We got another HUGE COMMITMENT on Friday night when 2023 Max McEnelly of Waconia verballed to MN!!!!!!!!! McEnelly is a 2x MN state champ, and should be a 4 timer by the time he's finished in 2023!! He's also a major Freestyle Stud as he won the U16 title at Fargo this year!!
McEnelly is ranked in the 40's by Flowrestling, but that ranking is from before the Fargo tournament, and MatScout (Willie Saylor) has him at #24!! Even at #24, this may be a ways low as he's really still improving a lot. I think he's probably about #10-#15, and he may be in the top Ten by the time he graduates!!
We already had the top ranked recruiting class for 2023 with overall #1 Cody Chittum (Blair Academy - 145#s), and #4 Gavin Nelson (Simley - 197#s), so now this really gives us a huge new group of super-elite wrestlers!!!
And since we have 2021 Tagen Jamison (TX - 138#s, winner of Junior Folkstyle Nationals this past summer) who is now taking a grey shirt (year off before he starts), so he's coming in with the 2022 class. That means that we will have another huge shot in the arm when he starts along with #8/#13 Troy Spratley (OK - 125/133) and #41 Hunter Lyden (Stillwater, MN - 170#s)!!! Honestly all of these guys will likely be multi-year AA's and many of them are good enough to be Natty Champs!!!
Along with some of the young guys we have already starting (Sparks and Salazar), and some likely elite 2021's that should be very good (VomBaur and Nagao), we really should have a vastly improved lineup over the next few years!!!
We are also in the top 5 of another elite 2023 #7 ranked Braden Davis (MI - 125#s), who visited two weekends ago. Here is Davis in his visit photo with other Gopher wrestlers (he's standing to the left of Gable):
I think we've got a really good shot at getting Davis, he said he had a wonderful time on his Official Visit!! Also, I followed him on Twitter a couple days ago and seeing that I was a strong Gopher Wrestling supporter, he immediately followed me back. I think this is a good sign that we're definitely in the mix!!!
I know it's taken a long time for Eggum and Becker to raise their recruiting level, and they weren't able to do it earlier to benefit from the huge Gable commit. But it seems that it's ramped up lately (finally), and now with the 2022 and 2023 classes being elite, we may have a good chance to be back near or AT THE TOP in 2024 or 2025!!!
It's still a ways off, and a lot of good things have to happen between now and then. But for right now, a lot of our near term future LOOKS VERY GOOD!!!
Here's the article on Max McEnelly's commitment from The Guillotine:
The Guillotine
November 19, 2021
Max McEnelly of Waconia has committed to wrestling for the University of Minnesota in 2023. McEnelly is a three-time state qualifier and a two-time state champion. He won the Class AA 182-pound title in 2021 as a sophomore and the 170-pound title in 2020 as a freshman. He was a state entrant at 120 pounds as an eighth-grader.
McEnelly was a USA Wrestling 16U freestyle national champion in Fargo this past summer. He is No. 2 on The Guillotine’s latest Pound-For-Pound Class of 2023 Rankings. McEnelly is projected to wrestle at 184 or 197 pounds for the Golden Gophers.
The Guillotine Wrestler Files
Max McEnelly, Waconia, 2023
2021 USA Wrestling Nationals FS 16U 195 1st
2021 Northern Plains Regional FS 16U 195 1st
2021 MN/USA Wrestling State FS Cadet 195 1st
2021 MSHSL State Tournament 3A 10th 182 1st 37-0
2020 MSHSL State Tournament 3A 9th 170 1st 54-1
2019 Rumble on the Red 3A 9th 170 1st
2019 Minnesota Christmas Tournament 3A 9th 170 2nd
2018 Rumble on the Red 2A 8th 132 7th
2018 MSHSL State Tournament 2A 7th 120 DNP 31-16
McEnelly is ranked in the 40's by Flowrestling, but that ranking is from before the Fargo tournament, and MatScout (Willie Saylor) has him at #24!! Even at #24, this may be a ways low as he's really still improving a lot. I think he's probably about #10-#15, and he may be in the top Ten by the time he graduates!!
We already had the top ranked recruiting class for 2023 with overall #1 Cody Chittum (Blair Academy - 145#s), and #4 Gavin Nelson (Simley - 197#s), so now this really gives us a huge new group of super-elite wrestlers!!!
And since we have 2021 Tagen Jamison (TX - 138#s, winner of Junior Folkstyle Nationals this past summer) who is now taking a grey shirt (year off before he starts), so he's coming in with the 2022 class. That means that we will have another huge shot in the arm when he starts along with #8/#13 Troy Spratley (OK - 125/133) and #41 Hunter Lyden (Stillwater, MN - 170#s)!!! Honestly all of these guys will likely be multi-year AA's and many of them are good enough to be Natty Champs!!!
Along with some of the young guys we have already starting (Sparks and Salazar), and some likely elite 2021's that should be very good (VomBaur and Nagao), we really should have a vastly improved lineup over the next few years!!!
We are also in the top 5 of another elite 2023 #7 ranked Braden Davis (MI - 125#s), who visited two weekends ago. Here is Davis in his visit photo with other Gopher wrestlers (he's standing to the left of Gable):
I think we've got a really good shot at getting Davis, he said he had a wonderful time on his Official Visit!! Also, I followed him on Twitter a couple days ago and seeing that I was a strong Gopher Wrestling supporter, he immediately followed me back. I think this is a good sign that we're definitely in the mix!!!
I know it's taken a long time for Eggum and Becker to raise their recruiting level, and they weren't able to do it earlier to benefit from the huge Gable commit. But it seems that it's ramped up lately (finally), and now with the 2022 and 2023 classes being elite, we may have a good chance to be back near or AT THE TOP in 2024 or 2025!!!
It's still a ways off, and a lot of good things have to happen between now and then. But for right now, a lot of our near term future LOOKS VERY GOOD!!!
Here's the article on Max McEnelly's commitment from The Guillotine:
College Recruiting: two-time state champion McEnelly to University of Minnesota
The Guillotine
November 19, 2021
Max McEnelly of Waconia has committed to wrestling for the University of Minnesota in 2023. McEnelly is a three-time state qualifier and a two-time state champion. He won the Class AA 182-pound title in 2021 as a sophomore and the 170-pound title in 2020 as a freshman. He was a state entrant at 120 pounds as an eighth-grader.
McEnelly was a USA Wrestling 16U freestyle national champion in Fargo this past summer. He is No. 2 on The Guillotine’s latest Pound-For-Pound Class of 2023 Rankings. McEnelly is projected to wrestle at 184 or 197 pounds for the Golden Gophers.
The Guillotine Wrestler Files
Max McEnelly, Waconia, 2023
2021 USA Wrestling Nationals FS 16U 195 1st
2021 Northern Plains Regional FS 16U 195 1st
2021 MN/USA Wrestling State FS Cadet 195 1st
2021 MSHSL State Tournament 3A 10th 182 1st 37-0
2020 MSHSL State Tournament 3A 9th 170 1st 54-1
2019 Rumble on the Red 3A 9th 170 1st
2019 Minnesota Christmas Tournament 3A 9th 170 2nd
2018 Rumble on the Red 2A 8th 132 7th
2018 MSHSL State Tournament 2A 7th 120 DNP 31-16
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