Which Region Produces Best College Wrestlers

[flyingcement 765]

All of the high schools below are within 77 square miles in an area around Allentown PA.  All of the schools pool from the same elementary system.  So even though Brian Meyer of Phillipsburg wasn't part of PIAA states, Phillipsburg (as well as Riegel Ridge and Washington Y) were nearby New Jersey teams that had historically been part of the Valley Elementary Wrestling League.  This is where I got my start as many others here on this board and the folks listed below.  I wondered whether there was a concentration anywhere else like this in the United States.  Parts of Western PA, Minnesota, Ohio, and Iowa seemed like places that might be able to put together a similar roster.  All of the below wrestlers are starters on a Division 1 wrestling program for this season.  Wrestlestat rank in parenthesis.   

125: Luke Werner (25) Lock Haven, Liberty

133:  Dillon Murphy (60) Harvard, Bethlehem Catholic

141: Dan Moran (66) Lehigh, Northampton; Cole Handlovic (73) Cornell, Bethlehem Catholic; Josh Mason (108) Bloomsburg, Blue Mountain; Ethan Szerencsits (186) American, Northampton

149: Sammy Sasso (2) Ohio State, Nazareth

157: Andrew Cerniglia (17) Navy, Notre Dame Green Pond; Trevor Tarsi (74) Harvard, Nazareth

165: Brian Meyer (24) Lehigh, Phillipsburg; Cody Harrison (77) Bloomsburg, Phillipsburg

174: Mikey Labriola (5) Nebraska, Bethlehem Catholic

184: Travis Stefanik (23) Princeton, Nazareth; Drew Clearie (147) Brown, Nazareth

197: Cade Wilson (94) Brown, Nazareth

285: Jonah Neisenbaum (47) Duke, Salisbury

Edited November 27, 2021 by flyingcement

[Antitroll2828 987]

18 hours ago, flyingcement said:

All of the high schools below are within 77 square miles in an area around Allentown PA.  All of the schools pool from the same elementary system.  So even though Brian Meyer of Phillipsburg wasn't part of PIAA states, Phillipsburg (as well as Riegel Ridge and Washington Y) were nearby New Jersey teams that had historically been part of the Valley Elementary Wrestling League.  This is where I got my start as many others here on this board and the folks listed below.  I wondered whether there was a concentration anywhere else like this in the United States.  Parts of Western PA, Minnesota, Ohio, and Iowa seemed like places that might be able to put together a similar roster.  All of the below wrestlers are starters on a Division 1 wrestling program for this season.  Wrestlestat rank in parenthesis.   

125: Luke Werner (25) Lock Haven, Liberty

133:  Dillon Murphy (60) Harvard, Bethlehem Catholic

141: Dan Moran (66) Lehigh, Northampton; Cole Handlovic (73) Cornell, Bethlehem Catholic; Josh Mason (108) Bloomsburg, Blue Mountain; Ethan Szerencsits (186) American, Northampton

149: Sammy Sasso (2) Ohio State, Nazareth

157: Andrew Cerniglia (17) Navy, Notre Dame Green Pond

165: Brian Meyer (24) Lehigh, Phillipsburg; Cody Harrison (77) Bloomsburg, Phillipsburg

174: Mikey Labriola (5) Nebraska, Bethlehem Catholic

184: Travis Stefanik (23) Princeton, Nazareth

197: Cade Wilson (94) Brown, Nazareth

285: Jonah Neisenbaum (47) Duke, Salisbury

 

bergan county NJ is pretty solid 
 

 

125- Nick Suriano - TBD , Robert Howard (redshirt) , Nick kayal- Princeton, all 3 Bergan Catholic , Nick Babin - Columbia - Emerson/ Park Ridge

133- Sammie Alvarez - St.joes , Kelly Dunnigan - U Penn - Don Bosco prep , Dylan Cedeno - Virginia, Fair Lawn 

141- Carmen ferrante- Penn , Bergan Catholic , Ethan Fernandez -Cornell, Westwood , Justin Bierdumpel -Brown , St. Joes , Joey Zargo - Wisconsin, Bergan Catholic 

149 - Gerald Angelo - Rutgers , Bergan Catholic , Mike Cetta- Rutgers , St Joes 

157- Travis Tavaso- Princeton, Ridgewood , Dylan Weaver - Rutgers , Lyndhurst , Alex Strashinsky- Binghamton, Bergan Catholic , Wade Unger- Duke, Bergan Catholic 

