ADVERTISEMENT

RU Commits & HS Season Discussion Thread

Cornell's recruiting has been off the chain.
How high on the podium can they go?
2019 NJ state champs:

Ungar - Cornell
Peterson - Princeton
Ventresca - VT
Alvarez - Rutgers
Raimo - ASU
Aragona - Rutgers
Revano - Penn
Garcia - Oregon St
Kanniard - Rutgers
Green - VT
Foca - Cornell
Cardenas - Cornell
DelVecchio - Rutgers*
Fernandes - Cornell

Cornell nabs their 4th 2019 NJ state champ. This class is stacked.
 
No. I don’t think we were after him that hard with Aguilar and Shawver
Assuming a RS year, there would have only been one year of Aguilar and Ungar having eligibility simultaneously.

Is Shawver a career 125?
 
I don't believe so.

Aside from Oliveri, the other top SKWC guy is Soldano, who is a must get, so hopefully the full court press is on and we can close him soon.


Soldano is still only a Soph , so he still has a ways to go to before he's college freshman. I can see him being a 197 by that time, and a huge prospect (Flowrestling already has him ranked #12 in his graduating class for all weight classes). Also he wrestles at High Point, the same high school where RU's 285 Billy Smith (a few years ago) won a state championship for High Point. I think Smith is an Asst Coach at High Point now, so that helps.

IMG_0529.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Clearscreen25
Soldano is still only a Soph , so he still has a ways to go to before he's college freshman. I can see him being a 197 by that time, and a huge prospect (Flowrestling already has him ranked #12 in his graduating class for all weight classes). Also he wrestles at High Point, the same high school where RU's 285 Billy Smith (a few years ago) won a state championship for High Point. I think Smith is an Asst Coach at High Point now, so that helps.

IMG_0529.jpg
Soldano is going to be a big time recruit by the time he graduates.. probably a 3x nj champ.. kid will do damage in college.. great he’s going skwc and billy smith connection.. agreed, gotta throw the chips on him.. hopefully we r his #1 too or it will feel like McFadden situation again (goes to our club all indication points us, then goes VT)
 
My top 15 in NJ , P4P, all weight classes, all returning NJ wrestlers including Blair Academy (I copied and pasted from a Google spread sheet)

NAME HIGH SCHOOL WEIGHT COLLEGE REMARKS

SHAYNE VAN NESS (Sr) BLAIR ACADEMY 132 UNDECIDED 1ST Prep Nationals, Did not wrestle at Beast or Ironman, Ranked #1 at 132 by Flo & Intermat,
RYLAN ROGERS (Soph) BLAIR ACADEMY 182 UNDECIDED 1st Prep Nationals, 1st Ironman, 2nd Beast of East ( lost 5-2 to Poznanski in finals)
DEAN PETERSON (Sr) ST. JOHN VIANNEY 120 PRINCETON 1st Beast of East, 1st NJ Championships, 2x NJ Champ, not at Ironman
TRAVIS MASTROGIOVANNI (Sr) BLAIR ACADEMY 152 OKLAHOMA ST. 2nd at Ironman, Injured for Prep Nationals and Beast.
BRIAN SOLDANO (Jr) HIGH POINT 160 UNDECIDED 1st NJ State Championships, Did not wrestle at Beast or Ironman
JOEY OLIVIERI (Sr.) HANOVER PARK 132 RUTGERS 1st NJ State Championships, 2x NJ Champ, 2nd at Beast (lost 2-1 in final) , Not at Ironman
MARC ANT. MCGOWAN (Soph) BLAIR ACADEMY 106 UNDECIDED 1st Prep Nationals, 1st Ironman, 3rd Beast East.
EVAN MOUGALIAN (Soph) KINNELON 106 UNDECIDED 1st NJ State Championships. , 1st at Battle of the Bay
PJ CASALE (Jr) DELBARTON 220 UNDECIDED 1st NJ State Championships, 2nd Doc Buchanan
JIM MULLEN (Soph) ST. JOES MONTVALE 285 UNDECIDED 1st. NJ State Championships, 2nd Escape the Rock, 5th Beast of East
ANDREW CLARK (Sr.) COLLINGSWOOD 145 RUTGERS `1st NJ State Championships, 6th Escape the Rock, 8th Beast of East
LUCAS CHITTUM (Soph) BLAIR ACADEMY 138 UNDECIDED 1st Beast of East, 2nd Prep Nationals, Ironman DNP
NOAH PETTIGREW (JR) BLAIR ACADEMY 220 UNDECIDED 3rd Prep Nationals, 4th Beast of East, 7th Ironmam
MARTIN COSGROVE (Jr) CAMDEN CATHOLIC 195 UNDECIDED 1st NJ State Championships, 1st Sam Cali. Beast East DNP
KELLY DUNNIGAN (Sr) DON BOSCO PREP 113 UNDECIDED 3rd Beast of East, 3rd Escape the Rock, 4th NJ State Championships

