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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Nick Lecklider added to this discussion on March 3, 2025
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The kids in the class of 2024 were not being thrown around big bags of money which they started with the class of 2025. Davino wasn’t involved in bidding wars. Nil at the high school level was different then than it is now. The money then was being given to the transfer portal to proven wrestlers where it is now given straight to unproven high schoolers at this level. It is too risky to pay kids outside of the top few guys that kind of money as many of them don’t pan out. Paddy Gallagher and Facundo were top of the class and would have been a financial hit. Blaze and Bassett and Forrest are beating NCAA champs in high school so not a lot of risk there unless injury.
Ohio state can still land top 20 type kids they just are not beating out for the top 4-5 type of kids that Penn state, Iowa, and Oklahoma state are bidding over Those are the kids being offered 500k and up a year. These three school all have one specific donor that are at least worth 100 of millions that are privately funding these teams. Ohio state can’t just magically come up with that kind of guy. The athletic department isn’t worried about raising money for the wrestling team that costs the university over a million dollar loss a year to maintain. They want to allocate all the money possible to football and basketball which basically pays for the other 20 sports and actually has a return on investment. Ohio state basically was able to buy a championship this year by adding huge additions through the portal and getting one of the best freshman wr of all time. Wrestling doesn’t pay the bills, football does.
Blaze was never going to Purdue. The only guy on the team that is top 20 is Ramos and his brother. He would have no one to train with. It was long reported that it was down to Ohio state and Penn state. Blaze himself said it was very hard to tell Ohio state no at the end. If Joey was here it would have probably been the deciding factor to come. After Joey wrestled against Ohio state he had some sort of chirpinb towards Ohio state. Probably some resentment for not being taken seriously.
Bassett was offered 5 million dollars to end his recruitment immediately right after Penn state beat them badly. Bob nicholls got him to rush his commitment and that’s why it went from 7 teams to 1 team in 48 hours. Everything he has done has shown it was a financial decesion and he’s been trying to grow his brand for years.
And yes Ohio state is probably done winning titles. The NCAA is trying to adapt the pay for play that the kids are getting and change it to true market value to what they are really worth. It is the Wild West right now and no college wrestler js worth even a fraction of what they are being paid.
Ohio state does have talent in state but need prioritize it more. Also need to get transfer portal guys. Guys like askey who
Went to Minnesota and Barraclough who went to Utah valley are all American type guys who would have been cheap to get but Tom Ryan is just too loyal to his guys.
Right now Ohio state is just trying to fight for any trophy. They will fall in the second tier with Minnesota, Nebraska, Michigan, nc state, Cornell, Virginia Tech. The top three are clearly going to be ahead of this tier. Next year Ohio state will be at its peak and then start gradually falling off after.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Jack Muni added to this discussion on March 4, 2025
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This is crazy stuff, and Nick is right, wrestling doesn’t pay the bills, football does. What kind of NIL money are the football/basketball guys getting? When did wrestling get so popular that boosters/alumnae are doling out millions of dollars on one kid? Do the schools still have scholarship money? When OSU goes up against Iowa or Mich. you feel like you are wrestling an All-Star team with all the transfers in the lineups. It's not good for the sport IMO. The NCAA needs to put a cap on NIL$ and/or the number of transfers allowed on one team.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Nick Lecklider added to this discussion on March 4, 2025
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The top football player is arch manning making 6.5 million a year. Ohio state top athletes are Jeremiah smith 4 million a year and Caleb downs 2.4 million a year. A lot of these athletes are making more by staying in college than going to the nfl draft unless you are a first round pick.
The new rule on scholarships for wrestling are that you can have a roster of 30 and give everyone a full scholarship if the university would like. Not sure if universities want to give the third string wrestler a 150k dollar full ride but the university can if they want. The limits of 9.9 scholarships are over.
Revenue sharing will now be part of the athletic programs and the programs will be able to split 22 percent of revenue with athletes directly. That is probably only going to the football and basketball players which are the only profitable sports. The NCAA wants to eliminate booster pay for play in the nil which is currently what is happening in wrestling. In order to receive compensation over 600 bucks they want a third party to evaluate and make sure it is fair market value for the service or payment they are receiving. The days of commit witg us and get 5 million over 4 years like Bassett will be over.
Wrestling is getting out of control and this is not happening in any of the other sports other than football and basketball. Bob Nicholls of Iowa is literally calling up recruits not in the portal like Teemer and Parco and offering them bags of money. Then zeke jones get upset with brands and brands response is I can’t control Bob. It’s not good for the sport. We nearly lost Rocco Welsh to Oklahoma state this season and probably had to pay him quite a bit to stay around.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Rob Wagner added to this discussion on March 4, 2025
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This adds a ton of pressure for wrestlers at smaller schools.
let's use Garrett Thompson of OU....
Is he getting paid by OU? Maybe but not alot.
Say he AA's this year as he's projected. A school like Iowa/Okie St etc may need a 174 next year and hes the "best available, returning All American, heck yeah teams want him.
Boom- Thompson earns himself a 6 figure payday by having a hot March.
If he goes 2-2 or something sure he may be lured by these bigger schools but the cost would definitely be driven down.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Doug Gainous added to this discussion on March 4, 2025
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Yeah...but OU is the one that really loses out. I like the guys getting paid, but it has a ripple affect that kinda sucks.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Michael Rodriguez added to this discussion on March 4, 2025
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How can a third party determine “fair market value” for a particular athlete? In a capitalist system market value isn’t what it takes to make a product plus profit, it’s whatever someone is willing to pay. Thats what free markets are. It doesn’t matter if wrestling or any other sport makes money, it matters if someone is willing to pay them, period.
