Blue White Illustrated

A nymore, especially in mainstream college sports, the pursuit of the best recruits seems to be unending. Due in large part to the rise of social media, a coach's quest for certain top-end prospects can play out around the clock, each week, almost all year-round. In wrestling, Cael Sanderson aims to take a di7erent approach. Recruiting classes, of course, are down- sized in a sport that is limited to only 9.9 total scholarships – compared to 85 in football or 13 in basketball – and that ob- ligates a wrestling coach to be naturally selective when rounding out a recruiting class. Plus, a9er signing a recruiting class a year ago that consisted of three top-10- rated prospects, exhausting what could end up being close to a third of the schol- arship allotment, Sanderson was forced to be even more selective with his Class of 2015. So selective, in fact, that in a way, he let this year's prized recruit – Vincenzo Joseph of Pittsburgh Central Catholic – choose him, instead of the other way around. "Those are the guys I want," Sanderson said. "I don't want to chase guys around for 12 months and try to talk them into coming to Penn State. You want guys who know where they want to be." He found one in Joseph, a two-time Pennsylvania state champion who 6nished his career with a 136-21 record and as the No. 2 152-pounder in the country. Inter- matWrestle.com also considers Joseph the nation's No. 7 overall prospect in the 2015 class. He is expected to begin his PSU career either at the 149- or 157-pound weight class. In addition to Penn State, Joseph con- sidered Cornell, Iowa, Ohio State and Vir- ginia Tech, taking o8cial visits to each. But when it came time to make a decision last fall, prior to the start of his senior season, he said there was only one option. "I know [PSU] is de6nitely the best place out there right now," he said. "Some schools felt like a good place to me; others didn't really as much," Joseph later added. "And I based my decision o7 that. I just picked the place where I felt like I can be the best that I can be and [help the team] have the most success." His familiarity with both the campus and the wrestling program were key fac- tors in his decision. Joseph, whose broth- er Victor is a student at University Park, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED WRESTLING | Cael Sanderson wants 'guys who know where they want to be.' In two-time state champ Vincenzo Joseph, he found one COLLEGE BOUND Ranked second na- tionally at 152 pounds, Joseph won PIAA championships his junior and senior seasons. He was also a four-time state place-winner for Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Photo cour- tesy of PCC Wrestling

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