Honorable Mention:
NICO NARDONE (Sr.) DELBARTON 126 PENN
VINCE SANTANIELLO (Sr) BRICK 120 UNDECIDED
MIKE MISITA (Sr) ST. AUGUSTINE 195 UNDECIDED
ALEX ALMEYDA (Jr.) St. JOES MONTVALE 126 UNDECIDED
EVAN TALMADGE (Jr) BRICK 106 UNDECIDED
JOE CANGRO (JR) BERGEN CATHOLIC 113 UNDECIDED
TYLER VASQUEZ (SO) DELBARTON 106 UNDECIDED
ANTHONY SANTANIELLO (SO) BRICK 106 UNDECIDED
SIMON RUIZ DELBARTON 132 UNDECIDED


PS- After i wrote this a few weeks ago, I learned Mastrogiovanni probably not returning to Blair (not sure where he is going, but his older brother will be at Ok St)
 
  • Like
Reactions: MS-RU
Soldano is still only a Soph , so he still has a ways to go to before he's college freshman. I can see him being a 197 by that time, and a huge prospect (Flowrestling already has him ranked #12 in his graduating class for all weight classes). Also he wrestles at High Point, the same high school where RU's 285 Billy Smith (a few years ago) won a state championship for High Point. I think Smith is an Asst Coach at High Point now, so that helps.

IMG_0529.jpg

While that's all true, this upcoming season he will be a junior and we've typically seen these a lot of guys tend to commit at some point during during their junior year. I believe that is the 1st time they can be officially offered a scholarship, etc.

He is going to be a monster recruit, a more than likely 3x state champ and a top 10 recruit nationally. We need to be all in and make him the centerpiece of that class. Pull out all the stops and cash in all favors to get him onboard.
 
While that's all true, this upcoming season he will be a junior and we've typically seen these a lot of guys tend to commit at some point during during their junior year. I believe that is the 1st time they can be officially offered a scholarship, etc.

He is going to be a monster recruit, a more than likely 3x state champ and a top 10 recruit nationally. We need to be all in and make him the centerpiece of that class. Pull out all the stops and cash in all favors to get him onboard.
Soldano is currently #12 on Flo's Big Board for sophs so he could definitely crack the top 10 nationally by the time he is done in hs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MS-RU
My top 15 in NJ , P4P, all weight classes, all returning NJ wrestlers including Blair Academy (I copied and pasted from a Google spread sheet)

