I don’t have cress, but someone on social media said Reynolds was the #21 overall 2027 recruit on the Matscouts big board?
Flo has him #46 overall
Flo has him #46 overall
Wrestling 2026-2027
- Thread starter 81Heel/M1
- Start date
Great pickup! We don’t get many top 40 (or so) overall recruits. We seem to be recruiting both HS and transfers well.
Good point about the lack of top 40 recruits. Flo does a “Big Board” by class of the top 100 recruits. On June 10, 2026 they updated the 2026 class ranking likely for the final time. It included Jipp sneaking into the top 40 at 39. Others in our class on this list include Kelly at 52, Nafshi at 54, Alvarez at 64, and Sibomana at 97. A total of 5 top 100 recruits from this class, and significant additions to our room at 125 and 174 - heavyweight.
For the 2027 class Big Board rankings on July 1, 2026 Reynolds was ranked 32, and Moylan was 51. Both of these guys finished 2nd in the Fargo tournament, and could possibly get a little bump for the next iteration of this list. Also in Flo’s top 100 for the 2027 class Big Board are Brandon Bickerton at 78, Austin Bickerton at 86, Meyers at 94, and Swanger at 97. With Reynolds commitment we have 6 top 100 recruits from the current top 100 list.
While we have no commitments from the 2028 class, I believe Nick O’Neill’s younger brother is currently ranked #12 on Flo’s Big Board for that class. He finished 5th at Fargo wrestling at 150 pounds. Note that Iowa has 2 top 10 recruits on this list, but the other 98 are as yet uncommitted. With 2 years of high school left, there will likely be a lot of movement up and down for the wrestlers in this class. Hopefully we will start getting quality commitments from this class soon, and I would love to get the younger O’Neill (guessing that this is Nick’s younger brother based on same last name and same high school).
There is speculation that Meyer Shapiro, the potential transfer from Cornell, has eliminated Carolina from consideration. Some are speculating that with the 5 for 5 rule change he may be able to stay at Cornell, as it would no longer be considered a redshirt year. On the Intermat forum they seem to believe he either goes back to Cornell or lands at Nebraska. I mention this because there may be a connection between the end of our pursuit of Shapiro and the commitment from Reynolds. I have no inside information on these events, and I am only speculating based on timing of the commitment and the speculation on the forum that we are no longer being considered by Shapiro. Regardless of how this might have come about, it is great to have a top 40 recruit from the 2027 class.
For the 2027 class Big Board rankings on July 1, 2026 Reynolds was ranked 32, and Moylan was 51. Both of these guys finished 2nd in the Fargo tournament, and could possibly get a little bump for the next iteration of this list. Also in Flo’s top 100 for the 2027 class Big Board are Brandon Bickerton at 78, Austin Bickerton at 86, Meyers at 94, and Swanger at 97. With Reynolds commitment we have 6 top 100 recruits from the current top 100 list.
While we have no commitments from the 2028 class, I believe Nick O’Neill’s younger brother is currently ranked #12 on Flo’s Big Board for that class. He finished 5th at Fargo wrestling at 150 pounds. Note that Iowa has 2 top 10 recruits on this list, but the other 98 are as yet uncommitted. With 2 years of high school left, there will likely be a lot of movement up and down for the wrestlers in this class. Hopefully we will start getting quality commitments from this class soon, and I would love to get the younger O’Neill (guessing that this is Nick’s younger brother based on same last name and same high school).
There is speculation that Meyer Shapiro, the potential transfer from Cornell, has eliminated Carolina from consideration. Some are speculating that with the 5 for 5 rule change he may be able to stay at Cornell, as it would no longer be considered a redshirt year. On the Intermat forum they seem to believe he either goes back to Cornell or lands at Nebraska. I mention this because there may be a connection between the end of our pursuit of Shapiro and the commitment from Reynolds. I have no inside information on these events, and I am only speculating based on timing of the commitment and the speculation on the forum that we are no longer being considered by Shapiro. Regardless of how this might have come about, it is great to have a top 40 recruit from the 2027 class.
Glad to see, it doesn't matter what else you do, if you don't bring in top level wrestlers you can only be so good
Willie Saylor from Matscouts / Intermat (you know, "the biggest brain in wrestling"), called this a huge pickup for UNC. And that Reynolds was the best class of 2027 guy still available "by far".
Clarke also got so close to having Lee in a diabolical body lock on his back in the first 15 seconds of that match. I have so much respect for Clarke and how he came out hunting the Penn State phenom in that national championship. That was a fun one.
