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Steve Martin Announces 11-Member Wrestling Recruiting Class
April 29, 2005
NORFOLK, VA -Old Dominion wrestling head coach Steve Martin has announced the signing of 11 incoming freshmen for the 2005-06 season, highlighted by six state champions with a combined 16 titles between them. Six of the 11 are All-Americans. With an early signing class that ranked #12, the Monarchs are moving in the right direction. Leading the field are Braxdon Scaletta and Chris Brown. Scaletta, ranked sixth in the nation at 130 pounds by Wrestling USA Magazine and eighth by InterMat, is a two-time Division III Ohio state champion at Cuyahoga Heights High School. Recently, Scaletta placed sixth at the NHSCA Senior Nationals, the top high school event for senior high school wrestlers. Scaletta is a projected 133-pounder. Brown, who signed in the fall, won his second state championship for Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, and is ranked sixth at 152 pounds by InterMat and eighth by Wrestling USA. A four-time high school state place-winner and two-time freestyle All-American, Brown was the only wrestler in the country this season to win both the Ironman and Beat of the East wrestling tournaments. He was eighth at High School Nationals and projects at 157. "We're very excited about the 11 student athletes that we've brought on board," Head Coach Steve Martin said. "They come from seven different states and 10 of the 11 are nationally ranked. As a group, their credentials are outstanding--there are two four-time finalists, three three-time state champions, two two-time state champions and four additional state placewinners." Also joining the Monarchs next season will be a pair of three-time state champions, Kaylen Baxter and Bryan LaShomb. Baxter will likely be the first wrestler to wear blue and silver from the state of Alaska, where he made four finals appearances at Fairbanks' West Valley High School. He's ranked 12th by InterMat and 22nd by Wrestling USA Magazine. Baxter is a two-time Greco-Roman All-American and projects at 149 pounds. LaShomb signed in the fall and was a three-time North Carolina state champion at Currituck and was a Virginia AAA state runner-up at Great Bridge this past season. A thee-time freestyle All-American, LaShomb is ranked 12th in the nation by InterMat. Fall signees Jeff Becker of Slippery Rock, PA and Ben Fiacco of Harrison High in Kennessaw, GA, each matched previous state placement after signing with Old Dominion. Becker finished third at the PIAA AA state tournament at 145 pounds, while Fiacco won his third Georgia state title. Two-time Maryland state champion Cam Watkins of Magruder also signed and projects at 141 pounds. Watkins is ranked 18th overall by InterMat and 20th by Wrestling USA Magazine. Coach Martin also bolstered their middle and upper weights, adding David Mendoza, a projected 184-pounder that placed third at the PIAA state tourament at 189 pounds for Wyomissing, PA. Joining Mendoza will be Colonial Forge's Matt Pellar, a two-time Group AAA state place-winner at 215 pounds. Pellar placed at both the Powerade and the Ironman and was a state runner-up his senior year. Columbia, NY senior Kevin Harrington was a section champion and state quarterfinalist. "One of the goals we wanted to accomplish was to draw athletes to Old Dominion from wrestling-rich states like Ohio and Pennsylvania," Martin said. "We accomplished that in year one." One of those Ohio wrestlers is from one of the nation's top wrestling programs. Ohio state runner-up Bryan Koz will help solidify the middle weights. Coming from St. Edward, Ohio's top wrestling program, Koz is ranked 26th by Wrestling USA. Koz's cousin Matt is the starting 197-pounder at the University of Minnesota. "Several of these recruits will be candidates for NCAA titles and All-American honors," Martin said. "The common theme with these kids is that they are all solid in the classroom, hard-nosed, mentally tough and aggressive competitors and they fit our system very well. They all hate to lose. We can also develop these wrestlers further, so their individual goals will be accomplished. "All our recruits are also very talented and accomplished in freestyle wrestling