NAME HIGH SCHOOL WEIGHT COLLEGE REMARKS

SHAYNE VAN NESS (Sr) BLAIR ACADEMY 132 UNDECIDED 1ST Prep Nationals, Did not wrestle at Beast or Ironman, Ranked #1 at 132 by Flo & Intermat,
RYLAN ROGERS (Soph) BLAIR ACADEMY 182 UNDECIDED 1st Prep Nationals, 1st Ironman, 2nd Beast of East ( lost 5-2 to Poznanski in finals)
DEAN PETERSON (Sr) ST. JOHN VIANNEY 120 PRINCETON 1st Beast of East, 1st NJ Championships, 2x NJ Champ, not at Ironman
TRAVIS MASTROGIOVANNI (Sr) BLAIR ACADEMY 152 OKLAHOMA ST. 2nd at Ironman, Injured for Prep Nationals and Beast.
BRIAN SOLDANO (Jr) HIGH POINT 160 UNDECIDED 1st NJ State Championships, Did not wrestle at Beast or Ironman
JOEY OLIVIERI (Sr.) HANOVER PARK 132 RUTGERS 1st NJ State Championships, 2x NJ Champ, 2nd at Beast (lost 2-1 in final) , Not at Ironman
MARC ANT. MCGOWAN (Soph) BLAIR ACADEMY 106 UNDECIDED 1st Prep Nationals, 1st Ironman, 3rd Beast East.
EVAN MOUGALIAN (Soph) KINNELON 106 UNDECIDED 1st NJ State Championships. , 1st at Battle of the Bay
PJ CASALE (Jr) DELBARTON 220 UNDECIDED 1st NJ State Championships, 2nd Doc Buchanan
JIM MULLEN (Soph) ST. JOES MONTVALE 285 UNDECIDED 1st. NJ State Championships, 2nd Escape the Rock, 5th Beast of East
ANDREW CLARK (Sr.) COLLINGSWOOD 145 RUTGERS `1st NJ State Championships, 6th Escape the Rock, 8th Beast of East
LUCAS CHITTUM (Soph) BLAIR ACADEMY 138 UNDECIDED 1st Beast of East, 2nd Prep Nationals, Ironman DNP
NOAH PETTIGREW (JR) BLAIR ACADEMY 220 UNDECIDED 3rd Prep Nationals, 4th Beast of East, 7th Ironmam
MARTIN COSGROVE (Jr) CAMDEN CATHOLIC 195 UNDECIDED 1st NJ State Championships, 1st Sam Cali. Beast East DNP
KELLY DUNNIGAN (Sr) DON BOSCO PREP 113 UNDECIDED 3rd Beast of East, 3rd Escape the Rock, 4th NJ State Championships

Honorable Mention:
NICO NARDONE (Sr.) DELBARTON 126 PENN
VINCE SANTANIELLO (Sr) BRICK 120 UNDECIDED
MIKE MISITA (Sr) ST. AUGUSTINE 195 UNDECIDED
ALEX ALMEYDA (Jr.) St. JOES MONTVALE 126 UNDECIDED
EVAN TALMADGE (Jr) BRICK 106 UNDECIDED
JOE CANGRO (JR) BERGEN CATHOLIC 113 UNDECIDED
TYLER VASQUEZ (SO) DELBARTON 106 UNDECIDED
ANTHONY SANTANIELLO (SO) BRICK 106 UNDECIDED
SIMON RUIZ DELBARTON 132 UNDECIDED


PS- After i wrote this a few weeks ago, I learned Mastrogiovanni probably not returning to Blair (not sure where he is going, but his older brother will be at Ok St)

Solid list. I think you have Mullen a bit too low. Could be a 4x champ if he stays healthy and committed to wrestling. I respect all the guys ahead of him though so I get it’s hard to move him up.

Also, Andrew Clark graduates this year so should be removed. I think Santaniello should move into the top 15. If not for Peterson who has been a top 3 NJSIAA wrestler for the last couple years, Santaniello could have been a 2x champ already.
 
Soldano is going to be a big time recruit by the time he graduates.. probably a 3x nj champ.. kid will do damage in college.. great he’s going skwc and billy smith connection.. agreed, gotta throw the chips on him.. hopefully we r his #1 too or it will feel like McFadden situation again (goes to our club all indication points us, then goes VT)
If my memory serves me correct, I believe the McFadden situation came down to money. He really wanted to be here but the money was allocated already. VT could simply offer more. That one goes down as a big time money allocation screw up.
 