Not a surprise, and we probably could not have taken him as a transfer and Reynolds as a recruit. Shapiro sounds like he is planning to redshirt in 2026-2027 season. I’m guessing we might have been able to exclude him from the roster count this year as a planned redshirt, and then added him in on the fall 2027 roster. As it is we just add Reynolds then. Sounds like we may have finished in 2nd place ahead of state, but the only moral victory here is getting a top notch recruit to fill this spot.
So it seems our roster is set for the coming season, with likely a better team than last year if everyone gets healthy and we don’t have many injuries to key wrestlers. I could see us flirting with a top 10 dual meet ranking, and a top 25 tournament ranking if things fall into place.
So it seems our roster is set for the coming season, with likely a better team than last year if everyone gets healthy and we don’t have many injuries to key wrestlers. I could see us flirting with a top 10 dual meet ranking, and a top 25 tournament ranking if things fall into place.
I agree that him signing with us might have dissuaded Reynolds from signing as well. And with that said I think I would rather have Reynolds, he is obviously still unproven, but with all the national level competition high level recruits are more like to hit and less likely to end up being busts than in the past. And if he does work out as a top level wrestler we will have him for a longer time
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Goheels article outlines the home matches this season. There are 6 matches listed, including 1 at Chapel Hill High School against App St. The first home match is versus Northern Iowa in November. There are 3 home acc matches, Virginia, state, and VaTech. The last home match is Presbyterian in February. They have already announced our participation in the National Duals, and a separate match against South Dakota State.
The first action will be the blue/white match on November 6. The full schedule will come out later, but this is a teaser for the season matches.
goheels.com
The first action will be the blue/white match on November 6. The full schedule will come out later, but this is a teaser for the season matches.
Wrestling Releases 2026-27 Home Schedule - University of North Carolina Athletics
The home slate, which features six matchups inside Carmichael Arena, one neutral-site clash at nearby Chapel Hill High School and the Blue and White Showcase...
Anyone know why the App State match is happening at Chapel Hill High School? Is it due to the timing of when the match is occurring (Dec 20) and Carmichael being available then?Goheels article outlines the home matches this season. There are 6 matches listed, including 1 at Chapel Hill High School against App St. The first home match is versus Northern Iowa in November. There are 3 home acc matches, Virginia, state, and VaTech. The last home match is Presbyterian in February. They have already announced our participation in the National Duals, and a separate match against South Dakota State.
The first action will be the blue/white match on November 6. The full schedule will come out later, but this is a teaser for the season matches.
Wrestling Releases 2026-27 Home Schedule - University of North Carolina Athletics
The home slate, which features six matchups inside Carmichael Arena, one neutral-site clash at nearby Chapel Hill High School and the Blue and White Showcase...
At the Central American and Caribbean Games Chris Foca won gold and Shannon Hanna won silver. Not as big an accomplishment as winning in Europe, but a good day for these 2 from the THWC.
“So Rob Koll (threw) a hard bargain at me,” Shapiro admitted when discussing the delay to commit to Nebraska. “Rob’s awesome. Rob is the man, and just he knows he knows how to swoon. He knows how to talk, you know and thought I was set on Nebraska, and then I go down to UNC, and I was like, ‘Dang, it’s beautiful down here. The colors are cool, and there’s just a lot. You guys have a lot to offer.’ And it really delayed my my process because I was pretty set on going to Nebraska, and then they just did a really good job recruiting me at UNC ..."
Great find Ben. I had seen Discussion on Intermat that we finished second in Shapiro’s transfer sweepstakes. That is twice in 6 or 8 months we finished second, after loosing out to Rutgers on Anthony Knox at 125. Knox had some legal issues, though not on the same level as Ferrari, and we eventually picked up McCrone from tOSU for next year at 125. McCrone will likely be better short term, but only has 1 more year, I believe. Knox would have more eligibility, but probably not as good as McCrone next year.
Missing out on Shapiro stung, but he was planning to redshirt for the 2026-27 year while he was recovering from injury. We also picked up Reynolds about the time we lost out on Shapiro, and he will likely be our top recruit in the 2027 class, based on current rankings of high school wrestlers.
It sounds like Koll is doing a good job selling what we have to offer. In the 2 situations above, we were at a significant funding disadvantage. Both Nebraska (#5) and Rutgers (#6) are spending more than $1m more than UNC (#16 at $2.02M)is spending on wrestling. This based on the article posted on page 1 of this thread.
