NCAA Prospect Rankings

Aaron Brooks Shoots To The Top Of 174

Cadet world champ Aaron Brooks is our No. 1 rated prospect at 174 pounds. Brooks is the most highly coveted recruit at any weight yet to commit, and with him training at the OTC after he graduates high school, we might not know his college destination for over a year.

Brooks opponent in this year's Fargo finals is Trent Hidlay of Pennsylvania. He also has not yet verballed anywhere, but the FloNationals champ and Who's #1 winner has some options available to him.

Both are elite athletes who have a few specific skills that translate to the next level. Hidlay finds ways to win by covering a ton of ground and dominating the mat, primarily through his low level burst into an underhook. Brooks makes mid match adjustments better than almost any high schooler I've ever seen, and has a ceiling similar to that of David Carr.

The third and fourth prospects are also still available. Alex Facundo, a freshman from Davison high school in Michigan, the same school that produced Brent Metcalf, Jon Reader and Paul Donahoe, is only 145lbs right now. But we love his upside and growth trajectory, to the point that Willie picked him to win Super 32 this weekend. Carter Starocci has made huge gains over the past year, and even over the summer. Now that he has some weight to him, the instincts he shows to be creative in his shot defense and re-attack are only more powerful.

Julian Ramirez recently committed to Cornell, and along with his Blair teammate Andrew Merola, should have the 165/174 areas held down for the next several years for the Big Red. Paddy Gallagher, another freshman, has split with Facundo and will likely be battling him for years for position in the weight class, pound-for-pound and big board rankings.

Griffith's growth has slowed down a bit, but guys at schools like Stanford tend to go up weight in college. Dow causes problems for everyone he wrestles. He's tall, he can throw, and he comes from a wrestling family.

Janzer hasn't competed much outside of New Jersey, so it makes sense that he's staying in state for college and heading to Rutgers. DJ Shannon has among the cleanest leg attacks of any wrestler at this weight.