NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion wrestling team added six more student-athletes that will join the Monarchs for the 2015-16 season, Head Coach Steve Martin announced on Friday morning. Steven Simpson, Andrew Snyder, Connor O’Brien, Blake Sutherland, Shane Jones and Delawrence White will all take to the mat this fall.
“We filled in the rest of our needs with this recruiting class to compliment the student-athletes we brought in during the fall season,” said Martin. “They are all good students, athletes and citizens with high goals of becoming an All-American and national champion. The six new recruits, along with the six from the fall, will help continue to raise our program to the next level. As a coach, it is good to see your incoming freshmen hungry to reach those goals.”
Steven Simpson (125 or 133, Leonardtown, Md., St. Mary’s Ryken High School)
Martin on Simpson:
“Steve is one of the top-100 senior recruits in the nation. He was an All-American at both the Super32 and the Beast of the East. In addition, he was also a National Prep champion this year. He has consistently proven himself at the national level as one of the top lightweights in the nation. He is a very hard worker and he could wrestle at 125 or 133 for us. We are really excited to get him on campus. I think he is going to make an impact pretty quickly.”
· Career record of 245-24 (3rd on Maryland’s all-time win list)
· Nationally ranked by Flo Wrestling and Intermat at 126 lbs.
o Flo: 19th, 11th among seniors and
o Intermat: 19th, 13th among seniors
· Ranked No. 97 in Flo’s Top Seniors in the country
· Two-time Maryland Independent State Champion
o 2012 – 1st
o 2013 – 3rd
o 2014 – 2nd
o 2015 – 1st
· 2015 National Prep Champion
o Four-time All-American
1. 2012 – 4th
2. 2013 – 3rd
3. 2014 – 2nd
4. 2015 – 1st
· 2014 Super32 Pre-Season Tournament placer (5th)
· 2014 NHSCA Junior National Runner-Up
· Three-time Beast of the East placer
o 2012 – 6th
o 2013 – 4th
o 2014 – 5th
· Four-time Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Champion
· Four-time All-Conference and All-County
· Three-time All-Metropolitan
Andrew Snyder (285, Virginia Beach, Va., Princess Anne High School)
Martin on Snyder:
“Andrew was an All-American at the Super32, as well as a state runner-up this past season at heavyweight. He will be competing for time at heavyweight next year. Princess Anne High School has done a great job producing outstanding student-athletes and Snyder fits that bill perfectly. We are looking for big things from him from the start.”
· Career record of 143-29 / 49-2 as a senior
· 2015 VHSL 5A State Tournament Runner-Up
· 2014 Super32 placer (6th)
· 2014 MAWA Eastern National Champion
· Two-time place winner at War on the Shore, N.J.
· 2014 VHSL 5A State Tournament placer (3rd place)
Connor O’Brien (197 or 285, Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic High School)
Martin on O’Brien:
“O’Brien is from Bergen Catholic High School and we project him at 197, but he can very easily be converted to a heavyweight because he has the size. Bergen Catholic is one of the top high schools in the nation and they are consistently ranked in the top-10. Connor comes from a program with a lot of tradition, so he is a versatile athlete and already knows how to work hard on and off the mat. Connor loves to train and will push out upper-weights on a daily basis.”
· 2015 NJSIAA place winner (5th place)
· 2015 First-Team All-County and Second Team All-North Jersey
· 2015 Ridgewood News All-Southland First-Team
· 2015 District and Sectional Champion
· Helped lead Bergen Catholic to a team district and state title in 2015
· Fifth place at Doc Buchanan Tournament
Blake Sutherland (165, Chattanooga, Tenn., Baylor High School)
Martin on Sutherland:
“Blake has proven himself at the highest level by placing at the National Preps and earning All-American status there. We project him to be at the 165-pound level for us this year. He is another recruit that is a model student-athlete because he works incredibly hard on and off the mat. We expect Blake to help take our program to the next level during his time as a Monarch.”
· Career record of 113-19
· Two-time 160 lbs. Regional and State Champion
· 2015 State Championships Outstanding Wrestler
· Two-time state place winner
o 2013 – 4th (138 lbs)
o 2014 – 3rd
· Two-time Best of Preps award winner
· 2015 National Prep Wrestling Tournament place winner (4th)
· 2015 Takedown Sportswear Runner-Up
· 2015 Grand River Rumble Champion
· 2014 Tennessee USAW Greco Roman Runner-Up
· 2014 Brett Warren Invitational Champion
· 2014 McCallie Invitational Wrestling Tournament Runner-Up
Shane Jones (157, Stroudsburg, Pa., Stroudsburg High School)
Martin on Jones:
“Shane is from one of the toughest wrestling state in the country, Pennsylvania. It is a good thing when you can get an athlete from that state and you have to feel good about it. His sister is a member of the ODU field hockey Team, Alyssa Jones, so it’s neat that he gets to be reunited with his sister. Shane is an extremely hard worker and has very high goals of being an All-American and national champion. He also does very well in school and we expect him to excel in both aspects here at ODU.”
· Career record of 105-49
· Pennsylvania AAA State qualifier
· 2015 Regional Championship place winner (3rd)
· Two-time District 11 place winner
o 2014 – 6th
o 2015 – 5th
Delawrence White (141, Chesapeake, Va., Oscar Smith High School)
Martin on White:
“Delawrence is from Oscar Smith High School and is on the same team as one of our earlier signees Seldon Wright. Delawrence is very talented athlete. We think he has a very high ceiling that he can reach. He works extremely hard and he is exactly the type of athlete we want to bring to ODU.”
· 2015 Virginia 6A State Runner-Up
· 2014 Virginia National Team qualifier
· Ocean Lakes Invitational Champion
· WRAL High Invitational place winner (4th)
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