Purdue Wrestling Inks Six Recruits

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue wrestling team signed six recruits to national letters of intent last week, marking a great start to another outstanding recruiting class by Boilermaker head coach Scott Hinkel and his staff. The class consists of Indiana natives Drake Stein, Chad and Doug Welch and Luke Schroeder, Danny Sabatello of Illinois and Rusty Maness of Ohio.

“We’re thrilled about all six of these guys making the commitment to join the Purdue wrestling family,” said Hinkel. “They were all very high on our list, and in the recruiting process we made it clear that we wanted them to be a part of what we’re doing at Purdue. It’s great that they felt the same way about us.”

Stein joins the Boilermakers from Francisco, Ind., where Stein won the 171-pound state title in 2009 for Princeton Community High School. Stein’s impressive high school resume has earned him a wealth of recognition on the national level as he’s been tabbed the No. 91 senior in the country by D1CollegeWrestling.net, the No. 5 184-pound recruit in the country by The Open Mat and is ranked 13th in the nation at 171 pounds heading into the season by InterMat. Stein has a high school record of 121-13 going into his senior campaign, including his 44-2 mark last year. He already owns school records for single-season victories (46), consecutive wins (46), single-season takedowns (179), career takedowns (347) and tournament championships (16), and he’s on track to break the Princeton Community records for career wins and falls, going into the season 25 wins shy of the record and just five falls short with 61 to his credit already. Stein was a 2010 USA Wrestling All-American, taking second in Fargo, N.D. at 189 pounds in Greco-Roman, and earned All-America honors for Greco-Roman at the Cadet level in 2008. Stein is projected to compete for Purdue at 184 pounds.

Sabatello is the third member of his immediate family to come to West Lafayette, following his older brothers Joe and Vince. Hailing from Long Grove, Ill., he captured a 2010 3A state championship for Stevenson High School at 119 pounds, becoming the first wrestling state champion in school history after a 40-4 season. He spent his first two years of high school at St. Viator High School, where he was one of four state placewinners in school history, going 40-7 as a sophomore and 31-8 as a freshman. Sabatello will compete at 125 pounds in his final year of high school and is ranked 18th in the country at his weight by InterMat and 19th in the nation by The Open Mat after placing sixth at the USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals last month in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Maness comes to Purdue from Ohio high school power St. Paris Graham, by way of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He has a trio of West Virginia State High School Championships to his credit, amassing a career record of 128-3, including a flawless 41-0 mark last season at 130 pounds. Maness has transferred to St. Paris Graham for his final year of high school wrestling, where he plans to compete for the Falcons, ranked third in the nation in the InterMat Fab 50, at 130 pounds. He won the 2009 National High School Coaches Association sophomore championship at 119 pounds, earning All-America honors and has received honorable mention in The Open Mat’s national rankings this season at 130 pounds.

Doug and Chad Welch look to join the middle of the Boilermaker lineup next season, coming upstate from Newburgh, Ind., where they’ve been standouts for Castle High School. Set to compete at 152 and 160 pounds, respectively, Doug Welch enters the season with a career record of 135-10, including a 50-1 junior year and state runner-up finish at 145 pounds, while Chad Welch comes into the year 127-14 in three years of high school, including a 48-1 record last year and third-place state finish at 152 pounds. Both Brute Scholastic Dual All-Americans, Doug and Chad Welsh rank among the Castle High School all-time leaders in several categories. Doug Welsh owns records for consecutive wins (54) and wins in a season (50), as well as second in school history in wins and fourth in career falls. (60), while Chad Welsh is sixth in career wins and career takedowns, second in career technical falls and has the school record for most technical falls in a season (11).

Schroeder rounds out the class, coming from Southwestern High School in Hanover, Ind., where he’s built a 130-18 career record. Most likely a career 125-pounder for the Boilermakers, Schroeder took third at the Indiana state championships at 103 pounds last year and owns a pair of All-America awards from the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Championships and the Disney Duals. He has 136 career takedowns and 46 pins heading into his final season.

“It’s great to have these guys officially on board,” said Hinkel. “We know they’re with us as we move forward, so that they can share in our successes this season, and in turn, we can share in theirs. We think of Purdue wrestling as a big family, and that’s what these guys are now, family.”

Hinkel and the Boilermakers turn to action after the Thanksgiving holiday, traveling to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Dec. 3 and 4.

Courtesy of Tanner D Lipsett, Asst. Sports Information Director, Purdue University