NC State wrestling nabs top-5 recruit

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NC State wrestling announced a 10-man recruiting class after the fall signing period that was among the best in the country. W.I.N. Magazine ranked it second nationally in their early-season recruiting rankings at the time, but now the Wolfpack can make a case for the No. 1 spot.

On Tuesday morning, the nation’s No. 1 182-pounder and the No. 4 prep grappler in FloWrestling.org’s pound-for-pound rankings, Nick Reenan, picked the Pack on FloWrestling Radio Live. He chose NCSU over Missouri, Virginia Tech and Pennsylvania.

Reenan becomes the top-ranked recruit in the class for NCSU, which won its first ACC Championship since 2007 this past season and placed 11th at the NCAA Championships in head coach Pat Popolizio’s fourth year in Raleigh. Only two starters were in their final year of eligibility, and the incoming class obviously brings in a ton of talent.

"No disrespect to anybody on the NC State roster, but Popolizio and [assistant coach Frank] Beasley have been doing a lot with kind of a little," FloWrestling Radio Live co-host Willie Saylor said on the show after the announcement. "Now they're getting this grade-A talent in there, who knows what they can do."

The product of prep powerhouse Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania was originally headed to Northwestern, but Reenan received his release after a coaching change. He bounced between 182 and 195 pounds as a senior (despite walking around in the 170s), losing only to the nation's No. 1 195-pounder, Chase Singletary of Blair, another prep power-house.

Reenan said on the radio show that he thinks he's best at 165 pounds next year, but he will wrestle at whatever weight the coaches need him, joking he would even compete at heavyweight.

In addition to a successful high school career that included a National Prep Championship, two runner-up finishes at the tournament and a state title from his freshman year in his native Texas, Reenan has been on a Cadet World Team and won gold at the Junior Pan Am Championships in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Reenan gives the Pack two of the top six grapplers in the senior class, according to FloWrestling, and five in the top 66. On Monday, NCSU also received a pledge from Georgia state champion and 120-pound Senior National champion Codi Russell. Russell joins Tommy Cox and Daniel Bullard (who had previously won Sophomore and Junior Nationals) as Wolfpackers who won titles at Senior Nationals.

According to IntermatWrestle.com, NC State has nabbed five top-100 seniors — which is more than any other team in the country. Only three programs secured a trio of top-20 seniors — Penn State, NC State and Lehigh. Seven of the Pack's 12 newcomers are ranked in the top 20 at their weight class by the web site.

Update: Reenan and Russell have officially signed with NC State.

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