165- Shane Griffith Bergan Catholic , Tony Asatrian, - Lock Haven, Paramus 

174- Mike O Malley -Drexel , Hasbrock Heights, Chris Foca- Cornell ,Bergan Catholic ,Jack Bernik- Columbia, Old Tappan, Vincent Adreano- Bucknell, Saddle Brook 

184- Aaron Ayzerov- Columbia , Paramus , Kyle Cochran- Maryland, Paramus, Brian bobino - Columbia , Paramus , Pete Acarddi - Buffalo,  Don Bosco prep 

197- Jacob Cardenas- Cornell, Bergan Catholic 

285 - Sean O’Malley - Drexel, Hasbrouck heights , Erik Chakonis- Bucknell, Don Bosco prep 

 

this is all from just one county in New Jersey , and none of these high schools listed is more then a 15 minute drive from any of the others and all these towns wrestle each other growing up …. I’m sure I’m forgetting some people…and next years class has atleast 4 D1 recruits committed and will definitely end up with a few more 

Too lazy to go back and add but Sacred Heart alone has 8 more , I haven’t heard of all of them but still D 1 guys 

125- Sean Faraon- Paramus Catholic 

133- Tommy Eboli- Westwood

149- Vinny Demaria- Northern Highlands 

165- Anthony Demarco - Lyndhurst , Nicky Eboli- Westwood, Aladeen Hussein- Garfield , Roy Scherer- Westwood , Jon Siemsen- Ramsey 

 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Antitroll2828

[southend 239]

6 hours ago, flyingcement said:

All of the high schools below are within 77 square miles in an area around Allentown PA.  All of the schools pool from the same elementary system.  So even though Brian Meyer of Phillipsburg wasn't part of PIAA states, Phillipsburg (as well as Riegel Ridge and Washington Y) were nearby New Jersey teams that had historically been part of the Valley Elementary Wrestling League.  This is where I got my start as many others here on this board and the folks listed below.  I wondered whether there was a concentration anywhere else like this in the United States.  Parts of Western PA, Minnesota, Ohio, and Iowa seemed like places that might be able to put together a similar roster.  All of the below wrestlers are starters on a Division 1 wrestling program for this season.  Wrestlestat rank in parenthesis.   

125: Luke Werner (25) Lock Haven, Liberty

133:  Dillon Murphy (60) Harvard, Bethlehem Catholic

141: Dan Moran (66) Lehigh, Northampton; Cole Handlovic (73) Cornell, Bethlehem Catholic; Josh Mason (108) Bloomsburg, Blue Mountain; Ethan Szerencsits (186) American, Northampton

149: Sammy Sasso (2) Ohio State, Nazareth

157: Andrew Cerniglia (17) Navy, Notre Dame Green Pond

165: Brian Meyer (24) Lehigh, Phillipsburg; Cody Harrison (77) Bloomsburg, Phillipsburg

174: Mikey Labriola (5) Nebraska, Bethlehem Catholic

184: Travis Stefanik (23) Princeton, Nazareth

197: Cade Wilson (94) Brown, Nazareth

285: Jonah Neisenbaum (47) Duke, Salisbury

Interesting 

[flyingcement 765]

15 hours ago, Antitroll2828 said:

 

bergan county NJ is pretty solid 
 

 

125- Nick Suriano - TBD , Robert Howard (redshirt) , Nick kayal- Princeton, all 3 Bergan Catholic , Nick Babin - Columbia - Emerson/ Park Ridge

133- Sammie Alvarez - St.joes , Kelly Dunnigan - U Penn - Don Bosco prep , Dylan Cedeno - Virginia, Fair Lawn 

141- Carmen ferrante- Penn , Bergan Catholic , Ethan Fernandez -Cornell, Westwood , Justin Bierdumpel -Brown , St. Joes 

149 - Gerald Angelo - Rutgers , Bergan Catholic , Mike Cetta- Rutgers , St Joes 

157- Travis Tavaso- Princeton, Ridgewood , Dylan Weaver - Rutgers , Lyndhurst , Alex Strashinsky- Binghamton, Bergan Catholic 