Note Greg Barnes pointed out that the UNC Chancellor, Lee Roberts has said that more football and basketball money needs to stay with those sports, so the University will have to help support the other 26 sports that are important for the University. Another funding source may come from the ncaa now allowing a couple of sponsor patches on team uniforms during regular season events. Ohio State may have been the first to sign this kind of deal to advertise on team uniform.
A couple of other notes on wrestlers at UNC. Omaury Alvarez apparently spent time at IMG this summer, helping one of our former wrestling assistant coaches develop his program there. Also, on very early IC reporting for the football team, they had Christian Alvarez running with the third team OL at the first few minutes of the first practice. A little surprising as he is a true freshman who was not there for spring practice. His wrestling background may help him advance quickly in football, but I am excited to see what he can do when he joins the wrestling team after football.
Missing out on Shapiro stung, but he was planning to redshirt for the 2026-27 year while he was recovering from injury. We also picked up Reynolds about the time we lost out on Shapiro, and he will likely be our top recruit in the 2027 class, based on current rankings of high school wrestlers.
It sounds like Koll is doing a good job selling what we have to offer. In the 2 situations above, we were at a significant funding disadvantage. Both Nebraska (#5) and Rutgers (#6) are spending more than $1m more than UNC (#16 at $2.02M)is spending on wrestling. This based on the article posted on page 1 of this thread.
Note Greg Barnes pointed out that the UNC Chancellor, Lee Roberts has said that more football and basketball money needs to stay with those sports, so the University will have to help support the other 26 sports that are important for the University. Another funding source may come from the ncaa now allowing a couple of sponsor patches on team uniforms during regular season events. Ohio State may have been the first to sign this kind of deal to advertise on team uniform.
A couple of other notes on wrestlers at UNC. Omaury Alvarez apparently spent time at IMG this summer, helping one of our former wrestling assistant coaches develop his program there. Also, on very early IC reporting for the football team, they had Christian Alvarez running with the third team OL at the first few minutes of the first practice. A little surprising as he is a true freshman who was not there for spring practice. His wrestling background may help him advance quickly in football, but I am excited to see what he can do when he joins the wrestling team after football.
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All good stuff 81, and hat tip to Ben as well for that tidbit. It is definitely heartening to see that feedback from a top recruit / transfer, even if we were the bridesmaid on that particular recruitment. I'm confident that Koll is going to continue to elevate this program, and it's going to be fun to watch.
I do not think that was a good find. Basically the young men chose Nebraska and we came in second. We did not get his commitment and finishing second IMO is just sucks. He said a lot of nice things about UNC so my question to him is: If UNC made such a huge impression on you, then why did you not sign with us. That is the same thing to me when a athletic says UNC is my dream school and then they go elsewhere which is a bunch of bull IMO.
It would be easy to say it was just dollars, but you cannot discount the fact that Nebraska is ranked #5 in spending and there ncaa finish reflects that commitment. They have top 5 wrestlers at 149 and 157 (his weight), and a top 10 wrestler at 165. Great competition for his redshirt/recovery year this coming season, and Taylor will exhaust his eligibility at 157 this year. All of that sets him up well for a strong run in 2027-28.
We on the other hand have no one ranked high at 149, have a top 30ish 157 pounder, and a top 8 165 pounder. We are getting better, but we are not where Nebraska is yet.
For what it’s worth, using WS would give us a decent shot at having 2 wrestlers ranked between 5-10 in Hepner (165) and McCrone (125), 4 wrestlers (or weights) capable of finishing between 11-20 in Botello/Guanajauto (133), Simcox/O’Neill (141), Ogunsanya (174), and Hansen (184), and 3 wrestlers (or weights) where we are capable of qualifying for the ncaat and therefore ranked 21-33, in Root/Showalter (157), Platt (197), and Neves (285). Also, WS has us ranked as the #10 dual meet team, and the #20 tournament team, both show us taking another step forward this year.
We on the other hand have no one ranked high at 149, have a top 30ish 157 pounder, and a top 8 165 pounder. We are getting better, but we are not where Nebraska is yet.
For what it’s worth, using WS would give us a decent shot at having 2 wrestlers ranked between 5-10 in Hepner (165) and McCrone (125), 4 wrestlers (or weights) capable of finishing between 11-20 in Botello/Guanajauto (133), Simcox/O’Neill (141), Ogunsanya (174), and Hansen (184), and 3 wrestlers (or weights) where we are capable of qualifying for the ncaat and therefore ranked 21-33, in Root/Showalter (157), Platt (197), and Neves (285). Also, WS has us ranked as the #10 dual meet team, and the #20 tournament team, both show us taking another step forward this year.
