Hello: Adam Coon (wrestling); opts for wrestling over football (for now)

Submitted by Raoul on

I don't really follow wrestling, but this seems pretty significant: No. 2 senior recruit Coon commits to Michigan (that's no. 2 in the nation in the 2013 class).

Adam Coon, from Fowlerville, Michigan, decided on wrestling over football at the college level:

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Coon was recruited by several Division I programs for football, including Big Ten programs Michigan State (where his mother earned her master's degree), Northwestern, and Wisconsin.

But his father says football could still be in his future:

"It was a very difficult decision for him," said Dan Coon. "He has not completely given up on playing football again. Stephen Neal is one of our heroes, a great heavyweight wrestler who played football later on. So that's always in the back of his mind. So he's open to playing football later on if wrestling doesn't work out."

Looks like Coon is part of a pretty good recruiting class:

Coon is the third highly ranked recruit from the Class of 2013 that Michigan has landed. The other two are Ben Whitford (St. Johns, Mich.) and Brian Murphy (Glenbard North, Ill.), ranked fourth and 11th overall respectively in the Class of 2013.

Leaders And Best

August 25th, 2012 at 1:22 PM ^

In order to play football as a scholarship athlete, he would need Brady Hoke to offer him a football scholarship. The only other way would be to renounce his wrestling scholarship and walk-on.

Nice to hear about the new wrestling commits though.

Raoul

August 25th, 2012 at 1:49 PM ^

Didn't think it was necessary to point out how multisport scholarships work, as this has been discussed numerous times on this site. Besides, if Coon decides to switch to football, he would either no longer be wrestling at Michigan or it would be as a professional following his collegiate career (as Stephen Neal did).

OldManUfer

August 25th, 2012 at 8:35 PM ^

Minor quibble (and maybe this has been discussed before), but he might be able to practice with the team (but not play in a game) without counting as a footbal scholarship. The NCAA rule book distinguishes between players who were "recruited...and/or offered financial aid to participate in football" and those who weren't. I don't know if that means recruited by any NCAA school or by the school he ends up attending.

Assuming it's the latter, he could redshirt with the football team before he and the coaches decide if he's going to continue. If he's going to redshirt for wrestling anyway and he's not sure about his choice, that's an option.  It would also depend on if he'd consider participating in both sports at the same time. That would be difficult since the two seasons overlap by at least a month, but it's been done before.

MichFan1997

August 25th, 2012 at 1:32 PM ^

is still small for a heavyweight if he's only 260. He was a 215 his first two seasons. Speaking as someone who is a wrestling coach and has seen Coon wrestle several times though, that is a MASSIVE pickup by McFarland. Coon might be the best heavy to ever come out of this state (Jarrod Trice ended up an all-American at CMU though). He's definately better than Mike Martin was in high school. The incoming freshman and the 2013 classes are significant for Michigan though. It at least gives them a shot at fighting it out with PSU in the future.

robbyt003

August 25th, 2012 at 1:41 PM ^

Well in High School he can't be over 275 (before the Jan 1st weight allowance) anyways, so he was pretty close to that.  Ryan Gritter from Grandville was a 3 time heavyweight state Champion in D1, that's pretty impressive.  Coon won two of his state titles at 215 and he is D2.

robbyt003

August 25th, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^

hmm, when did they up it to 285?  As far as D1 vs D2 talent goes, I suppose I'll have to agree to disagree with you on that one.  Obviously there are guys in D2 that would win no matter what division they are in, but top to bottom I'd have to say D1 is stronger than D2.  I've been out of the wrestling world for a little bit though, so MAYBE it has changed.  

MichFan1997

August 25th, 2012 at 2:11 PM ^

are talking about is the 20th best 125 in D1 better than the 14th best 125 in D2 then yes, most likely that is still true. I was just pointing out that the TOP level kids, the state champs and such, were much stronger in D2 than D1 last year. Of the major in-state recruits from this class and last, all of them came out of D2: Massa (#1 overall in 2012 nationally)  and Whitford (#4 overall, 2013) from St. John's, Coon (#2 overall, 2013) from Fowlerville, and Thomas (Top 50ish overall, 2012) from Greenville.

bballislife22

August 25th, 2012 at 1:47 PM ^

He grew up a MSU fan his entire life, so this is a big get. He's a 4.0 student also, goes to show that a smart kid knows what college is best for him ;)

 

He also won a world championship in 2011, the first American to do so in a good long time.

Wolverine Devotee

August 25th, 2012 at 2:36 PM ^

Great. Need to start being a power in the B1G again in Wrestling. Toughest conference in the country to win with powerhouses like iowa, minnesota and juggernaut as of late in penn state. Hopefully Michigan can produce a guy who is a freak of nature and can kill someone with one hit to the head like minnesota did back in 1999-

Brock Lesnar is one of the more recent guys in the MMA/Pro Wrestling scene. Michigan produced two guys awhile back, Scott & Rick Steiner aka the Steiner Brothers-

Check out this hilarious video of Scott Steiner in COLUMBUS wearing a Michigan football jersey and talking trash about how ohio sucks. This was in February 2000, Michigan just came off a 24-17 win over them and ohio failed to make a bowl game.

 

StephenRKass

August 25th, 2012 at 8:19 PM ^

Murph, one of the wrestling recruits mentioned in the box quotes, is multitalented. I watched the Glenbard North football game last night, where Murph played both starting QB & DB. Glenbard North lost a barnburner to Batavia, 42 - 41, when an attempt for two points at the end of the game failed. Murphy was by far one of the best players on the field. He was able to air the ball out, on several occasions overthrowing receivers well downfield. And he turned on the speed to run himself, scoring a TD of more than 60 yards. Too bad he can't play both at Michigan.

Coldwater

August 25th, 2012 at 10:21 PM ^

Coon has wrestled Nationally for a few years now and he wins these tournaments.. He a beast. Tall for a HWT at 6'4" or so. I'm pumped he's coming to Michigan

BlueCE

August 25th, 2012 at 10:35 PM ^

Awesome, we have 3 of the top 11 players in the nation?  That is insane!  Great job, we definitely need the talent to compete in the B10