on the national level and have aspirations to eventually be on the US Wrestling national team in the future," Martin said. "We feel this recruiting class is the first step in helping make Old Dominion a national powerhouse," Coach Martin said. 2005-06 Recruiting Class Breakdown: Braxdon Scaletta: (Cuyahoga Heights HS, Ohio) 133 lbs Career Record: 176-12 4X State Place Winner 2005 OHSAA State Champion 2004 OHSAA State Champion 2003 OHSAA State Runner-up 2002 OHSAA 3rd Place High School All-American 6th at Senior HS Nationals Ranked 9th in Intermat Senior Rankings Ranked 6th in Wrestling USA Rankings Kaylen Baxter: (West Valley HS, Alaska) 149 lbs Career Record: 136-7 3X ASAA 4A State Champion 2005 State Champion 2004 State Champion 2003 State Runner-up 2002 State Champion 2X USA Wrestling Cadet Greco-Roman All-Americna Ranked 12th in Intermat Senior Rankings Ranked 22nd in Wrestling USA Rankings Cam Watkins: (Magruder HS, Maryland) 141 lbs Career Record: 194-16 MPSSAA 3A/4A State Champion 2005 2004 Private School State Champion 3X Private School State Championship Finalist 3rd Place in 2004 HS National Preps 2nd Place in 2003 HS National Preps 3rd Place in 2002 HS National Preps 4X All-Metro Team Candidate 4X Freestyle/Greco-Roman Junior State Champion 2005 All State Academic Team Ranked 18th in Intermat Overall Rankings Ranked 20th in Wrestling USA Rankings Bryan Koz: (St. Edward HS, Ohio) 165 lbs Career Record: 69-15 2005 OHSAA Division I State Finalist 2005 Ohio Sectional Champion 2005 Ohio District Champion 33 Pins in senior year Ranked 26th in Wrestling USA Rankings Kevin Harrington: (Columbia HS, New York) 184/197 lbs Career Record: 85-23 New York Class A State Champion 2005 NY Section 2 Champion 2005 NY Section 2 Runner-up 2004 Member of Cadet/Junior National Teams 2002-2004 Matt Pellar: (Colonial Forge HS, Virginia) 197 lbs 2005 VHSL State Championship Runner-up 3rd in 2004 VHSL State Championships 3rd Place in Ironman Tournament 2005 4th Place in Powerade Tournament 2005 Ranked 25th in Wrestling USA Rankings David Mendoza: (Wyomissing HS, Pennsylvania) 184 lbs Career Record: 117-34 3rd Place in 2005 PIAA State Championships 7th Place in 2004 PIAA State Championships 7th Place in 2004 Beast of the East Tournament 3X All-County Team Ranked 29th in Wrestling USA Rankings Bryan LaShomb: (Great Bridge HS, Virginia) 125 lbs Career Record: 151-21 3X North Carolina State Champion Virginia AAA State Runner-up FILA Cadet Freestyle National Place-winner 2003 FILA Cadet Freestyle National Champion 2004 Member of USA Cadet Freestyle National Team USAW Cadet Freestyle Nationals 3rd 2003 USAW Junior Freestyle Nationals 5th 2004 5th Place at Beast of East Tournament 2004 4th Place at Ironman Tournament 2004 Ranked 12th in Wrestling USA Rankings Jeff Becker: (Slippery Rock HS, Pennsylvania) 149 lbs 3X PIAA State Place-winner (2nd in 2003, 3rd in 2004, 3rd in 2005) USAW Cadet Freestyle National Finalist 2002 USAW 2X Cadet Freestyle National Place-winner 3X Northeast Regional Champion Ranked 27th in Wrestling USA Rankings Chris Brown: (Great Bridge HS, Virginia) 157 lbs Career Record: 176-18 Senior Record: 50-2 VHSL AAA 4X State Place-winner VHSL AAA State Champion 2005 VHSL AAA State Champion 2004 NWCA National High School Senior Open Champion 2003 USAW Cadet Freestyle Nationals 5th 2003 FILA Cadet Freestyle National Champion 2004 2004 Beast of the East Tournament Champion 2004 Ironman Tournament Champion Ranked 8th in Wrestling USA Rankings Ben Fiacco: (Harrison HS, Georgia) 165 lbs Career Record: 165-5 3X 5A Georgia State Champion (2003, 2004, 2005) 3rd Place in Georgia State Championships 2002 4X Region Champion USAW Cadet Freestyle National Finalist 2003 USAW Cadet Folkstyle National Champion 2003 FILA Cadet Freestyle All-American 2004 Ranked 19th in Wrestling USA Rankings Of Note: 2 4X Finalists: Bryan LaShomb, Kaylen Baxter 3 3X State Champions: Bryan LaShomb, Kaylen Baxter, Ben Fiacco 3 2X State Champions: Braxdon Scaletta, Chris Brown, Cam Watkins A total of 16 state championships 10 of the 11 signees are nationally ranked by Wrestling USA or InterMat. State Distribution: Virginia: 3 Pennsylvania: 2 Ohio 2 Maryland 1 Alaska 1 New York 1 Georgia 1
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