Wildmo staying close to home, gives verbal to Spartans
8/30 - 2x state champ Roger Wildmo of Durand had a
tough decision to make with three big time wrestling
programs knocking on his door this summer, but in the
end Wildmo chose to stay close to home and stay in his
comfort zone with coach Tom Minkel and Michigan State
University.
“I chose Michigan State because I have been training there
since middle school and I have always wanted to be a
Spartan,” said Wildmo in a phone interview. “I am really
looking forward to working with coach Minkel and wrestling
for his team.”
Wildmo is currently ranked by InterMat as the #34 pound-
for-pound recruit senior recruit the country, the highest
ranked Michigan recruit by InterMat right now. He is
arguably the biggest in-state pick up for the Spartans in
recent years, and he steps into a program that has had a
great deal of success from 133 through 149 the past
couple of years.
“ I look forward to working with Chris (Williams) and Roger (Chandler), I think they will help me get better and continue to learn and improve,” said Wildmo regarding the Spartan assistant coaches. ”Seeing some of the wrestlers who have had success there with them makes me confident that they will be able to help me.”
Wildmo, who finished 3rd at the FloNationals last year and 8th at the 2009 Super 32 Challenge, is projected to wrestle at 149 in college. He says the plan is to redshirt his first year, which will allow for NCAA Qualifier David Cheza to finish up his senior season next year and Wildmo to slide right in for State in the 2012-13 season.
“I plan on redshirting to start, but I like setting my goals high,” said Wildmo. “I want to win an NCAA and Big Ten Title, but my main goal is to at least be an All-American for Michigan State.”
Wildmo will join a Spartan team that has been towards the bottom of the Big Ten conference the past few years, but he says that he is confident they have what it takes to become a top-tier Big Ten program in the near future.
“I think the program is picking up and I would like to be a part of helping MSU move
forward towards the top. It will be cool getting to wrestle with Danny (Osterman) and
a couple other guys I have known for a while,” said Wildmo. “I have a good work
ethic and I like to make my partners better, so I hope that MSU can get more people
like me to build a good room and a good team.”
Wildmo had narrowed his college choices down to three big time programs before
deciding to commit with Michigan State.
“I had narrowed it down to State, CMU, and Indiana. They were all close in my mind
but my relationship with the coaches and the program at Michigan State, as well it
being so close to home is what made me choose to go there.”
Wildmo, the #4 recruit in Michigan Grappler’s recruiting rankings, was the #1 recruit
in our Spring recruiting rankings and appears to be built for college wrestling. He is
tough on top and has proven to be competitive with nation’s best middleweights.
This year he will be a huge favorite to win his third state title after dominating
everyone in Division 3 at 140lbs last year, however he also plans on getting some more national competition in as the Grappler Fall Classic (Oct 16th in Tecumseh, MI) and the Super 32 Challenge (Oct 31 in Greensboro, NC) are also on the docket for him this fall.
Wildmo is the 4th member of Michigan’s class of 2011 to commit as Conor Youtsey committed to the US Military Academy a week ago and Devin Pommerenke-CMU and Cam Jackson-Michigan committed earlier this summer as well.
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