Scholarship Question

[blueandgold]

For a kid looking for scholarships or an opportunity to wrestle, how much does the state tournament series actually matter? When I was coming up, I got what I would say was a good amount of letters from NCAA Division III, NAIA, and JUCO schools, and I felt like my coaches pushed me in the right direction as far as schools went. I didn’t make it to state until I was a senior, but got most attention as a junior and it was because I saw a lot of coaches the summer going into my junior year competing at a lot of offseason tournaments, and one noted he just liked my attitude and energy, not even so much my wrestling. So, for some kids looking for offers and banking on a deep state run, how many will they actually receive? I talked to some of my other friends who went on to wrestle Division I, and they said most of their offers came in the offseason, many of them at Fargo if they placed.

[Mattyb]

13 hours ago, blueandgold said:

For a kid looking for scholarships or an opportunity to wrestle, how much does the state tournament series actually matter? When I was coming up, I got what I would say was a good amount of letters from NCAA Division III, NAIA, and JUCO schools, and I felt like my coaches pushed me in the right direction as far as schools went. I didn’t make it to state until I was a senior, but got most attention as a junior and it was because I saw a lot of coaches the summer going into my junior year competing at a lot of offseason tournaments, and one noted he just liked my attitude and energy, not even so much my wrestling. So, for some kids looking for offers and banking on a deep state run, how many will they actually receive? I talked to some of my other friends who went on to wrestle Division I, and they said most of their offers came in the offseason, many of them at Fargo if they placed.

This is a great and loaded question that has no simple answer. I’m my opinion, this really needs to be talked about more and better explained to our athletes and families. 
 

My family had the opportunity to go through the recruiting process with my oldest son. We learned a TON during his last couple years of high school. While my son did all the work on the mat, it took the whole family and others to help him reach his goal of being a college wrestler with a full ride. I would like to share some thoughts and observations that may help others in this journey. With this said… this post may get a little long, but hopefully it can help… because many times nobody will take the time to explain or even has the knowledge of the process.

 

1. First and foremost (absolutely most importantly) is grades.
 

If a kid decides to go the NCAA division 1 or 2 route, they go by title 9. This dictates that NCAA division 1 and 2 programs must limit the amount of athletic scholarships per wrestling team to 9.9 full scholarships. In college there are 10 weight classes. Most college programs have 30 to 45 kids on the teams. Most of those 30 to 45 kids at D1 and D2 schools are state champs or placed VERY high. So… let’s do the math…. 9.9 for 40 kids… that means on average a D1 or D2 kid is only getting a 1/4 ride.

 

Very few (and I mean VERY few) D1 and D2 kids get full athletic scholarships. With that said, a wrestler MUST make academics a priority! Schools will help a kid with academic money but the wrestler must make the minimum threshold for those funds. They will find athletes academic money that a typical student, with the same gpa, wouldn’t get. They typically need a 3.5 GPA or better and / or good SAT or ACT scores to qualify for most academic money. This means that a wrestler MUST take his whole high school career seriously. Do not think that a kid is going to make a C average his first two years of high school then magically turn it around his last two years! By then it’s two late. From day one… do the work and make good grades. Without good grades… most likely they are paying and paying a lot. 
 

Testing… start taking ACT and SAT early and often. I would recommend at the end of their sophomore year. First they must determine which one is easier for them. My son liked the SAT because it’s ran by the national college board. Once you take the SAT test, they will provide you with resources (including the Khan Academy) that will help you with future test. While you can’t actually study for what’s on the SAT or ACT, programs like Khan Academy will help you learn how to process the questions and help you score better. Also.. schools will allow them to super score your test results. Meaning this…. If you take the SAT five times and score really high on Math one time and really high on English another time, they will allow you to combine the two highest scores to make your applied total. So again..  take those test multiple times if the school requires SAT or ACT for acceptance or academic scholarships.

 

That is D1or D2. As far as I know…. D3 has zero athletic scholarships, but typically offer scholarships and grants to help with cost. D3 guys typically make good grades to get that help. 
 

