Sasso and Teske are the two that come to my mind - what do you think, if you had to predict two? As you know, I'm really big on Schultz, but he's 2019 recruit so will probably have to wait a while for that. Also I REALLY want Silva, but you feel that he's unlikely to be considering the Hawks.
If I had to make a list of all of the guys that I thought the coaching staff was going after the hardest.. or who is legitimately considering Iowa in the 2018 recruiting class heres who I would list (based off of conversations at NCAAs, and perusing Twitter** for potential recruiting nuggets):
From Iowa:
Nelson Brands (Already Committed) - 157/165
#30 Brody Teske - 133
Joe Kelly - 165/174
Bryce Esmoil - 184
Joel Shapiro - 165/174
Out of staters:
#4 Roman Bravo-Young - AZ - 133
#6 Sammy Sasso - PA - 149/157
#16 Trent Hidlay - PA - 174/184
#38 Rocky Jordan - OH - 157/165
** Almost all big programs have a twitter presence. For example: I think M* does most of the social media work, and I'm pretty sure he follows almost everybody that Iowa is targeting on twitter. Guys I have seen mentioned here (Like Joey Silva and Brayton Lee) have 0 connections with any of the Iowa coaches on social media. Everybody else listed above does. Something thats even more telling IMO, is who Tom Brands follows. He is not active at all on social media, but I'm sure he's not following RBY and Sasso just for sh*ts and giggles. In my mind, that tell me Iowa wants those two guys pretty bad.
So If I had to guess I'd say we pick up 1-2 of the guys from Iowa in the near future, and hopefully a big out of state name.
My personal opinion on the priority of the remaining recruits goes like this (I'm also assuming that Kelly will be coming regardless, due to his connection to the program):
1A: RBY
1B: Teske
2: Sasso
3: Hidlay
4: Shapiro
5. Jordan
6. Esmoil
We need a 133. So that is the top priority. We need more elite recruits, thats where Sasso comes in, he's elite, and will make the first half of our lineup freakin STACKED from 125-157. Hidlay is wrestling 160 at FLO nats, but he is big, and they get a weight allowance. I think he wrestled 170 at States in PA. I think Brooks was about the same size at this point in his HS career. He was always a 171 and a smaller 189 when he first bumped up. I think Hidlay has plenty of room to grow. Shapiro I think is a hidden gem in this class, hes a Fargo Freestyle AA, and I think he could be a 2 YR starter, Alex Meyer type of guy for us. I would like to see how much he could improve in the Iowa room wrestling with Marinelli/Gunther/Young for 3 years before he would be potentially starting. Jordan is a luxury, but not a necessity. He has bloodline of an amazing wrestling family, and would be in an ideal situation to improve tremendously with Kemerer/Marinelli/Brands/Sasso and everybody in the middle weights. I think if he comes, he and Brands will wrestle off to replace Kemerer for their SO years, and then could potentially have a combo of Brands/Jordan at 157/165 for two years after that. Esmoil for much needed upper weight depth.
So those are most of my recruiting thoughts currently. Subject to change when I read smarter opinions than mine! And of course, Schultz remains the top 2019 priority.
Thoughts/Criticisms?
