Know there are others on the top level of this ladder. Let's hear your vote. USA wrestling is killing it!
Best Wrestler To Come out of High School
- Thread starter TakedownWins
- Start date
Lincoln McIlravy.
Not sure if you are looking for best high school credentials or most capable of going straight from high school to D-1 competition. (I'm more interested in the second and my vote was cast with that in mind.)
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To many to choose from really. Myself I would vote Lincoln McIlravy. , Randy Lewis and Spencer Lee...Guess I'm a old homer 
Old homer but not in the way: Another one from Lincoln!To many to choose from really. Myself I would vote Lincoln McIlravy. , Randy Lewis and Spencer Lee...Guess I'm a old homer
Dave Schultz might have had the highest high school peak. I'd take him or Kolat.
Dustin Schlatter might deserve a little press. He beat Metcalfe in high school and then won an NCAA title as a true freshman, if I remember correctly. Then injuries took their toll and he was almost never heard of again.
That being said, Lewis, McIlravy, and Schultz were pretty studly. Mark hall is a good choice and we will have to wait and see about Lee.
That being said, Lewis, McIlravy, and Schultz were pretty studly. Mark hall is a good choice and we will have to wait and see about Lee.
Don't forget Mocco. The gap between him and any other High School 285 was Grand Canyon like. As good as Steveson is now, guys like Hilger and Nevills would definitely be competitive with him. The 285 field is going to be very strong, even after Snyder and Coon graduate.
Edited to add: Parris should also be added to the upcoming strong 285 field as it looks like he is choosing Wrestling over Football.
Edited to add: Parris should also be added to the upcoming strong 285 field as it looks like he is choosing Wrestling over Football.
Depends on what you call competitive. I don't know if we've seen anything that would show anyone in the high school ranks would be competitive with steveson. I agree that Mocco was dominant though.
I guess we will have to see them wrestle against each other in Folkstyle to decide. It's just hard for me to discount Hilger and Nevills when Hilger went something like 59-0 with 51 pins and the other 8 were techfalls and Nevills was very similar. Parris also pretty much wrecked his competion.
Now, while they were wrestling High Schoolers, Steveson was wrestling(and destroying) the best Juniors in the World. But, that was Freestyle. As Tony Nelson can attest, you can win DI Championships at 285 with a skillset that WILL NOT translate to Freestyle. As good as Steveson is, I am still going to be a bit reserved on his expectations at the DI level, because DI 285's are VERY GOOD at slowing down their competition.
Without that ACL, imo Spencer would have held the test of time, now Gable can barely get him. Id go Gable if he wins out.
Best Iowa all time. Kjelgaard or McGinnis? other? Gotta go with the resume Kjelgaard had. Cael was a victim.
Best Iowa all time. Kjelgaard or McGinnis? other? Gotta go with the resume Kjelgaard had. Cael was a victim.
Kolat isn't getting enough credit. He finished 3rd at Midlands as a high school sophomore.
https://www.si.com/vault/1992/04/06...-high-school-career-of-formidable-achievement
With that said, I believe Stevenson has an opportunity to be the best ever. He can go right now against every collegiate Hwt not named Kyle Snyder.
https://www.si.com/vault/1992/04/06...-high-school-career-of-formidable-achievement
With that said, I believe Stevenson has an opportunity to be the best ever. He can go right now against every collegiate Hwt not named Kyle Snyder.
I would go with Kolat. In high school he was truly a men among boys. And placing 3rd at Midlands as a frickin sophomore in high school?! Now on a personal level, I would go with Joey Gilbert who I had the "pleasure" of wrestling on a couple of occasions in high school. 30 years after the fact, I still shake a little bit when I think of Gilbert! Coach Brands can attest to Joey's raw strength.
Meaning crazy how many studs there are coming into 285, or it is crazy to think that 3 undefeated monsters that decimated their competition could be competitive with Steveson?
Crazy to think that 3 guys who haven't ever wrestled someone good could compete with Stevenson who is a 3 time world champion.
Costello was an undefeated state champion last year too. Maybe he could beat Gable... smh.
Last match Steveson lost in ANY style was state finals as an 8th grader @195. He's pretty good at folkstyle. lol
Speaking of pins, i think stoll had like 72 pins in a row..national record.
Chael Sonnen and Ben Askren talked about this on a podcast. At the time they thought Spencer Lee might be the best HS wrestler ever...but that was before he lost state championship.
Given the parameters (none) in no particular order, I would say
1. Bruce
2. John
3. Dan
4. Cael
I didn't do any research, but am pretty sure they all came out of high school.
1. Bruce
2. John
3. Dan
4. Cael
I didn't do any research, but am pretty sure they all came out of high school.
Ridiculous analogy. Anyone that has followed High School even slightly would not compare Costello to any of the 3 I just named. Hell, Parris is rated the #2 Overall in the same class as Steveson for a reason. Also, Hilger and Nevills haven't exactly ONLY wrestled in their State. Hilger beat Isley as a Junior so he hasn't exactly wrestled nobodies.
