Ohio State currently has 33 wrestlers on their roster with Anthony Echemendia joining the team in early 2020. After this season, Ohio State will be losing Ke’Shawn Hayes, Kollin Moore, and Luke Pletcher to graduation. That still leaves a rather crowded room, so Ohio State will have to be selective in their recruiting. Ohio State currently has two wrestlers committed, one for 2020 and one for 2022.
Anthony Echemendia is from Cuba where he won a record 6 Cuban National Championships at the Cadet and Junior levels. In 2018, Echemendia defected from Cuba while at a training camp in Guatemala. In late 2018, he moved to the United States to live with his uncle who enrolled him into Sunnyside High School located in Tucson, Arizona. Prior to attending school in the United States, Echmendia did not wrestle folk style but won the Arizona State title in the 152-pound weight class with a 22-0 record. Afterwards, he traveled to the USMC Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota and won both Greco and freestyle in the 145-pound weight class. Echemendia stated that his goal is to win multiple World Titles for the United States. He is projected to wrestle in 141-pound weight class in college, which would fill a huge void once Pletcher is gone.
Seth Shumate is a 2022 commit for Ohio State from Dublin Coffman High School. Shumate is the defending Ohio State champion in the 195-pound weight class as a freshman. Shumate also traveled to Fargo this summer and won the 195-pound weight class National Championship in both freestyle and Greco. He is the No. 3 overall wrestler in the country in the Class of 2022 and projects to wrestle in the 184 or 197-pound weight class in college.
As of now this is my way too early 2020-2021 lineup:
- 125: Heinselman
- 133: Decatur
- 141: Echemendia
- 149: Sasso
- 157: Mattox/Cleary
- 165: Kharchla
- 174: Smith
- 184: Hoffman
- 197: Singletary (may change due to Kerkvliet transfer)
- HWT: Traub
After looking at this lineup I think Ohio State should focus on 125, 157, 197, and heavy weight. Shumate will not be joining the team until the fall of 2022 but he plans on wrestling in the 184 or 197 weight class. I think he will start out at 184 pounds for OSU so that leaves a hole in the 197-pound weight class for the 2022-2023 season when Singletary (current OSU heavyweight) graduates. This obviously could flip to the 184-pound weight class if Shumate continues to develop and projects at 197 instead of 184.
Below is a short list of potential recruits that could address Ohio State’s needs in the lineup.
Richard Figueroa: Junior 113 Pounder |Selma High School Selma, California
Figueroa is currently listed as the No.2 overall wrestler in the 2021 class. He committed to Arizona State back in 2018 but recently took an official visit to Ohio State. Figueroa was at Ohio State from November 8th-11th and had Ke-Shawn Hayes and Sammy Sasso as his guides. It appears he enjoyed his visit and hopefully the opportunity to wrestle with the current Ohio State wrestlers and members of Ohio RTC (Regional Training Center that promotes the Olympic dream) will be enough to lure him to Ohio. Ohio State provides unique opportunities for student athletes by providing an excellent education, great development in the wrestling room, and post college development with the Ohio RTC.
Figueroa is a two-time state champion in California, winning his freshman and sophomore years.
He was crowned champion at the Super 32 Invitational and FloNationals back in 2018 in the 113-pound weight class and also a UWW Cadet World Team Silver medalist at the World Championships in 2018.
He wrestled in the Who’s Number 1 match back in October and defeated Stevo Poulin by an 8-1 decision. Figueroa defeated Jacob Decatur in this event back in 2018.
Figueroa projects to wrestle in the 125-pound weight class in college and would be an absolute gem in the 2021 recruiting class.
Padraic (Paddy) Gallagher: Junior 160 Pounder | St. Edward High School Cleveland, Ohio
In 8th grade, Gallagher went an impressive 45-1 in the 138-pound weight class on his way to winning the state title. Gallagher was ranked as the number 8 wrestler on the Youth1 Wrestling All-American list.
Gallagher started out his high school career by placing 3rd in the 152-pound weight class in 2017-2018. In his sophomore season, Gallagher was on a mission and went 17-0 on his way to winning a state title.
During the 2018-2019 state tournament, Gallagher dominated his opponents. In the first three rounds of the state tournament, he won 24-9, 25-10, and 20-4. He faced off against the number one 160 pounder in the country, Connor Brady, out of Olentangy Liberty for the State Title. Gallagher won a close match by a 7-6 decision and was crowned state champion in the 160-pound weight class.
National/State Tournaments:
2016 2nd place in the Ohio Freestyle state tournament Cadet 126 pounds
2016 Champion at the Super 32 tournament
2016 2nd place at the Tulsa Flow kickoff
2017 Champion at the Best of the Midwest Philo tournament
2017 Champion at the Tulsa Nationals
2017 Champion at the Delta Freestyle Qualifier Cadet 138 pounds
2017 Ohio freestyle champion Cadet 138 pounds
2017 UWW All-American
2018 Champion at the Central Regional freestyle Junior 152 pounds
2019 USMC Junior Freestyle(Fargo) National Champion at 160 pounds
Gallagher wrestled in the Who’s Number One Tournament back in October and was defeated by the number one wrestler in the country, Keegan O’toole, in the 160-pound weight class by a score of 12-1. He tweeted shortly after the tournament stating he learned a lot and would be back. You can follow him @paddygallagherr .
Gallagher said it has been his lifelong dream to become a Big Ten wrestler and it appears Iowa and Ohio State are his current leaders. It has been reported, that Gallagher and his family will be making a final decision after he attends an Iowa dual in the near future. He projects to wrestle in the 157 or 165-pound weight classes in college. Kharchla (current OSU wrestler) will be at the 165-pound weight class for 3 to 4 years, so 157 would be an excellent lineup fit.
Jacob Kaminski: Senior 285 Pounder|Wyoming Seminary Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
As a freshman, Kaminski went to high school at Riverside High School in Champaign, Illinois where he finished 4th in the state tournament in the 195-pound weight class. As a Sophomore, he went 31-2 on his way to win the state title in the 195-pound weight class by a 7-1 decision. Kaminski competed in the USMC Cadet National Tournament in Fargo in 2018 and finished 3rd in both freestyle and Greco. He lost both matches to the eventual champions. Prior to his Junior year Kaminski transferred to Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. Kaminski is currently listed as the No. 3 285 pounder in the country per Intermat.com. Wyoming Seminary won the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Tournament for the 13th straight year in 2019 where Kaminski won gold in the 220-pound weight class.
There does not appear to be many options in the 197 or heavy weight classes. Singletary has two more seasons of eligibility. It has been reported Singletary plans to move down to the 197-pound weight class next season so that buys Tom Ryan and his coaches some time to fill 197. Heavy weight on the other hand is a more immediate need if Singletary moves down to 197. The transfer portal may be an option to fill heavy weight next season. Is it possible the portal taketh away then giveth? I know a certain heavy weight that is not currently on a roster.
Written By: Brandon Dodson
Follow me on Twitter @RecruitingBucks
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