It’s recruiting season, and the juniors just became fair game.

The Class of 2020 is about to go full force into the recruiting game, and there are some heavy hitters who will be getting a lot of attention. As we await their decisions and announcements, let’s take a look at the top prospects on the Junior Big Board who we expect to get some serious attention. 

Check out which coaches could be visiting these top recruits.

Note: The latest Junior Big Board was updated on June 12 and does not reflect the latest results; however, we do not expect there to be much movement with this grouping.

1. Josh Saunders (MO)

Weight Class Ranking: #1 at 132

Projected Weight: 141/149

Saunders, who just got the nod to replace Austin Gomez on the Junior World Team, will be in action at Who’s #1 against Jordan Decatur. That night, expect to see why Saunders is as highly sought after as he is. At the U.S. Open we saw him battle with some of the most talented guys who are already on the D1 level, including Gomez and Vito Arujau, who he defeated to place third. Saunders has the tools and poise of a wrestler much older and has continued to improve each time out. He’s been taking his lumps from a young age, (wrestled in the high school division at FloNationals as an eighth grader) and is moved to dishing it out as a Fargo Champion and Missouri state champ.

Watch Saunders take out Arujau:

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2. Dustin Plott (OK)

Weight Class Ranking: #4 at 170

Projected Weight: 184

A lot of eyes turned to Plott with his runner-up finish in Las Vegas at the Open. His run included wins over Jason Romero, Tyler Dow, and Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero, who he took out in the quarters. He had a back-and-forth battle with Iowa’s Jeremiah Moody in the finals, but he already had the attention from plenty of coaches. He followed that up with another runner-up finish in Fargo and show some more grit and versatility all the way to the finals. 

3. AJ Ferrari (TX)

Weight class ranking: #1 at 195

Projected weight: 197

Excluding his loss at Cadet Worlds, where he brought back bronze, it’s been a while since Ferrari lost a match. Ferrari has proved to be the top dog with his top finish in Akron to claim the spot on the cadet world team. During his sophomore season he won titles at Ironman, Reno TOC, and the Texas state tournament. He was flawless. He also accomplished that at two different weights. His Ironman and Reno title came at 182 and his state title came at 195. That’s before winning the 92kg spot on and winning bronze at Cadet Worlds.

4. Robert Howard (NJ)

Weight class ranking: #1 at 126

Projected weight: 133

Who needs a scrappy lightweight? Whoever lands Howard is getting a pretty raw dude with a lot of upside. He’s made two cadet world teams and despite coming back empty handed, he is still a guy that can score big points. I believe that as a competitor he can use a bit more poise. He can get a bit anxious in matches forcing him to panic a bit like we’ve seen at the world championship tournaments. But he’s a dynamic competitor. He’s got titles in Akron along with a New Jersey state title. He may even grow into a 141 at some point.

Watch Howard defeat Michael Colaiocco:

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5. Braxton Amos (WV)

Weight class ranking: #2 at 195

Projected weight: 197

Another big man who has had eyes on him for a while. Amos was backed by four Fargo titles which all came before he had his first regular-season high school match. Once he stepped on the mat in his high school singlet in his sophomore year it was more of the same results that preceded him. A title at Ironman, another at Powerade and then last at the West Virginia state tournament followed. For the first time we saw him face some adversity when he took losses in both styles in Akron and failed to make the world. He wrestled back and avenged losses, which bodes very well for him on the recruiting landscape. 

6. Jesse Vasquez (CA)

Weight class ranking: #3 at 145

Projected weight: 157/165

Man, what a big mixed bag of tricks this dude has. Vasquez is a pretty complete wrestler. He’s certainly got the skills on his feet, but he also has the ability to ride. As great as his legs attacks are, the fact that he can ride tough on top is what sets him apart to me. We’ve seen him battle with the best. At last year’s Ironman he notched a win over Carson Manville, who currently sits atop of the weight class. Vasquez had a pair of runner-up finishes last year to Michigan recruit Joey Silva. The first was at Super 32 and the second came at Ironman. But he finished his season strong with a California state title.

