these 8 wrestlers are now.

1. How many of them are still wrestling anywhere?
2. How many of them are even still in school?
3. How many moved back closer to home?

How many of us have hired people to only fire them later on?
How many of us are divorced?
How many of us accepted a job and then had to leave it?

You never know what you have or got until you get in deep with the situation or person.

In this day and age, you can put 12 people in a room and there is a great chance that something is significantly wrong with at least 8 of them.

To repeat, I know nothing about WVU except it recently dropped to #2 in terms of partying. Maybe these 8 partied too much and missed practice?

Your right you know nothing about it !! In this day and age you actually think you take 8 out of 12 recruits from one of the top recruiting classes in the country ,young men most of whom have towed the line and paid their dues since they were six and something is significantly wrong with 8 out of the 12 ????keep dreaming , Not just recruits but coaches Bradley and Caldwell departed as well I guess they are slackers TOO ????

[dunbar76]

Ok,why did the HWT leave for Missouri? Anyone know anything(no rumors) about the others?

[ZombieSlayer]

I think a lot of guys left Flynn and Myers to Mizzou, many others elsewhere ,I'm sure Bradley not being at WV to train with the Hvy last yr over summer and during the year was a big let down preparing for Fargo as a hvy for the first time without anyone to wrestle was not a good beginning for a college career losing to the #1 heavy in the country after being a 220 by 1 point probably stung knowing that if there had been heavies or Bradley to work with that score would have been different .
I THINK A LOT OF WRESTLERS AND PARENTS BUTTED HEADS WITH SOME OF THE STAFF CALDWELL WAS A HUGE LOSS AS WELL HE REALLY CONNECTED with the wrestlers
I'm sure a lot of kids hated to leave nothing to do with the school itself I'm sure seems a lot of broken promises and some egos on the staff were major issues .
As for partiers you don't want to open that can of worms trust me . AND COLLEGE WRESTLING. IS FOR COLLEGE WRESTLERS .

[Bearhugger]

I know nothing about any of this but I would be curious to know where these 8 wrestlers are now.

1. How many of them are still wrestling anywhere?
2. How many of them are even still in school?
3. How many moved back closer to home?

How many of us have hired people to only fire them later on?
How many of us are divorced?
How many of us accepted a job and then had to leave it?

You never know what you have or got until you get in deep with the situation or person.

In this day and age, you can put 12 people in a room and there is a great chance that something is significantly wrong with at least 8 of them.

To repeat, I know nothing about WVU except it recently dropped to #2 in terms of partying. Maybe these 8 partied too much and missed practice?

Your right you know nothing about it !! In this day and age you actually think you take 8 out of 12 recruits from one of the top recruiting classes in the country ,young men most of whom have towed the line and paid their dues since they were six and something is significantly wrong with 8 out of the 12 ????keep dreaming , Not just recruits but coaches Bradley and Caldwell departed as well I guess they are slackers TOO ????

Where did I say anybody was a slacker? Yes, I know I was right. I do not know anything about what is going on with the 8 wrestlers and why they left WVU.

[ZombieSlayer]

If you say maybe these guys partied to much and missed practice that's being a slacker and worse .Not the case if anything most of the guys who left were far from the partying type and were put in the atmosphere of one of the biggest party schools in the Country not that that matters to young men like these they are wise enough to make good life decisions for the most part if anything those who left were looking for order and to get away from those who party to much .way to much!

[Bearhugger]

If you say maybe these guys partied to much and missed practice that's being a slacker and worse .Not the case if anything most of the guys who left were far from the partying type and were put in the atmosphere of one of the biggest party schools in the Country not that that matters to young men like these they are wise enough to make good life decisions for the most part if anything those who left were looking for order and to get away from those who party to much .way to much!

Where did I say anybody partied too much?

Where did I say anybody missed practice?

Please go read my posts on this subject again.

Using historical data, I have found when a given member suddenly joins wvmat and then goes after somebody, they usually do not contribute near as well as the more long term members.

[ZombieSlayer]

Perhaps you should re read your post carefully you mentioned that in this day and age that there would be something wrong with 8 out of 12 random people implying there must be something wrong with the 8 who left then you stated WVV recently dropped from #1 to 2 for party schools ,maybe these 8 partied and missed practice ! Perhaps it is a new poster simply trying to shed light on your ridiculous statements and attempts to come up with any reason for the numerous transfers even at the expense of the transfers many of whom are completely legit and standup human beings .
you tried casting them as partying athletes who missed practice lol those 8 alone would have been a top 10 recruiting class by themselves the chances of there being something wrong with 8 out of those 12 along with 2 former AAs and college coaches like Bradley and Caldwell are pretty astronomical ,more than likely its an in house problem but hey whatever gets you through your day and whatever your goals are with your posts good luck .Hopefully WV moves right along and has a great future still plenty of talent and great wrestlers there I would chalk it up to some people just do not mesh and have different ideas on how a team is supposed to be ran when looking at why so many transferring out .

[Bearhugger]

Perhaps you should re read your post carefully you mentioned that in this day and age that there would be something wrong with 8 out of 12 random people implying there must be something wrong with the 8 who left then you stated WVV recently dropped from #1 to 2 for party schools ,maybe these 8 partied and missed practice ! Perhaps it is a new poster simply trying to shed light on your ridiculous statements and attempts to come up with any reason for the numerous transfers even at the expense of the transfers many of whom are completely legit and standup human beings .
you tried casting them as partying athletes who missed practice lol those 8 alone would have been a top 10 recruiting class by themselves the chances of there being something wrong with 8 out of those 12 along with 2 former AAs and college coaches like Bradley and Caldwell are pretty astronomical ,more than likely its an in house problem but hey whatever gets you through your day and whatever your goals are with your posts good luck .Hopefully WV moves right along and has a great future still plenty of talent and great wrestlers there I would chalk it up to some people just do not mesh and have different ideas on how a team is supposed to be ran when looking at why so many transferring out .

Actually, my comment about WVU dropping to #2 in partying was intended to add some humor independent to the topic of the 8 transfers. As for my 8/12 people in a room formula, I was being optimistic. Using the 80/20 rule, it would be 8/10.

No big deal. We will eventually become friends. That has already happened in the past two years with some of my early detractors.

[ZombieSlayer]

All good but your post in humor or otherwise shed nothing but bad light and attempted to lay blame on those departing and everyone knows it's a two way street more than likely the majority rules and 8 out of 12 is 2 thirds that's a landslide .I wouldn't be so sure 4 out of f the twelve who are left ever start for WV hopefully they do one day .