If my memory serves me correct, I believe the McFadden situation came down to money. He really wanted to be here but the money was allocated already. VT could simply offer more. That one goes down as a big time money allocation screw up.
Oh wow thx ok that clears it up a lot more then... i was not a McFadden fan at all when he did the switch on us... but if it’s money I can’t blame him
 
Is it just funding or are there other restrictions (NCAA) on the number of scholarships that can be offered?
Just to piggy back on the above post. They're called equivalency scholarships. So whatever 9.9 scholarships equates to money wise that can be distributed to student athletes on a partial basis.
The whole must not exceed monetarily what equates to 9.9 scholarships. That is unless you're psu which seems to have an endless supply of grant in aid money.

Example:
Wrestler 1 gets 50%
Wrestler 2 gets 25%
Wrestler 3 gets 25%
Equals= 1 Scholarship
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Clearscreen25
Right can’t exceed 9.9 in any given year.

Just to clarify, this means that the 9.9 scholarships are divided between the max limit of 30 on the team. So let’s say 3 full rides, 6 at 50% (3 total) 16 @ aprox 25% (4 total) = 9.9 scholarships. That would be 25 out of 30 guys getting some money. I imagine it is much less equal than that. Plus some guys get an combination of financial and academic aid which gives more money to work with. Attrition, etc... a variable as well. Tough to plan for. Can the amounts be evaluated on a yearly basis and adjusted up or down based on pre-established criteria?
 
Just to clarify, this means that the 9.9 scholarships are divided between the max limit of 30 on the team. So let’s say 3 full rides, 6 at 50% (3 total) 16 @ aprox 25% (4 total) = 9.9 scholarships. That would be 25 out of 30 guys getting some money. I imagine it is much less equal than that. Plus some guys get an combination of financial and academic aid which gives more money to work with. Attrition, etc... a variable as well. Tough to plan for. Can the amounts be evaluated on a yearly basis and adjusted up or down based on pre-established criteria?
Depends on the college and coach. Technically yes. My son is on Scholarship for Baseball. Coach says he fully honors commitment agreed upon prior to coming in for 4 years but you do have to renew each year and they can be changed. Im concerned with Covid and all the uncertainty on rosters things could be changed.
 
Yes they get 85 full rides.Football has no partial scholarships it's all or nothing.
I'm trying to reconcile this in my mind. My math indicates that a football team can have three sets of both offense and defense on full scholarship at any given time, with some extras. Yet, wrestling doesn't have enough scholarships to support a full line-up. Is there a rationale for all this?
 
I'm trying to reconcile this in my mind. My math indicates that a football team can have three sets of both offense and defense on full scholarship at any given time, with some extras. Yet, wrestling doesn't have enough scholarships to support a full line-up. Is there a rationale for all this?
I know the rationale is hard to fathom until you consider Title IX. Women's crew offers 20 scholarships. Does that make sense? No. A lot of schools have it because it's cheap to run and helps them comply with Title IX requirements.

So AD's and the NCAA need to limit the men's side for these nonrevenue sports because the women's side will lose even more money. For example men's soccer offers 9.9 equivalency scholarships while women's has 14 scholarships. The added scholarships on the women's side helps compensate for football.

When all is said and done women athletics must have either more or equal spending compared to their men counter parts. The easiest way to do that, cut men's sports. Something the Title IX committee admittedly never considered when Title IX was proposed for collegiate athletics.
 
Last edited:
To add to what Koleszar pointed out, football even Rutgers football makes money. There is a lot of TV money for football. Men's basketball tends to make a small profit. I believe all other sports loss money. Rutgers wrestling loses about 750k a year. Women's basketball loses a lot more do to the high salaries for coaches and higher travel costs. Wrestling with 9.9 scholarships has scholarship costs likely between 300k and 500k depending number of out of state kids getting money. In the last few years, wrestling has brought more athletic pride to Rutgers than any other sport. Now with Schiano back and Pike's success things are picking up for RU athletes
 
I know the rationale is hard to fathom until you consider Title IX. Women's crew offers 20 scholarships. Does that make sense? No. A lot of schools have it because it's cheap to run and helps them comply with Title IX requirements.

