If you follow college recruiting closely, you know that 24 of the top 30 guys on the Junior Big Board have publicly announced their verbal, meaning 80 percent of the best kids in the country seem to have their commitment for the next level.

Of those six who haven't yet, many counted Cael (pronounced "Ky Ell") Valencia as someone they knew where he was going. You might think, well he's Zahid and Anthony's little brother, there's no doubt he's going to Arizona State. The Sun Devils are definitely an option, and a strong one, but after speaking with Cael and his father Ruben, they're still a long way from making a decision.

I hesitate to even call it a school list, because he still has four official visits left and speaks frequently with coaches from all of the remaining teams. Ruben in fact did not even specifically rule out any other schools joining the fray, but from the sounds of things it is unlikely as they'd have some serious catching up to do as the following programs have put a lot of work into trying to land Valencia.

Cael Valencia's College Options

• Arizona State
• Iowa
• Michigan
• North Carolina
• Ohio State
• Oklahoma State
• Penn State
• Stanford

I listed them alphabetically because there is no clear leader at this time and again, they haven't told any of these coaches definitively that they are out of the running. However, it was Stanford who was the first to reach out last June 15, and that's where he has taken his only official visit to at this point. Ruben mentioned each of the coaches there has made an effort to develop a relationship with Cael and they are very well aware of the strong academic options Stanford could provide.

We also received Trey Kibe's school list yesterday, and Stanford is an option for him as well. Although we have both of them projected as 174s in college, it's not necessarily an either/or situation. We've had conversations about Kibe getting as big as 197, and Valencia could wind up anywhere from a 165 to 184 depending on how much growing he has left to do.

Kibe was briefly committed to Penn State before re-opening his recruiting process. The Nittany Lions have a ton of talent already in those areas, the 165-197 range, and that's before factoring in Alex Facundo being committed from this 2021 class. However, I don't think that factors in much to Facundo's decision and I know it doesn't play into Valencia's. But there's no doubt PSU would have to get creative to maximize starting years out of Joe Lee, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, Michael Beard, Facundo, and Valencia.

Some wrestlers only have their eyes on the Big Ten, and while the strength of that conference no doubt appeals to the Valencias, they're not dead set on attending there. However, several Big Ten powers have aggressively pursued Cael, including Michigan. Freestyle aspirations are certainly in Cael's future, and the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club should have excellent partners for him in Logan Massa, Myles Amine, and now Alex Dieringer. He'd also be a good fit lineup-wise, especially if Cam Amine can make 157 and Jaden Bullock can go either 165 or 174.

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Valencia has had two excellent battles with Ohio State commit Paddy Gallagher, one in the Fargo quarters and again in the finals of Doc B. A Gallagher/Valencia combo would be an excellent 1-2 punch for tOSU, but they've also got four years left of Carson Kharchla and three for Rocky Jordan, so if they can make the money work and Gallagher can hold 157 for a few years, the Buckeyes will be extremely strong in the back half of their lineup.

A team on the rise with a young coaching staff hungry to chase down those Big Ten powers also has their eye on Cael Valencia. North Carolina has made a serious impression on Cael thanks to the tireless efforts of Coleman Scott and Tony Ramos, and they already landed Sonny Santiago from the class of 2020. Santiago and Valencia train together at the Monster Garage, the club run by Ruben, so the Tar Heels would not only keep their California pipeline going but keep the two longtime friends and training partners together.

Speaking of the Monster Garage, it's getting a facelift and will soon be back to full force. Ruben's team is training in there and he is anticipating another run along the lines of what they had a few years ago with Anthony and Zahid, Aaron Pico, and Cade Olivas. So we'll likely see another string of Southern California hammers soon enough.

As has been the case for a couple of years now, Coleman has been going toe-to-toe with his old coach John Smith on the recruiting trail, and that's no different here. Chris Perry and Tyler Caldwell envision Valencia having an even better career than the ones they had. This being Oklahoma State, they'd probably like to keep Cael at 165. They brought in the top recruiting class of 2020, with Luke Surber, Dustin Plott, Daniel Jezik, and AJ Ferrari having to fill out 174-197. The Cowboys already have commitments from juniors Victor Voinovich and Travis Mastrogiovanni, meaning they'd like to keep them at 149 and 157 respectively if Valencia commits. All of this on top of guys like Travis Wittlake and Anthony Montalvo already in Stillwater, and Valencia may be looked at as a luxury by the rest of the country if he decides to don the Orange & Black in college.

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Iowa was poised to win a national title this year, but to keep that run going they understand the importance of recruiting. They've also made it clear with the Abe Assad/Cash Wilcke situation that the best man will go regardless of age. That would come into play here if Patrick Kennedy goes 165 and Nelson Brands drops back down to 174. He'd be a senior when Valencia is a redshirt freshman, with Abe Assad also in his senior year 184 if he doesn't redshirt.

Bringing it back around to Arizona State, there will obviously be the pull of his older brothers, as well as the relationship the family has established with Zeke Jones and Lee Pritts. They appear to also have an opening coming at 165, with Jacori Teemer at 157 and Trey Munoz up at 174. So they could make a ton of sense lineup wise right as the team is going through a shift with two coaches leaving and the 2015 recruiting class graduating.

While I spent the vast majority of this article looking at lineup fit and how Cael would fit into the rosters of these schools, it was repeatedly stressed throughout the conversation that they're not too concerned with it. Ruben wants his son to make a choice where he will feel comfortable and confident for wrestling and his life afterward, and if there's a lineup conflict so be it, the coaches will work that out.

Whenever this quarantine ends, I expect Cael Valencia to come out guns blazing. A season in which he won Super 32, Reno, Doc B, and 5 Counties ended with a stunning loss in the state finals. He wants to make sure that's not any coach's last memory of him.