And I still don’t understand why other universities like Penn State, Iowa, Michigan, OSU and apparently Virginia Tech can come up with funds and donors but Ohio State can’t?
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Justin Hayes added to this discussion on March 4, 2025
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Quote from Michael Rodriguez's post:
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"And I still don’t understand why other universities like Penn State, Iowa, Michigan, OSU and apparently Virginia Tech can come up with funds and donors but Ohio State can’t?"
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Agreed; looking for an objective reason that can be verified rather than an opinion that is espoused authoritatively.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Ben Golden added to this discussion on March 4, 2025
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Quote from Michael Rodriguez's post:
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"And I still don’t understand why other universities like Penn State, Iowa, Michigan, OSU and apparently Virginia Tech can come up with funds and donors but Ohio State can’t?"
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We just need you to pony up the cash, Mike!
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Jim Kessen added to this discussion on March 4, 2025
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Quote from Michael Rodriguez's post:
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"How can a third party determine “fair market value” for a particular athlete? In a capitalist system market value isn’t what it takes to make a product plus profit, it’s whatever someone is willing to pay. Thats what free markets are. It doesn’t matter if wrestling or any other sport makes money, it matters if someone is willing to pay them, period.
And I still don’t understand why other universities like Penn State, Iowa, Michigan, OSU and apparently Virginia Tech can come up with funds and donors but Ohio State can’t?"
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Yeah why can’t Ohio state wrestling find a multi millionaire who wants to throw money at college wrestlers?
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Justin Hayes added to this discussion on March 5, 2025
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[quote="Jim Kessen"]
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Quote from Michael Rodriguez's post:
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"Yeah why can’t Ohio state wrestling find a multi millionaire who wants to throw money at college wrestlers?"
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Or a group of wealthy individuals? You don't need a lottery ticket, but a intentional commitment by a group who is interested....tOSU isn't small and neither is their network.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Jim Kessen added to this discussion on March 5, 2025
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Agree but that’s not what Iowa, Okie State or PSU have. I don’t think it’s fair to say someone is going to those schools only because they are getting paid. Those 3 schools have won 90%+ team titles (that # was an uneducated guess)
Bucks had that and they built the Bucks a new facility.
Agree I’m sure the bucks have some wealthy wrestling alumni.
The way we feel about Bucks NIl is the same way a lot of schools feel about Bucks football team. All year all we heard was how do Bucks not win it all with a 20m roster.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Nick Lecklider added to this discussion on March 5, 2025
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This isn’t football. Ohio state football fans aren’t going to give money to the wrestling team. The Ohio state wrestling team fan base is tiny compared Iowa, Penn State, and Oklahoma state. They rank 8 nationally in attendance. Iowa could sell out a football stadium if it was a big dual. Iowa averages 15,000 a home dual and sells it out no matter who they wrestle. Ohio state basketball barely gets 10000 fans.
All this money is privately donated by wrestling fans. Do you know how many millionaires it would take to reach the status of Chad Richison. 23 people who have 100 million dollars Is the equavalent of Chad Richison. A group of wealthy people isn’t going to cut it. Chad promised David Taylor he would financially support the team whatever it took to get him to take the job.
A visionary entrepreneur from Oklahoma, Richison received recognition for Paycom's rapid growth by Fortune, Forbes, and Inc. Magazines. His business acumen led him to become the highest-paid U.S. CEO in 2020, with a vast $2.3 billion net worth. I bet you there is not one wrestling fan of Ohio state who has over 20 million dollars.
You don’t think Tom Ryan has searched all avenues for these sort of people who want to give their hard earned money to make a wrestling team good? Even if Ohio state comes up with more money the other teams will still outbid them.
So conclude it the big three teams have way bigger fan base to collect from and way richer top end wrestling boosters . I don’t understand what people don’t get? Ohio state athletic department lost over 30 million dollars last year between all sports.They are more concerned by getting boosters to donate to the athletic department than to NIL for no profit sports. You guys thinking we have the money for football that it is just universal in all sports. You guys are wrong. Look at the basketball team. They have been a mess for years. They are not getting top end recruits through NIL either.
Jim what do you mean? The only reason Parco, Caliendo, Teemer, and Buchanan went to Iowa this year are because they got paid. Parco and Teemer were called up and offered money when they weren’t even in the portal. Hamiti was in the portal the day after ncaas and said do not contact. He was obviously tampered with. Theee straight recruiting classes in a row have been almost the entire top 6-7 guys Oklahoma state, Iowa, Penn state. That was not happening before. It’s not a coincidence.
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Last edited by Nick Lecklider on March 5, 2025; edited 1 time in total
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Michael Rodriguez added to this discussion on March 5, 2025
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I also want to be clear, I don’t believe the narrative that nil is the reason great wrestlers are signing with schools other than tOSU.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on March 5, 2025
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Quote from Michael Rodriguez's post:
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"I also want to be clear, I don’t believe the narrative that nil is the reason great wrestlers are signing with schools other than tOSU."
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It's not the ONLY reason, but it is A reason.
Ohio State made a competitive offer to Blaze--he chose PSU. They could not get close to Iowa's offer to Bassett.
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Discussion Topic: 2025 Recruting class-OSU
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on March 5, 2025
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Quote from Michael Rodriguez's post:
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"How can a third party determine “fair market value” for a particular athlete?"
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They can look at market comps for professional athletes or other brand ambassadors and assess some sort of +/- % threshold.
They can also finally require verification and suitability of NIL contracts.
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