So AD's and the NCAA need to limit the men's side for these nonrevenue sports because the women's side will lose even more money. For example men's soccer offers 9.9 equivalency scholarships while women's has 14 scholarships.

When all is said and done women athletics must have either more or equal spending compared to their men counter parts. The easiest way to do that, cut men's sports. Something the Title IX committee admittedly never considered when Title IX was proposed for collegiate athletics.

Do-gooders not anticipating consequences? No, couldn't happen! :Sly: There should be an objective way of determining scholarship numbers. 85 for football may actually be reasonable considering their following/revenue. NCAA initially may have made more sense, but the way it has played out looks like bias based on gender, thus could be challenged. But never mind.

I would imagine that scholarships could still be offered independent of the university, but I really don't know.
 
I'm trying to reconcile this in my mind. My math indicates that a football team can have three sets of both offense and defense on full scholarship at any given time, with some extras. Yet, wrestling doesn't have enough scholarships to support a full line-up. Is there a rationale for all this?
I agree wrestling should be allotted more scholarships but football drives the bus. No issue with how many scholarships they can offer. Wish they’d offer more, honestly. Kickers and punters can make or break a game and it’s rare that you see them get scholarships. Last I heard, Rutgers topped the list for the #1 kicker recruit in the nation because they were the only FBS team to offer a scholarship at the time. Not sure if any of that has changed recently.
 
To add to what Koleszar pointed out, football even Rutgers football makes money. There is a lot of TV money for football. Men's basketball tends to make a small profit. I believe all other sports loss money. Rutgers wrestling loses about 750k a year. Women's basketball loses a lot more do to the high salaries for coaches and higher travel costs. Wrestling with 9.9 scholarships has scholarship costs likely between 300k and 500k depending number of out of state kids getting money. In the last few years, wrestling has brought more athletic pride to Rutgers than any other sport. Now with Schiano back and Pike's success things are picking up for RU athletes


They would make the same money or more if they were cut to 75 scholarships with the other 10 being distributed to mens non revenue sports.

Plus we would have more competition between the football teams
 
  • Like
Reactions: Loyal-Son
They would make the same money or more if they were cut to 75 scholarships with the other 10 being distributed to mens non revenue sports.

Plus we would have more competition between the football teams
Good luck selling a scholarship cut to the sport that brings in 90% of the schools athletic revenue
 
Good luck selling a scholarship cut to the sport that brings in 90% of the schools athletic revenue

They would be more profitable because we would have more competitive games across the entire range of FBS schools

Alabama can get by with 10 less players on scholarship and those 10 kids could contribute to a lesser program
 
They would be more profitable because we would have more competitive games across the entire range of FBS schools

Alabama can get by with 10 less players on scholarship and those 10 kids could contribute to a lesser program
Why would Alabama want that?
 
They dont

They want to stockpile kids to limit the competition

I realize it will not happen but that does not mean it should not happen
 
Flo updated their 2022 Big Board: Here are the top NJ targets.

#18 - Brian Soldano (High Point)
#29 - Alex Almeyda (St Joes)
#32 - Evan Tallmadge (Brick)
#50 - PJ Casale (Delbarton)
#52 - Joe Cangro (Bergen Catholic)
#60 - Evan Mougalian (Kinnelon)
#80 - Martin Cosgrove (Camden Catholic)
#84 - Andrew Troczinski (Delbarton)

Blair Guys:
#9 - Rylan Rogers
#17 - Noah Pettigrew
#20 - Thomas Stewart

Very deep sophomore class in NJ, hopefully we can keep a lot of them home.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MS-RU and Abro1975
Nice pickup for them. He jumped on that offer early.

Hopefully we can lock up a few of them soon as well.
 
Seems like the Ivies in general are upping their wrestling recruiting.
 
Really want to see Soldano commit here sooner than later. His stock is high and is going to be getting even higher.
Need to find a way to close Bouzakis, Crookham, and Soldano.
 
ADVERTISEMENT