Which brings us to NAIA. These schools are not bound by title 9 (as far as I know). My son did not go the NAIA route so i have less knowledge on this. In general, these schools are allowed to give more athletic money. We have some great NAIA schools and teams here Indiana. These teams have had a lot of success and should be considered by any kid looking to wrestle at the next level. 
 

Many high schools have an NCAA rep. It is typically a councilor. These reps can provide you with some helpful information and help you with stuff like getting your NCAA card (needed to take visits) and getting transcripts to potential schools. If you don’t have a designated NCAA rep, make sure you find out the best person at your child’s school to help you with the process. At our former school we found out that our weighted grade scale did not meet NCAA guidelines and could not be considered. With that said, my sons weighted GPA could not be considered when applying for some money. Not having his weighted GPA considered messed with some of his offers. With this said… a few years later, they still haven’t adjusted their grade scale and NCAA can’t use their weighted gpa (must be Covid). I’m still trying to help get it changed there. With this said… make sure your schools grade scale is approved by the NCAA so that your wrestler gets every dollar possible! Again.. your NCAA rep or councilor can help you with that. 
 

2. Put your wrestler out there! Pick the schools that they are interested in and let them know you are interested. Reach out to the coaches and let them know that they want to come to their programs and what you have to offer them. Most team websites have a recruiting page. Fill that info out. That puts your wrestler on their radar and helps them get noticed. Colleges coaches are busy. Help them help you. 
 

3. Pick the right team. A kid may be a state champ or multiple time state champ. Know this.. if he goes to the Big10… every kid is a state champ or multiple time state champ. Each weight class has 3 to 5 kids. Know that it’s gonna to be a up hill climb just to start one season. Know who is in the line up at the school you pick and who’s coming in. I’m not saying not to challenge yourself.. just know that most likely your not coming in a taking the spot from a returning AA. Know that you may sit some places for a while. Can you handle that? 
 

4. Pick the right school. If you want the traditional college experience… don’t pick a service academy! What I’m saying is… take your visits get to know the school, the town, the coaches, and the team. Ask members of the team if they like it there. During my sons visits some kids told him that they loved it and many told him they hated it. Financials should be a priority, but if they are going to be miserable for 2 to 6 years… then it’s not worth it. D1 allows 6 official collage visits. They are typically very fun for the whole family. If you can, take them all. 
 

5. To answer your main question… wrestling. Go wrestle good kids and beat them! No matter where. If you beat a good kid… people will know. And… try to have fun as a family doing it. That’s the easy part that we all can understand. The other stuff is what we don’t talk about and is not explained to us enough. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by Mattyb

[Bulldog89]

Agree with Mattyb... Grades, grades, grades.  My daughter is at D2 playing volleyball and more than half of her money came from her ACT score & High School grades.  OVER $21,000 from the Universities merit award.   She got almost the rest from her athletic scholarship which was less than what she got academic.  The kids have to have the grades and it seems all colleges teams are taking pride in their  teams overall GPAs.  Coaches want smart, committed kids in the classroom and on the mat.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Bulldog89

[Wrestlingfan937]

Awesome information @Mattyb

[graham]

Thanks @Mattyb   Very helpful post. 

[TeamGarcia]

#2 Promote your wrestler, brand them, it’s entertainment in a sense. Low budget entertainment but your promoting your wrestlers abilities. 
 

 
oooohhhhh yeah …. ! 

[JustAnotherFan]

Stay away from the recruiting sites.  It’s a money grab.   At Fargo I asked every college coach I saw how they find recruits.

1. Who’s interested in us. Who contacts us. (Start early.  Freshman year is good.)

2. My (the coach’s) network and HS coaches that reach out.

3. Look at State and National tournament performance (National level like Fargo and Super 32.).  Fargo is a scholarship getting machine.  If you aren’t doing Freestyle and Greco….

They never mentioned recruiting sites.  One said.  There’s some online thing I look through if not having any luck.   Save your money.  Sure somebody will say it worked. But their top way of finding recruits doesn’t cost you a thing.

