Purdue Hopes to Find Luck with the 13th Best Recruiting Class

June 30, 2009

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue wrestling team and head coach Scott Hinkel received their second consecutive national recruiting ranking from D1CollegeWrestling.net, climbing six spots to No. 13 in the country. The Boilermakers are set to bring in nine athletes this fall, including seven in-state grapplers and four nationally-ranked recruits.

"We're excited about the future contributions of this group," said Hinkel. "We added a lot of talent at several weight classes and look to have a competitive and hard-working room this year. It's great to see this group and our staff receive the national recognition they deserve."

Three of the nine Boilermaker signees are ranked on InterMat's 2009 Top-100 Recruits, including early signee Camden Eppert. Hailing from Anderson Highland High School in Anderson, Ind., Eppert was tagged the No. 63 recruit in the country and seventh-ranked 119-pound wrestler overall. A two-time Indiana State High School champion, Eppert was named an Asics All-America honorable mention this year and posted All-America performances at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Accelerade Cadet Nationals in Fargo, N.D. Eppert is projected to wrestle at 125 or 133 pounds for the Boilermakers.

Kendrick Sanders was a three-time Florida State Champion at South Dade High School near Miami, Fla., and is the Boilermakers' highest-ranked recruit at 55th on InterMat's Top-100. The seventh-ranked 145-pound wrestler in the country, Sanders competed in the prestigious Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic in March as joined Eppert as an Asics All-America honorable mention. He also won the Junior Greco-Roman National Championship in Fargo, N.D., in 2008. Sanders will compete for the Boilermakers at 149 pounds this season.

Both Eppert and Sanders posted flawless records at last weekend's USAW Junior National Dual Championships as Eppert was 6-0 in freestyle wrestling for Indiana at 119 pounds, while Sanders was 8-0 in Greco-Roman wrestling for Florida at 152 and 160 pounds, leading Florida to a second-place team finish. Sanders also was 2-0 in freestyle, posting one win at 160 and one at 171.

An Indianapolis native from Lawrence North High School, Cashe Quiroga earned the No. 65 spot on the national recruiting list and was ranked 13th overall at 125 pounds by InterMat after taking third at the 2009 Indiana High School State Championships. He won the state championship as a junior at 119 pounds and was the state runner-up as a sophomore at 112 pounds. Quiroga also took second place at the 20th annual High School Senior Nationals Wrestling Championship this past April, and was 4-2 in freestyle at the USAW Junior National Dual Championships at 135 pounds last weekend.

Steven Sandefer completed his senior year at Mishawaka High School in Mishawaka, Ind., ranked 16th in the country at 140 pounds by InterMat after winning his second state title. The two-time state champion went 77-2 over his last two seasons, including a 44-1 mark as a senior, and is set to compete at 141 or 149 pounds for Purdue.

Early signee Adam Walls and Indiana natives Kyle Mosier, Alex White, Bryce Grimes and Will Mascaro round out the Boilermakers 2009 recruiting class. Walls was a four-time state place-winner at the Ohio State High School Championships, placing third this year at heavyweight for Beavercreek High School. He spent his first three high school seasons at St. Paris Graham High School taking second, fourth and sixth place at the state tournament. Mosier posted a third-place showing at 152 pounds for Yorktown High School at the Indiana State Championship. He went 45-1 his senior year and will compete at 165 for the Boilermakers.

White was the heavyweight state runner-up in 2009 at Mount Vernon High School. He qualified for the state finals as a junior, going 43-8, and was 53-2 in his senior campaign. A high school teammate of Quiroga, Grimes was the state runner-up at 171 pounds for Lawrence North. He finished with a 46-2 record his senior year and is scheduled to wrestle for the Boilermakers at 174 pounds. Mascaro was a two-time state placewinner for Carmel High School, taking seventh place as a junior at 130 pounds and third place as a senior at 135 pounds. He was 89-4 over his last two years, including a 46-1 record as a senior, and will wrestle for Purdue at 141 pounds. Mascaro joined his future teammates at the junior national duals last weekend, posting a 4-2 record at 140 pounds for the Indiana team.

The Boilermakers' No. 13 ranking is their highest in recent history and the sixth-highest by a Big Ten team this year. Minnesota earned the No. 1 spot in this year's recruiting rankings, while defending national champion Iowa was No. 5, Penn State was ranked eighth, and Ohio State and Michigan were just ahead of the Boilermakers at 11th and 12th. The University of Wisconsin was the only other Big Ten team ranked, slipping on to the list at No. 20.