Virginia Wrestling Announces 2018-19 Recruiting Class
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –Virginia wrestling coach Steve Garland announced nine wrestlers who will be joining the program for the 2018-19 academic year when he released the 2018 recruiting class on Wednesday (July 11).
The recruiting class features six wrestlers ranked in the top 20 nationally in their weight class, including five in the top 15 of their respective weights. It also features six state champions among its members.
“I am very pleased with this class,” Garland said. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m entering my 19th season in Division I coaching and recruiting is not getting any easier. It is a very labor intensive and competitive part of the process. However, it is during this process that you hope you can find the right fit for your program in several areas. We feel that the guys we are bringing in are the right guys for us. They are high character guys who work hard and are bought in to our staff. On top of that we feel like these guys have really high ceilings in terms of that wrestling development. We feel strongly that we have a great group of kids who are going to compete at a high level for us in the future.I’m excited to start working with them.”
The class includes two wrestlers from Virginia in Gray Hart (Richmond, Va.) and Patrick McCormick (Poquoson, Va.), and two from Pennsylvania in Justin McCoy (New Paris, Pa.) and Robert Patrick (Ligonier, Pa.). Also part of the class are Alex Cruz (Orting, Wash.), Tony Cutrie (Chittenango, N.Y.), Ben Kamali (Lansing, Mich.), Krystian Kinsey (Havelock, N.C.) and Victor Marcelli (Massillon, Ohio).
2018-19 VIRGINIA RECRUITING CLASS
Alex Cruz – Orting, Wash. – Orting High School
• Four-time Washington State Champion
• Fargo Finalist
• Six-time Fargo All-American
• Ranked as high as No. 8 nationally at 132 pounds by FloWrestling
Tony Cutrie – Chittenango, N.Y. – Wyoming Seminary
• Third-place at Prep Nationals
• No. 5 ranked wrestler at 285 by National Prep Wrestling
Gray Hart – Richmond, Va. – St. Christopher’s School
• Third-place Prep Nationals
• 2018 Prep Nationals All-American
• VISAA State Champion
• Fourth-ranked wrestler at 138 pounds by National Prep Wrestling
Ben Kamali – Lansing, Mich. – Detroit Catholic Central
• Three-time Michigan State Champion
• No. 8 ranked wrestler at 120 pounds by InterMat
• 2017 FloNationals Champion
• Fargo Greco and Freestyle All-American
• 2016 FloNational Runner-Up
• Helped lead Detroit Catholic Central to a No. 9 national ranking by InterMat
Krystian Kinsey – Havelock, N.C. – Havelock High School
• 52-4 record as a senior – 174 career wins
• 2018 NCHSAA State Championships Third-Place Finish
• 2018 Coastal 3A Conference Wrestler of the Year
• 2017 Beast of the East Champion at 152 pounds
• Three-time NCHSAA state championship qualifier
Justin McCoy – New Paris, Pa. – Chestnut Ridge High School
• 2018 Pennsylvania State Runner-Up
• 2018 Runner-Up Flo Nationals
• 2017 Pennsylvania State Champion
• 2016 Fargo All-American
• No. 15 ranked wrestler at 152 pounds by InterMat
Patrick McCormick – Poquoson, Va. – Poquoson High School
• Four-time Virginia State Champion (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
• 2016 Daily Press Co-Wrestler of the Year
• Helped lead Poquoson to the 2018 state championship
Victor Marcelli – Massillon, Ohio – Jackson High School
• 2018 Ohio State Champion
• Two-time Flo Nationals All-American
• Five-time Fargo All-American
• No. 11 ranked wrestler at 182 pounds by InterMat
Robert Patrick – Ligonier, Pa. – Ligonier Valley High School
• Three-time Pennsylvania State Runner-Up
• No. 18 ranked wrestler at 170 pounds by InterMat