Edited December 9, 2021 by JustAnotherFan
Typo both times

[Mattyb]

5 hours ago, JustAnotherFan said:

Stay away from the recruiting sites.  It’s a money grab.   At Fargo I asked every college coach I saw how they find recruits.

1. Who’s interested in us. Who contacts us. (Start early.  Freshman year is good.)

2. My (the coach’s) network and HS coaches that reach out.

3. Look at State and National tournament performance (National level like Fargo and Super 32.).  Fargo is a scholarship getting machine.  If you aren’t doing Freestyle and Greco….

They never mentioned recruiting sites.  One said.  There’s some online thing I look through if not having any luck.   Save your money.  Sure somebody will say it worked. But their top way of finding recruits doesn’t cost you a thing.

Great advice! You do that work. Do not pay scammers. Be the voice and represent your wrestler and let them do so also. 
 

Also… have your wrestler make a log of who contacted him and when. After a while,  it gets overwhelming. My son was getting pulled in many directions and just stopped answering the phone and returning text. He was just confused and was trying to focus on school and the season. He had no clue about who was who, the school’s division, or anything. Don’t do that! Keep an open mind and be professional. We screwed that all up. We assumed that a 17 year old was handling all of that. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by Mattyb

[JustAnotherFan]

Make list of 15-20 programs your wrestler is looking at.  Follow these parameters to narrow down the field.

1 -Which programs am I interested in

2- Which of those programs can I wrestle at

3- Which of those have the academic programs I am looking for ( let’s face it, wrestle for 4 years, have a career for 40.)

 

I would argue that #3 should be #1.

[MUSKEEWRESTLER]

This is GREAT information guys and the type of information that this site is the best at.  I wish I would have had this info. way back in the day.  Everyone thinks their kid is getting a full ride.  Unless your a D1 football or basketball 3 to 5 star it is very unlikely.  GRADES, GRADES, GRADES.  One of my favorite times is the Saturday night lineup and hearing all of those finalists.  The amount of Scholar/Athlete/Leaders makes me proud of the men that this sport delivers.

[BrodyHardcastle]

So true @Mattyb. I am following one on my wrestlers on his recruiting path right now and has had some D1 schools talking to him. If you are not a crazy high recruit or if you're not on anyone's big boards, do not expect to get that much money for athletic scholarships at the D1 level. Most money will be coming from academics.  Regardless, it's still an awesome to watch your guys get recruited. You can only do so much as a coach of a recruit but putting your kid out there and emailing schools that they are interested in is one of the biggest things you can do. The post-season definitely matters in regards to getting colleges after you but what you do during the summer has a bigger impact imo. My guy placed 5th last year and had a couple small schools talking to him. He had a decent Fargo tournament and started getting some more calls including the D1 school he is really interested in. So in my opinion, they both matter a lot! Best advice to give your kid is to keep getting better and putting yourself out there and someone should come knocking more than likely.

[Bulldog89]

We made my daughter do 3 recruiting forms on the college websites a week.  She looked at the schools she was interested in and how the team finished the year before, rosters spots available, and other aspects of the college.  She also attended camps at the schools she was interested in, this is huge.  I did the same in high school and one of the camps I attended is the college I ended up going to.  Make them do some work and give them a sense of ownership in the process.

 

[TripleB]

Not as in depth as Matt's answer, which needs to be pinned to the top. 

 

But I know that there are some wrestlers out there that want to play football in college..

 

I share this on Facebook every year - 

 

"You want a solid off-season workout? Join the wrestling team. No piece of iron can simulate what you will endure in a wrestling practice.

Why should a football player wrestle?!?!?

I just came across these old football recruiting letters I received in the Spring of 97. What’s significant? I had just gotten runner up at the IHSAA state wrestling championships. That spring I toured Illinois, Notre Dame, Purdue and a number of other schools. Why I ended up wrestling, wrestling got my foot in the door at a number of legit schools.

Hey football player, get your butt in the wrestling room!!"