165- Shane Griffith Bergan Catholic , Tony Asatrian, - Lock Haven, Paramus 

174- Mike O Malley -Drexel , Hasbrock Heights, Chris Foca- Cornell ,Bergan Catholic ,Jack Bernik- Columbia, Old Tappan, Vincent Adreano- Bucknell, Saddle Brook 

184- Aaron Ayzerov- Columbia , Paramus , Kyle Cochran- Maryland, Paramus, Brian bobino - Columbia , Paramus , Pete Acarddi - Buffalo,  Don Bosco prep 

197- Jacob Cardenas- Cornell, Bergan Catholic 

285 - Sean O’Malley - Drexel, Hasbrouck heights , Erik Chakonis- Bucknell, Don Bosco prep 

 

this is all from just one county in New Jersey , and none of these high schools listed is more then a 15 minute drive from any of the others and all these towns wrestle each other growing up …. I’m sure I’m forgetting some people…and next years class has atleast 4 D1 recruits committed and will definitely end up with a few more 

Too lazy to go back and add but Sacred Heart alone has 8 more , I haven’t heard of all of them but still D 1 guys 

125- Sean Faraon- Paramus Catholic 

133- Tommy Eboli- Westwood

149- Vinny Demaria- Northern Highlands 

165- Anthony Demarco - Lyndhurst , Nicky Eboli- Westwood, Aladeen Hussein- Garfield , Roy Scherer- Westwood , Jon Siemsen- Ramsey 

 

I omitted many non-starters as well as redshirts, but regardless, that is a very impressive list you have above.  Was Bergen County always so strong or is this more of a recent development.  Maybe wrongly, I associated them more with football in the past.  

[Antitroll2828 987]

22 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

I omitted many non-starters as well as redshirts, but regardless, that is a very impressive list you have above.  Was Bergen County always so strong or is this more of a recent development.  Maybe wrongly, I associated them more with football in the past.  

Outside of the sacred heart guys and suriano / Howard all the other guys have competed already this season so I put them in …it’s always been very strong in wrestling going back 40 years but I don’t believe they’ve had big time D 1 success  outside of a few studs until about 10 years ago …but by nj standards, numerous state champs every season have always been from Bergen county , and it helps that right now we are seeing a ton of guys from a Bergen Catholic team that was possibly the best team ever in NJ history a few years ago and now D1 rosters all over have guys from those teams 

[whaletail 240]

Damn, I knew Bergen County produced a lot of D1 wrestlers, but that's a couple teams worth! 

As far as other regions, I'd guess western PA (the top District 11 feeder region, if there is one) and if there's a dominant region in the Pittsburgh area, maybe that one.

California also has some hotspots, but I doubt any of them are that talent rich (especially within a single county).

[Mphillips 1,668]

Lakewood Ohio. 

[Schuteandscore 167]

4 hours ago, Mphillips said:

Lakewood Ohio. 

I think Northeast Ohio in general is a hotbed

[Mphillips 1,668]

10 minutes ago, Schuteandscore said:

I think Northeast Ohio in general is a hotbed

Agreed.

STED does have 68 DI AA's since '80'.

[Schuteandscore 167]

Duplicate

Edited November 28, 2021 by Schuteandscore

[Schuteandscore 167]

3 minutes ago, Mphillips said:

Agreed.

STED does have 68 DI AA's since '80'.

Absolutely, I wrestled at Wadsworth just down the road and we wrestled head to head every year.  Heffernan and Urbas coached them like college athletes so the transition was minimal.

[Mphillips 1,668]

13 minutes ago, Schuteandscore said:

Absolutely, I wrestled at Wadsworth just down the road and we wrestled head to head every year.  Heffernan and Urbas coached them like college athletes so the transition was minimal.

I hear ya. We wrestled the CIT back in the early/mid eighties when it was as tough as the state tourney.

[Konquest 155]

It's a "region" that spans 3 states, but if you trace Lake Michigan from the Milwaukee, WI area down through Chicago and into Northwest Indiana ("The Region") you'd be surprised how many studs have come from high schools and clubs around that 2ish hour drive.

[LifeintheRed 81]

16 hours ago, whaletail said:

Damn, I knew Bergen County produced a lot of D1 wrestlers, but that's a couple teams worth! 

As far as other regions, I'd guess western PA (the top District 11 feeder region, if there is one) and if there's a dominant region in the Pittsburgh area, maybe that one.

