In state vs out of state.

[Junglekitty]

Seen many posters on HR comment about Cael moving to a target rich environment being PA. While it is no doubt the hotbed in the country ( maybe a little bias ), my questions is this;

Does Cael do a better job of in state or out of state recruiting?

He’s got studs such as Nolf, Joseph, Retherford, etc. And for one reason or another ( no room, better offers, dream schools etc ) he hasn’t gotten Lee, Sasso, Pletcher to name a few. I guess I feel that in state studs should be easy with home field advantage while guys like Nickal, Nevills, Brooks he’s going into enemy territory to try to pull guys away.

Thoughts?

 

[Chickenman Testa]

With the exception of Lee and maybe 1 or 2 other guys, in state or out of state, Cael gets who he wants. I don’t see any differentiation in his effectiveness. He has such a national name for these kids, it’s like a Tom Brady recruiting for Michigan football.

Why do people even bring up Sasso? We are chock full at his weight.

 

[nitlion6]

I think as he has coached he has learned many things. I believe he has a method of identifying kids he wants and he has gotten better and better at identifying those kids.
Some are out of state and some are from PA.

Sometimes he gets lucky. Before he recruited Joesph he was all in on Freddy Stroker. After Cael spent the 4th of July with the Strokers in Iowa Joesph obliterated Freddy in Fargo (or some national tournament). The attention shifted quickly and luckily Cenzo did not already have his heart set on going someplace else.

 

[El-Jefe]

Does Willie do a better job of in state or out of state recruiting?

FIFY.

 

[Junglekitty]

With the exception of Lee and maybe 1 or 2 other guys, in state or out of state, Cael gets who he wants. I don’t see any differentiation in his effectiveness. He has such a national name for these kids, it’s like a Tom Brady recruiting for Michigan football.

Why do people even bring up Sasso? We are chock full at his weight.

I said in my original post there are different reasons why we haven’t gotten some like having no room. I just used him as an example as having no room because he is a stud.

 

[CentexLion]

I said in my original post there are different reasons why we haven’t gotten some like having no room. I just used him as an example as having no room because he is a stud.

Since we are fully funded for 9.9 Out-of-state recruits, Cael has been great at looking coast to coast for the best. He also has great backup plans. I believe he was very interested in the Valencia's, but we heard the story about their Dad approaching Zeke after he got the ASU job and wanting them to be more local, So we ended up with Hall and Cenzo in the 165/174 positions. A huge net upgrade. Bo recruited PSU, from all the chatter, so who cares if he is from Belfonte or Allen TX. Huge. Cael's pushing for the best that fit the PSU team. Lee and Fix picked different (and looks like great fits for them), but Cael gets Teske, Teasdale, and RBY. We'll see how that ends up. Loses Wittake and gets Brooks. Huge! Now, also starting the Brother chain with the Nevills and Lee's (and in a few years, will add the Cunninghams and Sanderson's). LIfe is great at PSU wrestling. Blue Chips in and Individual and Team Championships out. That's What We Do!

 

[BrucePa]

I always wondered why Snyder would leave Maryland for Ohio State, and not wrestle 4 hours away at Penn State. Realizing that the requirement to attend class would be far greater at State College rather than Columbus, where was he going to get pushed harder in the room?

 

[El-Jefe]

He’s got studs such as Nolf, Joseph, Retherford, etc. And for one reason or another ( no room, better offers, dream schools etc ) he hasn’t gotten Lee, Sasso, Pletcher to name a few. I guess I feel that in state studs should be easy with home field advantage while guys like Nickal, Nevills, Brooks he’s going into enemy territory to try to pull guys away.

Thoughts?

If we really want to know why he targets the guys he does, then look at who was available to be recruited.

Bo: the best PA prospects at 174/184 that year were Zack Zavatsky, Stephen Loiseau, Tristan Sponseller, Tom Sleigh, and Ryan Preisch.

Nick was #1 nationally, Haines #2 that year. Nick is a 2x AA, Haines has yet to reach the podium.

Brooks: the best PA prospects this year at 184 are Josh Stillings, Cody Mulligan, and Tim Wallace. Even if Trent Hidlay grows to 184, Brooks beat Hidlay. The only top level JR in the weight range is Edmond Ruth -- and not only do I think Brooks is better, I'd rather have Brooks locked down now than wait and hope for Ruth.

Pretty clear that Cael's choice to go out of state was correct in each instance.

 

[Callthestall]

Seen many posters on HR comment about Cael moving to a target rich environment being PA. While it is no doubt the hotbed in the country ( maybe a little bias ), my questions is this;

Does Cael do a better job of in state or out of state recruiting?

He’s got studs such as Nolf, Joseph, Retherford, etc. And for one reason or another ( no room, better offers, dream schools etc ) he hasn’t gotten Lee, Sasso, Pletcher to name a few. I guess I feel that in state studs should be easy with home field advantage while guys like Nickal, Nevills, Brooks he’s going into enemy territory to try to pull guys away.

Thoughts?

As noted I believe Cael recruits a certain type of person. I know a potential recruit a few years ago and the family stayed at the Sanderson house for a couple of days. It was a different atmosphere than what they were use to. Let's just say there was no wine toast at dinner time among the adults.
I believe he looks for athletes that have an extreme commitment to wrestling and an ideology simaler to his.
Certain wrestler's would not fit into that mold. That might be one of the reasons that arguably the best PA AAA wrestler this year is going to Ohio State.

 

[jack66]

For the most part Cael recruits kids who are slick on the feet and want to score points.

I think it's easier to teach a kid like Nick Lee to wrestle with better defensive position than to teach a kid like Pletcher to open up his offense.

 

[matter7172]

I think Penn State wrestling has become, thanks to its overwhelming success, a national brand. So Cael is getting his pick of wrestlers from around the US. It's a great position in which to be.