Penn State Wrestling Still ‘Best Recruiting Class Ever’

Cael Sanderson has built one of the most dominant dynasties in all of college sports. Penn State wrestling has had an ironclad hold on college wrestling for the last 15 years, with no signs of slowing down. Some of the most talented wrestlers in NCAA history have come through Happy Valley during the Sanderson era, but FloWrestling media personality Christian Pyles claims that the Nittany Lions The 2014 recruiting class continues to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

In a recent post on XPyles explained why, even a decade later, he still considers Penn State’s 2014 class to be the gold standard for the greatest recruiting class of all time.

“I believe the bar for the best recruiting class ever was set for Penn State in 2014. Bo Nickal, Jason Nolf, Anthony Cassar, Nick Nevills and Shakur Rasheed,” Pyles wrote in part. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a class that featured not one, but two three-time NCAA champions/four-time finalists (Nolf and Nickal)… This group was part of a core for Penn State that also won four team titles.”

I believe the bar for the best recruiting class ever is set for Penn State in 2014.

Bo Nickal, Jason Nolf, Anthony Cassar, Nick Nevills and Shakur Rasheed.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a class that features not one, but TWO three-time NCAA champions/quadruple finalists (Nolf and… photo.twitter.com/x4t9wTk4lU

—Christian Pyles (@CPyles8) July 4, 2024

Was the 2014 Penn State wrestling team the best in NCAA history?

Cael Sanderson had arguably two of the best college wrestlers in the history of the sport in the 2014 recruiting class.

Bo Nickel And Jason Nolf were both three-time national champions and four-time NCAA finalists. Nickal finished his Nittany Lions career with 59 pins and 12 techs en route to a 120-3 record. Nolf went 133-4 with an insane 85.78% bonus percentage.

What probably makes 2014 the best recruiting class ever is the other wrestlers from the cycle.

Anthony Cassar went from a down-and-out wrestler from New Jersey to an NCAA champion, finishing with a 49-3 record and looking to defend his title before COVID canceled the 2020 NCAA Championships.

California heavyweight Nick Nevills also had a solid career for the Nittany Lions, finishing with an 80-18 record and being a two-time All-American in 2017 and 2018.

Shakur Rasheed followed a similar path. Rasheed went 71-21 in his career, was a three-time NCAA Qualifier and finished as an All-American in 2018.

In addition to their individual accolades, all five Nittany Lions were key contributors to Penn State’s four consecutive national team championships between 2016 and 2019.

How will the Nittany Lions’ 2024 recruiting class compare to the rest?

Ten years after the strong 2014 crop, Cael Sanderson continues to recruit at an extremely high level.

The 2024 recruiting class that will be hitting campus this fall semester is also loaded with talent. The class is the best in the country and features the No. 1 overall recruit in Luke Lilledahl, and a total of four wrestlers in the top seven of the pound-for-pound rankings for the 2024 cycle.

It will take a lot to beat the 2014 crop, considering how dominant Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf have been throughout their careers.

Penn State wrestling, however, has only seemed to get stronger in the last decade, so leave it to Cael Sanderson to assemble another class that has a chance to compete for the title of greatest of all time.

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