Hello: Taylor Massa - wrestling
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^
prospect since Brent Metcalf back in 2005. Massa has never lost a high school match. He was beating nationally ranked seniors when he was in middle school. He has been an absolute destruction machine and I will personally guarantee that he wins an NCAA individual championship while at Michigan. He's that good. He's all-American as a true freshman good.
EDIT: Here's some his Michigan Grappler profile page:
http://www.michigangrappler.com/files/High_School/Profiles/2012/massa.h…
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
Thanks for posting this for me. For anyone who's interested here are the 2012 wrestling recruit rankings. UM has the #1, #20, and #25 wrestlers in the country already committed.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:12 PM ^
commit is Jordan Thomas. He is a 2-time state champion from Greenville. Also lost in the finals as a freshman to none other than Taylor Massa.
Side note: It's going to be great for Massa and Thomas to train together as they've had many many battles over the years dating all the way back to being tiny little kids.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:15 PM ^
I have watched almost all of their matches and Thomas is a stud in his own right. If anything i think Thomas should be ranked a little higher than 25. Also I agree, it's awesome that they train together. The quality of guys that they work out with is unmatched.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:21 PM ^
that we stole him from under Sparty's nose. He has trained in East Lansing a lot as St. John's is a stone's throw from there. I'm not surprised by it though. I'm an assistant coach at a high profile wrestling school in Michigan and our head coach (who has a relationship with the MSU staff) has told me before that the MSU coaches thought they might get their hearts broken on this one.
October 3rd, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^
i've seen this kid in person, and he's the real deal
October 3rd, 2011 at 11:14 PM ^
John Navarre?
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^
glad to help.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:24 PM ^
I know Massa and his family pretty well. This kid is a tireless worker and I am in agreement that this kid is unbelievable. Don't be shocked when he is not only winning national titles, but also pushing for Olympic medals...
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:24 PM ^
Huge pick-up. For all the positive rankings on him as a recruit, I still think they fall short of just how big of a prospect he is. Not only are they getting the best in-state kid, but, also from a school packed with more D-1 talent.
I was getting together some stuff for a season preview and was going to touch on recruiting and how important of a pickup he would be. This is big step for the program to stick its nose into the national scene.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:28 PM ^
from Michigan this year. One of them is a teammate of Massa in Jordan Wohlfert. He's a monster in his own right. Plus that doesn't even consider the future top 100 level recruits in the underclass at St. John's.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:33 PM ^
This is absolutely gonna help with guys like Wohlfert, Whitford, Schmitt, Hall etc...
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^
I am so proud that my hometown is being discussed on an mgothread. It is amazing how much our wrestling program here has taken off. IIRC a kid just moved to SJ from Illinois specifically to be on our wrestling team. Also Massa and co are heading down to Ohio this year to wrestle a team thats ranked #1 in the nation in high school.
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^
Yupp that was Ben Whitford. He's originally from St. johns moved to Illinois and then just moved back to St, Johns.
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:00 PM ^
I hope you're still planning on the season preview! I don't follow wrestling closely enough to even know where to begin to look - but from living in Fletcher Hall and then on State St., I would always see these guys post-workout on the bus at 7am, 3pm, 8pm etc. - I was always impressed at their dedication. Cliff Keen was a fun atmosphere, as well.
Considering pretty much the Big Ten + Iowa State and OKState are college wrestling, it would be great to hear this season's outlook.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
I just watched a couple of those matches, and he made the kid look terrible in the state finals. I was surprised at how overmatched Massa made the other kid look! Good pick up!
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:37 PM ^
is that kid he beat was a beast in his own right. That kid was 2x finalist who had a high school win over Jackson Morse, a 3-time champ and 4-time finalist from Lowell who is currently at Illinois.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:44 PM ^
the bracket from Massa's 3rd state championship last spring. Note how dominant each one of his 4 victories was:
http://www.mhsaa.com/portals/0/documents/WR/2011%20IWR%20Finals/D2/11d2…
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:02 PM ^
is it bad I wished he was 260lbs and a football player as well?
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:04 PM ^
As a St. Johns Alumni and former wrestler congrats Taylor. The team that they have should once again compete for an undefeated record and several individual state champs.
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:54 PM ^
Congratulations! Your wrestling talent has landed you an opportunity for a great education. Good for you! It's going to be fun watching you achieve your goals in Maize and Blue! We're glad to have you.
Go Blue!
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:06 PM ^
Anything that increases our chances of a B1G title (or even a NC) in any sport is great news.
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:29 PM ^
I think this deserves a front page Hello: post. I grew up in Iowa before graduating from Michigan and I am a wrestling fan and have watched a decent amount of high school wrestling. This kid is the real deal. The way he just manhandled Bonner in the finals was just malicious. It really looked like he was just playing with him out there.
He has got to be the biggest pickup for Michigan wrestling in at least the past few decades. This guy will be a superstar, just tremendous.
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:39 PM ^
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:48 PM ^
I wonder how much the fact we just welcomed Donny Pritzlaff to staff played in Taylors decision? I'm thinking a lot. Folks, Penn State with Sanderson is a machine, Iowa will alwasy be Iowa and J Rod has Minny in tip top shape every year but we are looking like a team to be taken very seriously in the near future. Get to a match if you have never been, they are a lot of fun.