Iowa wrestling lands two of the nation’s top recruits
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa wrestling team hasn’t defeated Penn State on the mat or in recruiting much lately.
But that changed in a big way on Wednesday, at least from a recruiting standpoint, when Iowa received verbal commitments from two of the nation’s top high school wrestlers, both of whom live in Pennsylvania.
Two-time World champion Spencer Lee and undefeated two-time Pennsylvania state champion Gavin Teasdale simultaneously announced their plans to wrestle at Iowa on Wednesday.
Lee is described as one of the most coveted wrestling recruits in decades. The consensus pound-for-pound No. 1 wrestler nationally in the 2017 class captured freestyle world titles the past two summers at the Cadet and Junior levels and is undefeated in three high school seasons for Pennsylvania power Franklin Regional High School.
Lee, who projects as a 125-pounder in college, picked Iowa over defending national champion Penn State.
Lee is the first consensus No. 1 overall recruit to commit to Iowa since Mark Perry in 2003 and the most celebrated wrestler to pledge to the Hawkeyes during the Tom Brands coaching era, according to HawkCentral.com.
Teasdale, who projects at 133 pounds in college, is also building quite a reputation on the mat. The sophomore from Jefferson-Morgan High School is rated by Flowrestling and InterMat as the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2018 class.