Carson Kharchla Makes College Decision

Carson Kharchla Makes College Decision

Carson Kharchla, the nation's top available prospect, has made his college decision.

Oct 19, 2018 by Willie Saylor
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Carson Kharchla, the nation's top available prospect, has made his college decision.

You'd be hard press to find a talent that had seen his stock skyrocket so much, so fast, between his junior and senior seasons as was the case with Carson Kharchla.

A product of Ohio, Kharchla was known as a raw talent that was sure to bloom sooner or later, and that time came this summer when Kharchla won what was considered the most talent-laden weight class in Fargo. In addition to Kharchla, who was #6 at the time, seven other Top 20 wrestlers were in the field including then-#1 Dustin Plott (OK), #3-Carter Starocci (PA), and last year's #1-Travis Wittlake (OR).

Competing very little throughout his junior high and high school years, Fargo was just Kharchla's second major freestyle tournament ever. But he dominated, teching Plott and #7-Parker Keckeisen (WI) and beating Wittlake, 7-4. 

His stock soared before he was even able to leave the Dome. But according to Kharchla, the schools he considered before Fargo, where the same he considered after.

"I really liked all of the schools that I took official visits to and it was hard to turn them all down," Kharchla told us. "I had built relationships with people. All of the coaches are great coaches, but even better people."

Virginia, Ohio State, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, and Minnesota were all vying for what was now the hottest recruit on the market.

He took his school visits, some before and some after he beat Julian Ramirez (FL) to claim the undisputed #1 spot in the country at 170lbs. Purportedly, there was a late visit by Cael Sanderson and a pitch to come to Penn State, the home to seven of the last eight NCAA team titles.

Watch Kharchla take out Ramirez at WNO:

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In the end though, Carson will be staying home. Kharchla will move just 27 miles from his home in Powell, OH to be part of the perennial powerhouse Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus. 

"The reason that I chose Ohio state was because it felt the best to me," he said. "Fit, program, coaches, school.  And everyone was telling me to just listen to my heart and when you know you know. And that’s pretty much what happened. I took all my visits, and at the end of it all I knew where I wanted to go."

It's a coup for Coach Tom Ryan and the Buckeyes who have finished top 10 in the country nine of the last ten years. Additionally, it bolsters their recruiting class where they've been equally prolific. The only time (2009) in the last decade in which they didn't have a top 10 recruiting class, they were #11.

Kharchla joins Jacob (125) and Jordan (133) Decatur, Dylan D'Emilio (141), Tyler Stein (285), and Greg Kerkvliet (285) as Buckeye commits for the Class of 2019.