285 is NOT an easy weight to come in as a Freshman and dominate. Even Mocco couldn't do it. DI mat wrestling is almost always a great equalizer and this is even more true at 285. I am not saying that these guys are going to be beating Steveson, but expecting him to just run through everybody is more likely to not happen.
When is the last time a Freshman won Heavyweight?
Yeah, Mocco just got 2nd. Pretty much a failure, and waste of the year. But otherwise, pretty much on point. Rare is the freshman on the upper half of the podium.
Steveson is definitely really good. I was simply pointing out that Freestyle dominance does not automatically translate to Folkstyle, especially at 285.
Also, I never once said any of them were going to beat Steveson. I only said I believed they could be competitive. Sort of like Medberry or Coon with Snyder. These guys are good enough to be able to keep it close with him and maybe sneak one out if he has an off day.
Mocco definitely was far from a failure. But, the argument was Steveson purely coming in and dominating. I was pointing out that even Mocco wasn't able to come right in and dominate 285.
I was going to being up Kjelgaard too as the best Iowa High School wrestler I ever saw.
Best HS wrestler? I would have to go with Jimmy Carr. Dude won the Midlands in HS and was an Olympian as a HS Jr.
Only 1 3 time world champ in that group. Enough said. Without the knee injury we aren't having this conversation.
Don't get caught up in the hype of Parris just yet. The kid is good, not great. When was the last time you have seen a hwt hit a dump? He needs to show up at the bigger events before he is mentioned any where near the level of Stevenson, Hilger and Nevills.
IMO if you put him in a round robin with Schultz, Hoffman and Beard and he finishes fourth- and they are way smaller.
IMO if you put him in a round robin with Schultz, Hoffman and Beard and he finishes fourth- and they are way smaller.
My vote was for Spencer Lee. If we're looking at most credentialed it will probably be Steveson, but going off of my eyeball test Spencer is the best HS wrestler i've ever seen. Cant compare eras as I wasnt around/watching back then for Kolat/Carr or others, but I've thought this long before Lee even committed to Iowa, part of the reason I wanted us to get him more than any other recruit. 2x JR world champ and 1x Cadet World champ. Completely untested except for 1 comeback dec in the World Finals. Pinned and Teched EVERYBODY except 1 person in 3 consecutive world championships.
Seriously? #21 overall recruit of 2017. 3x MI state champ, going undefeated those 3 seasons. He was the US team rep at 285 in the Dapper Dan last season as well. He is going to Wisconsin and will almost definitely benefit from rolling around with Medberrr.
I know who that Hilger is. I was under the impression there was one I didn't know about because he's not in the same stratosphere as Gable right now.
Great question! Top 5 based on peak level before entering college.
1. Dave Schultz - was 2nd at the senior level Tbilisi tournament while in HS
2. Jimmy Carr - made the 71 World Team at 16 and 72 Olympic Team at 17, won Midlands while in HS
3. Gable Steveson - dominated Juniors at 17, will be a 2x Juniors, 2x Cadets champion when he graduates
4. Spencer Lee (#3 if no ACL injury) - would have been a 3x Juniors champion (one at 16), settles for winning Juniors 2x and Cadets 1x in HS
5. Cary Kolat - placed at Midlands 2x, placed at the US Open in HS
1. Dave Schultz - was 2nd at the senior level Tbilisi tournament while in HS
2. Jimmy Carr - made the 71 World Team at 16 and 72 Olympic Team at 17, won Midlands while in HS
3. Gable Steveson - dominated Juniors at 17, will be a 2x Juniors, 2x Cadets champion when he graduates
4. Spencer Lee (#3 if no ACL injury) - would have been a 3x Juniors champion (one at 16), settles for winning Juniors 2x and Cadets 1x in HS
5. Cary Kolat - placed at Midlands 2x, placed at the US Open in HS
Why are you talking about D1? What does how he'd do at D1 have to do with how good he is as a high schooler? (Even though I'd take him beating everyone but Snyder and Coon right now). You're off topic.
Gable was taking down Gwiz and Snyder at the OTC this summer. My guess is he'd not only place, but win Midlands this year.
But again, that's besides the point. He's never lost a match in high school and has 3 world titles going into his senior year. Not to mention, had to get a waiver to wrestle up and age division as a heavyweight at the worlds. If you don't think he's heads and shoulders above everyone else in his class, you are crazy.
Yup, a couple of other points about that. I think Jordan Wood lost 4-1 to Tanner Hall in the Midlands finals, but he was teched by Steveson at the Junior World Trials. And both Nevills and Parris have had close matches this year. Nevills had a tight one in the QTRS at FloNationals and Parris had one with Gavin Hoffman at Junior Duals. I don't think I've seen anyone stay close with Steveson. Maybe we'll find out if we see Gable vs Nevills at WNO.
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