A junior at Blair Academy, William Henckel is the #12 overall recruit in the class of 2025. A Fargo champ and Ironman finalist, Henckel will be taking on Joe Sealey at Who’s Number One on September 2nd. We recently spoke to Rath to get an inside look at his recruitment process.

What do you remember about June 15th, the first day you could be contacted by college coaches?

I stayed up until midnight to get the experience because it's only going to happen once. My first call was Cornell with (Kellen) Russell. But the day started off really early. I was on a call with Roger Reina at 7 o clock in the morning. Then it was calls from 7 in the morning until 7 at night. I think I had around 30 calls on the first day. It was a lot. I was getting calls while I was already on the phone with another coach, so I would have to call them back. I was playing phone tag. It was definitely an interesting experience.

Did anything surprise you about that day?

Not really. The biggest surprise was having a few Big Ten schools call. A lot of my friends and teammates are older than me, so they’ve been through the process. Part of the preparation and why I wasn’t so overwhelmed by it was because I had talked to people who had already been through it. Even know, I’m still gaining knowledge about home visits and how to narrow down my list and things like that.

What have you learned over the past two months of this recruiting process?

I learned that you can connect with certain people with just a call. You see who you attract and who you don’t. Another thing I learned is that organization of everything is huge. I have a notebook with everything written down - what schools called me, who from that school called, etc. 

What are the biggest factors for you when thinking about your college decision?

Culture is the biggest factor for me. Wrestling is obviously a huge part of my life and my dream is to win the Olympics. That’s what it’s always been. It’s been on my door since five years old. So, I think being around people that want the same things as me and have the same mentality as me is super important.

Do you have a top school list yet?

No, I’m open to anything right now. It’s a little too early to really decide. Especially with the home visits. I did have a top twelve leading into August and the home visits, but I kind of learned that it changes after listening to a lot of coaches and hearing their pitches. 

With the new NCAA rule of unlimited official visits, how many do you think you’ll take?

I’m not putting a number on it, but I don’t think I’m going to go crazy with it. After all the home visits you can narrow it down to eight or nine schools. But I think I’m only going to go on three or four official visits in the fall and then maybe a few in the spring depending on what my wrestling schedule looks like and where I am academically.

Do you have a timeline of when you would like to make your decision?

Not really. I think I’m going to shoot for next spring, but I don’t have an exact date in my head. Just have to make sure I make the right choice and am going to be comfortable where I go. 

Has NIL come up in your talks with coaches and how is it playing a factor in your decision?

It’s definitely come up a few times. I don’t think it’s going to play a huge factor in my decision. When I think about my college decision, it’s not about how much money they're giving me. I think it’s how I’m going to benefit from that school and really who’s going to make me the best wrestler possible?

What’s next for you training and competition wise?

Right now I’m training with Buxton down in Jersey and following him around to either the NJRTC or his club in Randolph. Right now I’m training for Who’s Number One. It’s the closest thing for me. When Buxton was at Blair, he didn’t really go to Super 32. I kind of bought into that, so after that, it’s preparing for Ironman.