 

For the record though I ended up wrestling NAIA

 

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by TripleB

[Y2CJ41]

A little bit of self promotion, but it's tried and true.

 

Fill out your kid's IndianaMat profile with GPA, SAT/ACT scores, intended major, and even a nice picture amongst some of the other things that can be added. When searching for kids MANY college coaches come to this website and when searching for a wrestler IndianaMat is always a top Google result.

 

You never know who is perusing the site and having that information filled out is a nice thing for college coaches to see if you are a good fit.

[Matt Time]

As someone who just went through this process, everything here is absolutely correct. Academics combined with showing promise as being highly coachable and "moving well" is something most coaches seem to be looking for. They want to see kids who haven't "peaked" yet.  Seek the college coaches out at tournaments and have your wrestler approach them and say hello. They love a confident kid who can talk to adults in a friendly and competent manner. Finally, don't emphasize sports over finding the right academic program. Even $50-$60k spread over four years pales in comparison to what getting the right degree in a field you love can do for you over a lifetime. You can always switch to wrestling, grappling, bjj, helping coach for fun and fitness. Despite lots of compelling offers to wrestle, in the end, my wrestler fell in love with a school that didn't offer wrestling. It was the right fit academically with the right programs and right cultural vibe to thrive and set off on a great direction in life. A little sad for me? Yes. But very happy that we found a great fit.

[cadet130]

On 12/9/2021 at 5:17 AM, Mattyb said:

This is a great and loaded question that has no simple answer. I’m my opinion, this really needs to be talked about more and better explained to our athletes and families. 
 

My family had the opportunity to go through the recruiting process with my oldest son. We learned a TON during his last couple years of high school. While my son did all the work on the mat, it took the whole family and others to help him reach his goal of being a college wrestler with a full ride. I would like to share some thoughts and observations that may help others in this journey. With this said… this post may get a little long, but hopefully it can help… because many times nobody will take the time to explain or even has the knowledge of the process.

 

1. First and foremost (absolutely most importantly) is grades.
 

If a kid decides to go the NCAA division 1 or 2 route, they go by title 9. This dictates that NCAA division 1 and 2 programs must limit the amount of athletic scholarships per wrestling team to 9.9 full scholarships. In college there are 10 weight classes. Most college programs have 30 to 45 kids on the teams. Most of those 30 to 45 kids at D1 and D2 schools are state champs or placed VERY high. So… let’s do the math…. 9.9 for 40 kids… that means on average a D1 or D2 kid is only getting a 1/4 ride.

 

Very few (and I mean VERY few) D1 and D2 kids get full athletic scholarships. With that said, a wrestler MUST make academics a priority! Schools will help a kid with academic money but the wrestler must make the minimum threshold for those funds. They will find athletes academic money that a typical student, with the same gpa, wouldn’t get. They typically need a 3.5 GPA or better and / or good SAT or ACT scores to qualify for most academic money. This means that a wrestler MUST take his whole high school career seriously. Do not think that a kid is going to make a C average his first two years of high school then magically turn it around his last two years! By then it’s two late. From day one… do the work and make good grades. Without good grades… most likely they are paying and paying a lot. 
 

Testing… start taking ACT and SAT early and often. I would recommend at the end of their sophomore year. First they must determine which one is easier for them. My son liked the SAT because it’s ran by the national college board. Once you take the SAT test, they will provide you with resources (including the Khan Academy) that will help you with future test. While you can’t actually study for what’s on the SAT or ACT, programs like Khan Academy will help you learn how to process the questions and help you score better. Also.. schools will allow them to super score your test results. Meaning this…. If you take the SAT five times and score really high on Math one time and really high on English another time, they will allow you to combine the two highest scores to make your applied total. So again..  take those test multiple times if the school requires SAT or ACT for acceptance or academic scholarships.

 

That is D1or D2. As far as I know…. D3 has zero athletic scholarships, but typically offer scholarships and grants to help with cost. D3 guys typically make good grades to get that help. 
 

