Jack Jessen has given a verbal commitment to stay in-state and wrestle for Northwestern University. The junior from Villa Park, Illinois is ranked No. 7 at 170 pounds and projects as a 165 or 174 for the Wildcats.

Jessen was second at 170 pounds as a freshman and third at 182 last season for Willowbrook High School. He placed fourth in both styles as a junior 170 in Fargo, and was second to Travis Wittlake in Akron at UWW Cadet Nationals.

Northwestern continues to reel in talented upperweight recruits. In the class of 2017, they recently signed projected 174 Tyler Morland, but their primary stars are from the class of 2018. Among the current crop of juniors, they've received verbals from No. 3 Ryan Karoly, No. 1 Michael Beard and No. 7 Anthony Cassioppi.

It appears head coach Matt Storniolo is building his team from the top down. Storniolo is in his first full season as head coach of the Wildcats, and has also added Andrew Howe and Cody Brewer to his staff, with Conor Beebe staying on from the previous few years.

Jessen is ranked 30th on the junior big board, behind only Karoly and Wittlake amongst junior 170 pounders. He is the fourth highest ranked junior from Illinois.