Recruiting is the lifeblood of modern college sports, and Ohio State's wrestling program is recruiting as well as any team in the country right now. The nation's top 145-pound prospect, Sammy Sasso of Nazareth, Penn., committed to the Buckeyes Sunday, giving Ohio State five of the top 50 prospects in the country.
Excited to announce that I will be furthering my academics and wrestling career at The Ohio State University. Go bucks
— sasso (@sammysasso) October 22, 2017
Sasso won his first Pennsylvania high school state title in March, capping off an undefeated season. He also won a number of prestigious tournaments along the way, including the Ironman, the Super 32 and the FloNationals. Earlier this month he won FloWrestling's annual "Who's Number One" tournament in impressive fashion, pinning the No. 1 seed in the final match.
According to FloWrestling's review, Sasso is a major pickup for Ohio State, not just because of his raw talent and abilities, but because of the way he slots into the Buckeye roster.
Sasso is regarded as the highest rated 149lb prospect in the country, and is No. 12 on the Class of 2018 Big Board. He fills a huge need for OSU at that weight, as Joey McKenna will have graduated by the time Sasso comes off redshirt, allowing Ke-Shawn Hayes to stay down at 141 for his senior and not forcing Jordan Decatur into the lineup as a true freshman.
Ryan and company have one of the best recruiting classes in recent memory coming in 2018, with No. 7 Gavin Hoffman, No. 22 Jaden Mattox, No. 40 Malik Heinselman, and No. 52 Rocky Jordan, all according to FloWrestling. Intermat ranks a few of these recruits even higher, with Jordan, for example, clocking in a No. 32.
Recruiting is one of the most important parts of the game, and it's clear that Tom Ryan and company are doing it extremely well.
