Huskers Secure No. 2 Recruiting Class in WIN Rankings

LINCOLN -- Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine (WIN) released its 2019-20 recruiting rankings on Wednesday morning and Nebraska's incoming class was ranked No. 2 nationally, trailing only that of Oklahoma State.

"The recruiting class assembled by coach Mark Manning helped Nebraska close the gap with [Oklahoma State] by completing banner senior seasons" the WIN news release reads. "Nebraska made it a photo finish at the end. Whether you lean toward No. 1 or No. 2, the Huskers head into the off-season with huge momentum after finishing second in the Big Ten Championships, the last collegiate competition of the past season." 

Nebraska's class is comprised of four-time state champions Jeremiah Reno (125) of Missouri and Dominick Serrano (141) of Colorado (both of whom earned WIN's Wrestler of the Year honors in their respective states); two-time state champion Silas Allred (197) of Indiana (also a WIN Wrestler of the Year honoree in his home state); and Nathan Haas (184), whose senior season culminated in him winning his second California state title. Reno, Serrano and Allred all completed undefeated senior seasons before becoming Huskers. 

The WIN recruiting rankings are "based primarily on two factors: the number of recruits outstanding enough to lead a serious bid for NCAA or All-American honors, and the class's overall performance during their senior high school seasons. Going back to the horse race between Oklahoma State and Nebraska, for example, both schools score well using both metrics, but Oklahoma State's strength is more heavily weighted toward the first, Nebraska's more heavily toward the second."

The Huskers enter the 2020-21 season coming off of their best conference tournament finish as a member of the Big Ten and after qualifying all 10 starters for the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.