Quote Originally Posted by Loose Lips View Post
As I remember, this years senior class was part of the #2 recruiting class in the nation. What happened? I think we need to Send Kish to Bono's coaches clinic in October with a pen and paper.

1). How to recruit top wrestlers- All the top HS wrestlers are in Fargo each July.
2). Wrestler retention- All programs lose kids but there is no reason we should lose as many kids as we do.
3). Why can't we fill the line up with division 1 starting quality wrestlers.
4). Why is it that SDSU has more fans at our home meet when they come to town than we do? There are 200,000 people in the Fargo metro area and 20,000 people in Brookings.
5). Why is it that SDSU wrestlers would run through a brick wall for Bono and NDSU wrestlers would all get together and push the wall on top of Kish!
6). Why don't graduates stay with the program in various roles. Hayden Zillmer, Josh Rodriguez?
IMO:
1. I can't tell you how many coaches I've seen and talked to every July. Most programs are represented at the tournament, and yeah it isn't a home event for them, but Kish doesn't really have a huge leg up on most other coaches when it comes to the Fargo tourney. The new wrestling room is much nicer, but I doubt it is ever going to convince top kids to come here. For sustained success the key has to be targeting lesser known kids with room to grow and then building them up on campus. I think we are slipping in MN though, and I hate that. The coaching staff needs to do what they can to establish a pipeline to the Pinnacle wrestling club. It is one of the top clubs in the country and SDSU is starting to pull kids from them.
2. I think we're getting better at keeping guys around. I used to get heartburn over losing the Lehman's and Rylee Streifel, but it has worked out.
3. Only 9.9 scholarships to fill a 10 man starting lineup, get quality depth, and get freshmen. It's even tougher as a mid major type program. We do need to do a better job of development with the guys we bring in, but only Ohio State and maybe Penn State will have 10 NCAA qualifiers this year.
4. I don't know. This is a huge advantage for SDSU. Bring a recruit to one of our duals and they'll get bored. Bring one to their duals and they'll be eager to sign. I'd like to see NDSU replace Vettel as announcer, try to emulate some of SDSU's unique seating that allows fans to be matside, and lower the price to duals. I have friends who don't go to duals because Vettel is that bad at times. Talking over the action, mispronouncing name after name, trying to guide the action but throwing in mistake after mistake. SDSU's seating creates great atmosphere with the entire mat surrounded by hostile fans just feet away. On pricing, I'll go regardless, but with the lack of atmosphere, it is often better to stay home and watch it for free on BEK. For some duals, the BBF would be a better venue. SDSU has done a tremendous job cultivating a relationship with FloWrestling too. Flo is constantly talking up SDSU (mainly because it benefits Flo to do so, since they have a business relationship) and recruits are constantly exposed to their program. I find some of the Flo guys obnoxious, but that is the source for amateur wrestling. They have MMA stars like Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren interacting with the Flo brand and Flo has access to all the top recruits. Coach Garnett seems to interact with Flo a decent amount and is doing his part to promote the brand with various wrestling media outlets.
5. I don't know if that is accurate. It may be, I just don't know.
6. They are still wrestling competitively and that isn't feasible at the senior level in Fargo without massive fundraising to get new athletes to come in and wrestle for the Bison Wrestling Club. Decent chance both guys make an appearance in the top 20 worldwide freestyle rankings soon and Hayden is the odds on favorite to represent the USA in Tokyo in 2020 in Greco Roman wrestling. The fact that NDSU boasts Hayden, Josh, and Kallen Kleinschmidt as grads and the success they've had at the senior level is impressive.

The #2 ranking was by 1 publication and never seemed that accurate. Other publications had it around #20. High school talent in wrestling has come a lonnnnnnng way in the last 5 years and so has evaluating recruiting classes.