Which brings us to NAIA. These schools are not bound by title 9 (as far as I know). My son did not go the NAIA route so i have less knowledge on this. In general, these schools are allowed to give more athletic money. We have some great NAIA schools and teams here Indiana. These teams have had a lot of success and should be considered by any kid looking to wrestle at the next level. 
 

Many high schools have an NCAA rep. It is typically a councilor. These reps can provide you with some helpful information and help you with stuff like getting your NCAA card (needed to take visits) and getting transcripts to potential schools. If you don’t have a designated NCAA rep, make sure you find out the best person at your child’s school to help you with the process. At our former school we found out that our weighted grade scale did not meet NCAA guidelines and could not be considered. With that said, my sons weighted GPA could not be considered when applying for some money. Not having his weighted GPA considered messed with some of his offers. With this said… a few years later, they still haven’t adjusted their grade scale and NCAA can’t use their weighted gpa (must be Covid). I’m still trying to help get it changed there. With this said… make sure your schools grade scale is approved by the NCAA so that your wrestler gets every dollar possible! Again.. your NCAA rep or councilor can help you with that. 
 

2. Put your wrestler out there! Pick the schools that they are interested in and let them know you are interested. Reach out to the coaches and let them know that they want to come to their programs and what you have to offer them. Most team websites have a recruiting page. Fill that info out. That puts your wrestler on their radar and helps them get noticed. Colleges coaches are busy. Help them help you. 
 

3. Pick the right team. A kid may be a state champ or multiple time state champ. Know this.. if he goes to the Big10… every kid is a state champ or multiple time state champ. Each weight class has 3 to 5 kids. Know that it’s gonna to be a up hill climb just to start one season. Know who is in the line up at the school you pick and who’s coming in. I’m not saying not to challenge yourself.. just know that most likely your not coming in a taking the spot from a returning AA. Know that you may sit some places for a while. Can you handle that? 
 

4. Pick the right school. If you want the traditional college experience… don’t pick a service academy! What I’m saying is… take your visits get to know the school, the town, the coaches, and the team. Ask members of the team if they like it there. During my sons visits some kids told him that they loved it and many told him they hated it. Financials should be a priority, but if they are going to be miserable for 2 to 6 years… then it’s not worth it. D1 allows 6 official collage visits. They are typically very fun for the whole family. If you can, take them all. 
 

5. To answer your main question… wrestling. Go wrestle good kids and beat them! No matter where. If you beat a good kid… people will know. And… try to have fun as a family doing it. That’s the easy part that we all can understand. The other stuff is what we don’t talk about and is not explained to us enough. 

There is a max of 9 scholarships for D2, and those limits are based on programs that are fully funded by the school, endowments, or fundraising to reach that cap.

As a former college coach for a decade, I will be happy to answer any recruiting process questions if any should arise, but the information that people are sharing on this thread is very true. The first thing I always looked at was social media, then grades.

Here is a little article that was published in USA Wrestler last year that I wrote along with fellow Hoosier, Cam Eppert. It's worth a read.

https://www.qgdigitalpublishing.com/publication/?m=58602&i=678992&p=32

Edited December 13, 2021 by cadet130

[indypharmd]

On 12/9/2021 at 9:57 AM, TripleB said:

Not as in depth as Matt's answer, which needs to be pinned to the top. 

 

But I know that there are some wrestlers out there that want to play football in college..

 

I share this on Facebook every year - 

 

"You want a solid off-season workout? Join the wrestling team. No piece of iron can simulate what you will endure in a wrestling practice.

Why should a football player wrestle?!?!?

I just came across these old football recruiting letters I received in the Spring of 97. What’s significant? I had just gotten runner up at the IHSAA state wrestling championships. That spring I toured Illinois, Notre Dame, Purdue and a number of other schools. Why I ended up wrestling, wrestling got my foot in the door at a number of legit schools.

Hey football player, get your butt in the wrestling room!!"

 

For the record though I ended up wrestling NAIA

 

 

Almost every football program we visited this fall talked wrestling with the son. When at Iowa (football) last fall, they showed me a graphic/poster of all the former state wrestling champs that went on to play football for the Hawkeyes...