California also has some hotspots, but I doubt any of them are that talent rich (especially within a single county).

California's a big state- there are currently 176 wrestlers from CA high schools on D1 rosters with 17 returning NCAA qualifiers. The undeniable hot spot is Fresno, because there's just nothing else to do there. Clovis and Buchanan high schools in Fresno are 4 miles apart and they have 19 D1 athletes between them. It you add in Selma High School 10 miles away, you have 22 D1 athletes including Richie Figueroa who's not on this list. After that it's Poway (in San Diego) with 12. Bakersfield has traditionally been tough (again, nothing to do there either) as has St. John Bosco. Don't know if they can compete with the elite regions around the country, only that it's a hell of a lot warmer in the winter!

Anyway, here's a link to the complete list. I probably should have just started with that . . .: http://www.ccsrank.com/2021NCAA.htm

Edited November 29, 2021 by LifeintheRed

[wrestlingphish 1,023]

Dagestan.

 

Edit: Not Dagestan. I skipped over the word 'college' when reading the subject. 

Edited November 29, 2021 by wrestlingphish

[whaletail 240]

On 11/29/2021 at 12:24 AM, LifeintheRed said:

California's a big state- there are currently 176 wrestlers from CA high schools on D1 rosters with 17 returning NCAA qualifiers. The undeniable hot spot is Fresno, because there's just nothing else to do there. Clovis and Buchanan high schools in Fresno are 4 miles apart and they have 19 D1 athletes between them. It you add in Selma High School 10 miles away, you have 22 D1 athletes including Richie Figueroa who's not on this list. After that it's Poway (in San Diego) with 12. Bakersfield has traditionally been tough (again, nothing to do there either) as has St. John Bosco. Don't know if they can compete with the elite regions around the country, only that it's a hell of a lot warmer in the winter!

Anyway, here's a link to the complete list. I probably should have just started with that . . .: http://www.ccsrank.com/2021NCAA.htm

St. John Bosco feels like a California version of Apple Valley, Minn, with top football and wrestling prospects everywhere.

And although I've obviously heard of Selma, Buchanan, Clovis and Poway, I had no idea they were mostly in central Cali.

[Konquest 155]

6 hours ago, whaletail said:

St. John Bosco feels like a California version of Apple Valley, Minn, with top football and wrestling prospects everywhere.

And although I've obviously heard of Selma, Buchanan, Clovis and Poway, I had no idea they were mostly in central Cali.

 

SJB is in Southern California, IIRC.  Poway is San Diego.  All the others are Fresno area, which according to Tirapelle, is kind of the "midwest" of California.  Lemoore, where Chris Pendelton and Isaiah Martinez are from, is also Fresno area.  

[Le duke 399]

Gilroy is a pretty decent area for wrestling, too. Cormier has his facility there, IIRC.


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[flyingcement 765]

6 minutes ago, Le duke said:

Gilroy is a pretty decent area for wrestling, too. Cormier has his facility there, IIRC.


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I haven't been there, but apparently the entire town smells like garlic.  As a garlic-eater myself, a descendent of the great boot-shaped peninsula of Europe, I intend on checking it out.  

[DanGerMan 151]

The Transfer Portal Region has been a steady supplier of talent.

[flyingcement 765]

Just now, DanGerMan said:

The Transfer Portal Region has been a steady supplier of talent.

Jojo Aragona has just joined

[Antitroll2828 987]

2 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

Jojo Aragona has just joined

I was going to make a thread about that , he posted some interesting statements on the Rutgers forum after his announcement, apparently he wasn’t given the opportunity to wrestle off this year for whatever reason 

[flyingcement 765]

3 minutes ago, Antitroll2828 said:

I was going to make a thread about that , he posted some interesting statements on the Rutgers forum after his announcement, apparently he wasn’t given the opportunity to wrestle off this year for whatever reason 

Very odd. Hopefully he surfaces somewhere and gets a chance.  

[Le duke 399]

I haven't been there, but apparently the entire town smells like garlic.  As a garlic-eater myself, a descendent of the great boot-shaped peninsula of Europe, I intend on checking it out.  

I have. Gilroy produces a massive amount of garlic. They host the Gilroy Garlic Festival.


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[Fletcher 1,095]

Not sure how much of a difference it would make, but this type of analysis should carve out prep schools, to the extent they're pulling non-local kids.