A Statistical Analysis of Class of 2021 Division I Wrestling Recruits in the Keystone State

Three-time PIAA State Champion (Seneca Valley) and Oklahoma Wrestling recruit Alejandro Herrera-Rondon. (Image courtesy of of PA Power Wrestling).

With respect to high school wrestling, it is widely accepted that Pennsylvania traditionally has the most talented crop of high school wrestlers. 

With that, that does not mean states like Illinois, Ohio, California, Iowa, Oklahoma, New York, and others do not produce some quality Division I-caliber athletes as well – they do – but the Keystone State is statistically the most fruitful for elite Division I talent. 

Similarly, it is also acknowledged that the Big Ten Conference is the premier Division I wrestling conference. Outside of the Big Ten, there is debate about how the remaining six conferences (ACC, Big 12, EIWA, MAC, Pac-12, and SoCon) rank for the quality of wrestling talent within each  conference. 

Because of the praise that Pennsylvania high school wrestling and the Big Ten often receive, one might expect that most Pennsylvania preps would flock to those 14 Big Ten institutions. Or attend a handful of other blue-chip wrestling schools like Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Cornell, Arizona State, NC State, Pitt, Lehigh, and a few of tradition-rich "wrestling schools."

Well, suppose we take a deeper statistical dive into the PA Power Wrestling Class of 2021 commitments list, which was last updated in mid-April of 2021. In that case, we see that the data on Division I recruits from this Pennsylvania in the Class of 2021 list reveals some shocking results. 

Read below to see what trends emerged during The Open Mat's statistical analysis of the final PA Power Wrestling' Class of 2021 commitments list.

The Basics

147 total commitments listed as of mid-April 2021

93 athletes are committed to Division I wrestling programs within the seven Division I conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, EIWA, MAC, Pac-12, and SoCon). In total, these 93 prospects went to 35 of the 76 total Division I institutions (Note: Fresno State and Stanford were not included in any of these calculations)

14 athletes are committed to intuitions for football instead of wrestling. That said, all of these competitors were still strong  college wrestling prospects.

40 athletes are committed to wrestling programs outside the seven Division I conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, EIWA, MAC, Pac-12, and SoCon). These athletes elected to pursue opportunities at Division II and Division III levels.

The 93 Division I Commits

Big Ten: 

5.3% went to the Big Ten

Nebraska led the way with (2) PA preps, while Penn State, Ohio State, and Iowa each had (1) recruit each.

Big 12: 6

6.5%% went to the Big 12

Air Force had half of the PA prep commits for the conference with (3). Iowa State grabbed a pair of recruits (2), while Oklahoma had (1). 

ACC: 9

9.7% went to the ACC

Not surprisingly, the hometown Pitt Panthers led the way with a whopping (5) of the nine total for the conference. Virginia Teach was next in line with (2). Both NC State (1) and Duke (1) will get one recruit each. 

MAC: 21

23% went to the MAC

Of the 13 MAC institutions, the in-state schools snatched up 19 of the 21 recruits. Lock Haven was out in front with (9). The Clarion Golden Eagles had (7), Edinboro earned (2), and Bloomsburg had (1). The lone non-Pennsylvania MAC school to steal some recruits was George Mason, they had (2) recruits from the class

Pac-12: 

Less than 1% went to Pac-12

Franklin Regional's Carter Dibert was the lone PA prep from the list travel to the West Coast to the Pac-12. The Pennsylvania lightweight will be suiting up for the Sun Devils of Arizona State (1).

SoCon: 10

9.3% went to the SoCon

The nine schools within the Southern Conference will have a combined 10 former PA preps joining the conference in 2022. Davison had (4), Campbell and VMI each had (2), plus Presbyterian and the Citadel each had had (1) recruit from the Keystone State. 

EIWA: 41

44.1% went to the EIWA 

The EIWA was the big winner as far as landing the services of numerous PA Class of 2021 grapplers, particularly the Ivy League institutions and Service Academy's within this conference. 

The Ivy League: Brown (5), Columbia (5), Cornell (3), Penn (3), Harvard (1)

Service Academy's: Navy had (6), followed by Army (4).

The Others: Bucknell led the way with (5). Lehigh and Franklin & Marshall had (3) recruits each. Plus, Binghamton and Drexel, Hofstra each had (1). 

What These Numbers Mean

Overall, PA Power Wrestling's Class of 2021 commitment list yielded what I would consider reasonably surprising results. 

These recruits flocked to both the EIWA (44.1%) and the MAC (23%) at exceptionally high rates with respect to conferences. These figures are higher than you might expect. 

The Ivy League (17 total commits) and the three military institutions (13 total commits) faired extremely well. The Ivy brought in nearly 19% of Division I recruits on this list, while the Armed Forced brought almost 14% of this Division I field. Thus, it appears recruits don't necessarily believe they need a powerhouse program or a premiere conference to win a title. These 30 recruits also value attending some of the best academic institutions in the nation.

Concerning the Division I level, 39 of the 93, or roughly 42%, chose to stay in-state for their college careers. Conversely, that means that approximately 58% of these former PA preps are heading to a new state for college wrestling. 

The ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12, arguably the top-tier conferences in Division I, successfully recruited just 22% of this Division I field. On the other hand, the EIWA, MAC, Pac-12, and SoCon, which are sometimes seen as weaker conferences, landed 78% of the Division I PA Power commitment pool.  



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