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Discussion Topic: Ohio Preps in D1
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on November 5, 2025
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Not long ago, Ohio was arguably the second best high school wrestling state in the country. Every metric showed it--D1 AA's, Fargo Results, NHSCA Championships (when that was a premier event). In fact, Ohio was the only state that could make a case that it was comparable to PA. This was true for decades...certainly the 1970's through 2010 or so.
Not anymore. Ohio has slipped. And not a little. A lot. I don't know why although the state was always at it's best when Northeast Ohio was roaring. That is no longer the case. While there are still great programs in the area, the competition itself has fallen off. The days when most Cleveland area programs were tough and had a few killers in the lineup are gone.
Or am I mistaken? Is Ohio the same but the rest of the country got better? Many states now have at least one club producing stars. Does Ohio? Is it just that simple? Do we need a couple Ben Askren types to run super clubs and bring back our state pride? Is that what we lack? Do we need Jeff Jordan to come back? Can Erik Burnett be lured out of semi retirement?
If you look at current D1 rankings, you'll see fewer Ohio preps in the rankings than ever before. A couple weights have a bunch of them but there are some with zero Ohio kids in the top 25. Yeesh.
What is going on? Am I beating a dead horse? Will Bob Preusse rise from the ashes and call someone a jerk?
One last thought--Tom Ryan has noticed. Look at where he spends most of his time recruiting.
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Discussion Topic: Ohio Preps in D1
Mark Niemann added to this discussion on November 5, 2025
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Not many know this but Cleveland has lost 300,000 residents - possible more now - over a ten or 15 year time period.
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Discussion Topic: Ohio Preps in D1
Jim Kessen added to this discussion on November 5, 2025
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Quote from Mark Niemann's post:
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"Not many know this but Cleveland has lost 300,000 residents - possible more now - over a ten or 15 year time period."
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During that same period how many has Columbus gained?
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Discussion Topic: Ohio Preps in D1
Jared Ball added to this discussion on November 6, 2025
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There’s unlikely to be one answer to this. It’s certainly irrefutable that some of the long standing elite programs have fallen off. However, I also think that the national land scape has shifted to more of a club based model, as Hank pointed out. The Faith Christian’s and whatever school the Bassets are from are currently the top ranked programs in the country. They aren’t, in some cases, actual schools. Micro schools, charters, and other pop up schools seem to now dominate the landscape. All fueled by clubs like Young Guns, M2, etc. it’s not just in PA either. Look at what’s happening with Coleman Scott and the farm. I don’t see as much of that happening in Ohio. Spire might be the most notable. We are still primarily school based, but division 3 has historically had a lot more of these pockets of schools pop up with elite guys, but nothing sustained. Even St Eds isn’t cranking out the same caliber of guys anymore. They’re good but not elite. The most common thread of elite guys in the state has come from people attached to the Burnetts over the last decade and a half, starting with Monroeville. Your not wrong Hank. The population of boys entering the sport has continued to dwindle, while the rise of women’s wrestling has stepped in, in a big way. I’m also curious how many high caliber collegiate guys go on to coach at the high school level. I honestly don’t think people really want to coach anymore. Too much BS with parents. I’ve sat in interviews for several school districts on hiring committees for coaches. You are lucky if you get one or two descent candidates. People just don’t want to commit to the grind anymore, in my opinion.
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Discussion Topic: Ohio Preps in D1
Nick Lecklider added to this discussion on November 6, 2025
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I think it has to do with a variety of reasons. I think eds and graham are not the powerhouses they used to be. Kids aren't moving across country to come to these programs anymore.
Also kids are just getting better and a lot of other states are catching up. I think the opportunity in Ohio are as good as ever to train. Columbus alone has Palmer, Miron, persuit, beast mode, crazy goats. It’s just these high schoolers are better than they ever have been. Kids 20 years ago in high school were not making world teams and winning college opens. Opportunity to train are just more spread throughout the country.
Ohio still ranks towards the top in d1 all Americans and actually had more NCAA finalists last year than mighty Pennsylvania. Ohio state is just doing a bad job of keeping some of the kids home. They didn’t go after Joey blaze until it was too late and probably cost Marcus Blaze. Lucas Byrd was the number one kid in the nation and let Maryland and then Illinois sweep in. Jaxon joy just beat stiles pretty badly. Rylan seacrist is another number one ranked kid who will be a career 125 probably, that I think will be good at the next level.
Ohio state built its good teams on guys in state like Jordan’s, Tomasello, and steibers. For Ohio state to get to that level again they are going to need a good crop from Ohio once again.
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Discussion Topic: Ohio Preps in D1
Mark Niemann added to this discussion on November 6, 2025
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Quote from Jim Kessen's post:
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"
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Quote from Mark Niemann's post:
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"Not many know this but Cleveland has lost 300,000 residents - possible more now - over a ten or 15 year time period."
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During that same period how many has Columbus gained?"
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It seems that we've gained quite a bit of that - and it has all moved to the Olentangy/Powell area. HA!
But, seriously, there is a large influx to the northern part of the city. Olentangy HS was a D-II program as recent as 2010 before moving to D-I and adding three additional schools in the district (Liberty, Orange, and Berlin). NEWSFLASH - they have the site for the fifth school; just need the voters to approve the project.
One of the major differences I've noticed across the state is that Central Ohio schools split rather than expand. Aside from Westchester Lakota (East & West), no other schools split like we do that I know of.
Worthington = Thomas & Kilbourne (late 80s/early 90s split)
Olentangy = Olentangy, Liberty, Orange, & Berlin (with a fifth on the way)
Dublin = Coffman, Scioto, & Jerome (I do believe a fourth is coming) (Scioto was built in the mid-90s with Jerome coming in the early 2000s.)
Westerville = North, South, & Central (Original split was in the 80s with Central arriving in the early 2000s)
Hillard = Davidson, Darby, & Bradley (Darby was built in the mid-to-late 90s, with Bradley coming in the 2000s.)
Pleasant View HS (1972) = Grove City & Westland, with Franklin Heights in the mix. Central Crossing was later added (maybe 2002?).
Pickerington = North & Central (named that way with the obvious looming expansion & expectation of South) - PN came in the early 2000s.
Most schools across the state just expand. We have one in the district that has opted for this style in Gahanna Lincoln. It is enormous.
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Discussion Topic: Ohio Preps in D1
Brian Mathews added to this discussion on November 6, 2025
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High school wrestling participation in Ohio dipped between 2011 (12,983 athletes) and 2019 (10,313 athletes). Post-COVID it's actually rebounded, with 12,945 athletes this past year. Not sure what to do with that information, other than to say it doesn't appear to be a numbers issue.
I'm far removed from the high school wrestling game at this point, and don't even live in Ohio anymore, but it rings true to me that wrestling has always been a sport where small pockets of excellence create a preponderance of the truly elite competitors.
Be that in Cuyahoga County, St. Paris, Iowa City, Lehigh Valley, Blairstown, or Dagestan.
Elite high school programs used to set the gold standard for development. With them, schools like Graham and St. Ed's lifted the level in their entire regional footprint.
The shift to a landscape dominated by clubs and non-school affiliated programs like RTCs over the past decade and a half has seen other states catch up or pass Ohio at the same time the legends that built Ohio's greatest dynasties were exiting the sport.
Maybe I'm off the mark, but that's my 10,000 foot read on the situation.
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