7. Beau Bartlett (AZ)

Weight class ranking: #4 at 132

Projected weight: 133/141

He’s got an impressive resume of wins. When he was in seventh grade he defeated PSU commit Adam Busiello to win Eastern States at 99lbs. He followed up the next year by taking out current NC State wrestler Tommy Cox at 113. He also defeated Michigan recruit Joey Silva in Akron that same year. Once he was fully apart of the high school ranks he came in as the top seed at Ironman and beat Ryan Anderson to win the title as a freshman. He may not have won Ironman last year, but he notched a win over Jordan Decatur to finish third. Later on he added another big win when he handed Gavin Teasdale his first ever regular season loss in the Powerade finals. He’s also a two-time National Prep Champion. He proved to be a true competitor and continues to level up.

8. Trevor Mastrogiovanni (NJ)

Weight class ranking: #5 at 120

Projected weight: 133/141

The best we’ve seen from him came when he defeated two-time Cadet World Champion Kurt McHenry 3-1 to win his second straight National Prep title. While that was a huge staple, it’s not the only shining moment. He dominated his way to the top of the podium at Ironman last year taking out Dylan Ragusin and Cevion Severado in the semis and finals by a combined score of 15-0. Safe to say his defence is on point. Recently he didn’t have the best showing in Fargo, but don’t get it twisted, he can scrap. 

Watch Mastogiovanni defeat Kurt McHenry in OT:

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9. Nash Hutmacher (SD)

Weight class ranking: #2 at 285

Projected weight: 285

Can we all join hands and say a prayer asking for this big man to stay in wrestling instead of lacing up the cleats? In all seriousness, Hutmacher is a rare breed. He was a Fargo champion as a cadet two years ago and the runner-up this year in Freestyle then finished third in Greco. But he’s a solid recruit with a lot of upside. Coaches will have to fight double the amount of recruiting tactics with his ability to get things done on the mat as well as the field.

10. Julian Tagg (OH)

Weight class ranking: #4 at 120

Projected weight: 133

If you look at the track record of siblings you’d see that most of them are a package deal. His brother Gabe, who we will see in action at WNO, is already a verbal commit to UNC so most are speculating that Julian will follow. Is it possible, certainly, but that’s yet to be determined. Tagg is an extremely active wrestler on his feet and has some tricks that not many possess (see Mike Mal’s Behind the Dirt for an example). Anyway, he’s got a Fargo title (2016), and was also an AA this past year. He also finished fourth at Ironman with 1-point losses to Joey Melendez and Malik Heinselman. He has recently left his high school to train at the OTC and go to school in Colorado.

11. Sammy Hillegas (PA)

Weight class ranking: #7 at 138

Projected weight: 141/149

Like the other guys on this list, Hillegas was the tough draw from the start. If you don’t believe me then take a look at his freshman year when he was unseeded and ended up winning the title. He came up short and placed third at the same tournament last season after taking a loss to eventual champ Bartlett. It was that match that highlighted both Barlett’s ability to ride as well as Hillegas’ troubles on bottom against elite competition. But that’s a minor thing because he is a hammer on top in his own right. It was that strong top game that powered him to his state title last season as he recorded three straight first period falls to make the finals before getting a 4-2 win to become the champ. 

Watch Hillegas dominate Ed Scott to place 3rd at Powerade:

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12. Dom Mata (CA)

Weight class ranking: #7 at 160

Projected weight: 165/174

Like Hillegas, Mata’s ability to ride is certainly his x-factor. It literally was his saving grace in the California state finals last year as he edged Trey Munoz, 1-0. He’s got pretty solid positioning on his feet, and can certainly play the conservative game very well too and not fire off a whole bunch of attacks and put himself in trouble. Just based off of his performance at the state tournament you can see that he’s got some great tools. He had a wide range of matches that spanned from him being a dominant pinner to him have to play it safe like he did against Munoz.