I appreciate having some wrestling discussion in the summer, and with that in mind there is a traditionally strong program with some of the greatest wrestlers in college/U.S. wrestling history. For all the strengths of this University’s wrestling program, they may have had some of the most huge coaching fails. While there may be excellent and logical explanations for the decisions they made, or did not make, I believe a historical view will show they missed huge opportunities for their coaching tree.
If that is not a big enough hint, we have had a wrestler transfer to UNC from there in recent years. Any thoughts?
If that is not a big enough hint, we have had a wrestler transfer to UNC from there in recent years. Any thoughts?
first thing that comes to mind on wrestling coaching hire fails is Iowa State. They had Dan Gable as a wrestler and didn't hire him as a coach and had to watch as he established a dynasty at rival Iowa. Then they had Cael Sanderson as a wrestler and are watching what he is currently doing at Penn St
We have a winner. As hw07 noted, Iowa St. produced 2 of the greatest wrestlers in college history, and let them go on to become 2 of the greatest college wrestling coaches ever at other universities.
For anyone interested, the Iowa St. transfer to UNC was our last year 125 pounder, Terukina. My next clue was going to be to note that it wasn’t an issue of who they hired, but who they didn’t hire.
For anyone interested, the Iowa St. transfer to UNC was our last year 125 pounder, Terukina. My next clue was going to be to note that it wasn’t an issue of who they hired, but who they didn’t hire.
Lol I can’t believe I can possibly add value on the wrestling thread. ALLEGEDLY a huge part of why Iowa State cut women’s gymnastics was so that they had more money to put into men’s/women’s wrestling. So maybe they’ll make better hires with more money?
Thanks for stopping by CosmicHeel and for contributing. All contributions are appreciated. For what it is worth, Iowa St. reportedly spends $2.69 million on wrestling (I presume men’s wrestling only), ranking number 9 overall. That is $670,000 more than UNC, who comes in at $2.02M and 16th place for spending.
I should add that at one point the wrestling blue/white match was coordinated with the gymnastics preseason exhibition. There have been a few ties between wrestling and gymnastics at Carolina through the years.
I should add that at one point the wrestling blue/white match was coordinated with the gymnastics preseason exhibition. There have been a few ties between wrestling and gymnastics at Carolina through the years.
All I know is that if Iowa St. has a 3 or 4 or I guess now 5 time NCAA champ in the next 20 years, I want them hired as our coach
Subomana is wrestling at the world U20 tournament next week.
UNC Extends Wrestling Coach Rob Koll’s Contract - University of North Carolina Athletics
University of North Carolina wrestling coach Rob Koll , who enters his fourth season leading the Tar Heels in 2026-27, has agreed to terms on a three-year co...
Thanks @TommyAshley. Do you have any interest in questions from the board for a preseason interview with Coach Koll? It’s a little early, but not as early as we collected them last year. I know last year it didn’t take a lot of prompting to get him going, but I am sure this group would contribute a handful of questions to have in your back pocket.
In the InterMat transfer portal thread, there is a post looking at projected starters for each d1 school, noting that Oklahoma has produced the fewest projected d1 starters, with only 3, and Ohio State has produced 16 projected d1 starters. We, of course have 2 transfers from Ohio State that project to be starters in McCrone and Hepner. Carolina recruits account for 8 projected starters, including 4 projected to start at UNC (Botello/Guanajauto, Simcox, Askew, Root, and Platt), 2 at state (Hickey and Dailey), and 1 at Lehigh (Scott). Smaller schools and Ivy League schools tended to be more likely to not have transfers on their roster. In addition to the 2 tOSU transfers we project to start 2 transfers from Columbia (Ogunsanya and Neves), and Hansen from Cornell.
In another thread on the top ten freshmen at each weight likely to have an impact this year we had 3 wrestlers listed. Botello was the #7 at 133, Calcagno was #8 at 197, and Alvarez was #10 at heavyweight.
In another thread on the top ten freshmen at each weight likely to have an impact this year we had 3 wrestlers listed. Botello was the #7 at 133, Calcagno was #8 at 197, and Alvarez was #10 at heavyweight.
Facebook link to a video of the team gear.
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