I think you hit the nail on the head with the parity thing. I do think we've been doing a good job of recruiting nationally, however. Take a second and keep track of the can't miss recruits coming out of high school and all the hype that follows them. Then figure out how many of them end up being multiple time national champs like a Metcalf. Very few of them end up being as dominant as David Taylor, Ed Ruth, or Logan Stieber. That being said, Iowa has ranked very high in recruiting (as high as #1 in years past). So not only do our coaches think we are recruiting well but so does the rest of the wrestling recruiting experts. It's unfortunate but we've not got a few of ours to pan out like some of the other schools. Heck look at Isiah Martinez this year. To begin to compete for titles again, you are going to need a couple of guys that you can count on to win the title. The year that Mike Evans and Bob Telford committed I'd bet most of the wrestling world thought those two guys were it - likewise that same year the Altons were ranked higher than anyone we recruited and they were can't miss recruits many thought - also notice the states that each are from:
1) Iowa
Top Recruits: (184) #4 Mike Evans-Enola, PA, (157) #11 Nick Moore-Iowa City, IA, (141) #12 Josh Dziewa-Yardley, PA, (285) #19 Bobby Telford-Wilmington, DE, (141) #31 Jake Ballweg-Waverly, IA, (165) #74 Mike Kelly-Cedar Falls, IA, (149) #79 Anthony Baldosaro-Voorhes, NJ
How do you replace a senior class which included seven wrestlers who achieved All-American status over the course of their careers? You may not be able to, but Tom Brands and staff have certainly tried, signing seven wrestlers ranked in D1CW's top-80 High School Seniors. Ballweg and Moore are both familiar names to Hawkeye fans, as both have brothers who are current Iowa wrestlers. Nick Moore lost just one time in his HS Career, on his way to becoming just the 19th wrestler to win 4 Iowa State Championships. This year's Iowa recruiting class has a rare Eastern flavor, with National Prep Champ Mike Evans, PA State Champ Josh Dziewa, and 2x State Champs, Bobby Telford and Anthony Baldosaro.
Past D1CW Recruiting Rankings:[/B] 2009 #5, 2008 #6
http://d1collegewrestling.net/Recruiting_Rankings2010.html