17 former WPIAL wrestlers qualify for NCAA

[aacoach61]

Pennsylvania led the nation by qualifying 49 of its former high school wrestlers for the NCAA tournament. Ohio only qualified 26 and Maryland qualified 2 of its former high schoolers.

Pennsylvania’s District 7 (WPIAL) —which adjoins Mon County —alone had 17 of PA’s 49 qualifiers. The next closest was PA District 6 with six.

Our entire (small) state qualified 2 former high school wrestlers. It’s why I repeat: if WVU wants to be a Top 10 wresting school, it needs only to recruit the nearby WPIAL district in PA successfully. It is to wrestling recruiting what Florida is to football recruiting—and the best district in the best wrestling state in the country is only 5 minutes from Morgantown.

[russling]

I just saw that on Twitter.

WV is near the bottom? I thought WV would be more towards the middle than on the bottom.

Pa 49
IL 30
OH 28
Ca 24
NJ 19
NY 15
IA 14
MI 13
IN 13
MO 12
GA 12
MN 11
CO 10
WI 8
(6) VA OK KS FL
(4) TX OR AZ
(3) WA UT ND NC MT ID
(2) WV NH MD CT
(1) WY TN NV NM NE MA KY HI AL AK

[russling]

Josh Humphreys Lehigh. Did he RS this season?

[dunbar76]

WV has good wrestlers. It's a numbers game. Pa has 49 qualifiers(elite wrestlers). I don't think WV has 49 wrestling division 1, much less varsity at the moment. I could be wrong, but if it's over 49, it's not by much.

[dunbar76]

I agree with aacoach61, a very close geographical area has many great wrestlers. We, for years, and many coaches, have not effectively recruited this area.

[KDunbar]

Josh Humphreys Lehigh. Did he RS this season?

I believe he was out with an injury.

[Diamond]

Pennsylvania led the nation by qualifying 49 of its former high school wrestlers for the NCAA tournament. Ohio only qualified 26 and Maryland qualified 2 of its former high schoolers.

Pennsylvania’s District 7 (WPIAL) —which adjoins Mon County —alone had 17 of PA’s 49 qualifiers. The next closest was PA District 6 with six.

Our entire (small) state qualified 2 former high school wrestlers. It’s why I repeat: if WVU wants to be a Top 10 wresting school, it needs only to recruit the nearby WPIAL district in PA successfully. It is to wrestling recruiting what Florida is to football recruiting—and the best district in the best wrestling state in the country is only 5 minutes from Morgantown.

You are spot on there. Wv high school wrestlers need to strive to be the best they can. The team thing is cool but it don’t produce Div 1 wrestlers. Get in the car and go to Pa or Oh.

[aacoach61]

4 of the 20 NCAA finalists wrestled in the WPIAL in high school — Iowa’s Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional); Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional); Pitt’s Jake Wentzel (South Park) and Nino Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park).