June 27, 2006

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Head coach Chuck Barbee and his staff, once again, attracted a top notch recruiting class to the U.S. Military Academy for this coming fall. Army wrestling's Class of 2010 was ranked 22nd nationally by W.I.N. Magazine.

The contingent features eight grapplers who won state titles in high school, as well as five wrestlers who attended and developed their skills at USMAPS last year. Four members of Army's 2006-07 recruiting class hail from the talent-rich state of Pennsylvania.

"This class will help give us a strong foundation over the next three to four years," said Barbee. "I challenge each one of our recruits to make their mark right away. We have a lot of unproven weight classes going into next season and a freshman could certainly break into the starting lineup."

Barbee, entering his seventh season at West Point, has authored some of the best recruiting classes in the storied history of the the Black Knights' program. This year's class certainly maintains that higher standard of excellence to which Barbee and his coaching staff expect Army wrestlers to achieve.

The rankings, which came out earlier this month, named Oklahoma State's incoming freshmen as the top class for the 2006-07 campaign. Lehigh, ranked second nationally, was the top EIWA program in the rankings. Bucknell and Cornell were the only other conference rivals rated higher than Army in the annual polling of recruiting classes.

Matt Kyler (Pa.) highlights the outstanding class. He was a Pennsylvania state champion in 2005. Steven Gilbert was a four-time state champion in New Mexico, while Lance Penhale (Alaska) was a three-time state champ.

W.I.N Magazine's Top 25 Recruiting Classes
  1) Oklahoma State
  2) Lehigh
  3) Penn State
  4) Minnesota
  5) Nebraska
  6) Missouri
  7) Arizona State
  8) Old Dominion
  9) Michigan
 10) Oklahoma
 11) Iowa State
 12) Boise State
 13) Virginia Tech
 14) Bucknell
 15) Cornell
 16) N.C. State
 17) Indiana
 18) Purdue
 19) Edinboro
 20) Iowa
 21) Illinois
 22) Army
 23) Bloomsburg
 24) Rider
 25) Maryland
     Rutgers