LAKELAND, Fla. - Head Coach Travis Patrick has announced the addition of 16 new wrestlers to the Fire Wrestling 2024 recruiting class.
The class of 10 freshmen and six transfer students combined for 16 high school state titles as well as 26 state finals appearances, and includes two Fargo and one NHSCA All-American honor.
The strong freshman class starts off with
Brodie Christmas, a four-time Alabama State Champion and Fargo All-American. Christmas is slated to compete at 125lbs for the Fire.
Lakeland native Erick Vargas comes in at the 125 pound weight class. He was a Florida state medalist, taking third in his senior year at Lakeland High School.
Brody Brisker will be joining his older brother Kael at SEU this season. Brody had a highly decorated high school career, finishing as a four-time Iowa State medalist.
Tyson Barnhart is a three-time State Finalist and two-time State Champion from Post Falls, Idaho. He will be competing in the 149 pound weight class.
Austin Chung comes to Southeastern as a multiple time Florida State Medalist and State Finalist for the Braves. This upcoming season he will be wrestling at 149 pounds.
Noah Graham comes south from Freeland High school in Michigan, where he placed two times in state competition.
Nikolas Trujillo comes in as the first New Mexico addition to the roster. His record breaking high school career included five state titles.
Ty Rodriguez comes to Southeastern from Brandon High School where he was a two-time state medalist.
Bray Emerine joins the Fire from Floyd Knobs, Indiana. Emerine finished his high school career as an Indiana state finalist and looks to make an impact in the upper weights.
Rounding out the freshmen class is a heavyweight from Ohio,
Bryce Wheatley. Wheatley is a multiple time Ohio State Medalist, finishing third his senior year.
Chaz Mcdonald, a transfer from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was a four-time Georgia State Finalist and two-time State Champion for Jefferson High School. He was also an NHSCA All-American his senior year. For the Fire he will wrestle at 125 pounds.
Aaron Lucio comes to Southeastern by way of NCAA DII Grand Valley State. The Michigan native was a three-time state champion, three-time state finalist, Fargo All-American, and U23 Greco All-American.
Two-time California Junior College (CCCAA) Finalist,
Mario De La Torre comes to Southeastern from Cerritos College. He will be wrestling in the 149 pound weight class for the Fire.
Graduate
Anthony Federico transfers in from the University of Illinois, and has also spent time at Fresno State University. Federico was a two-time Illinois state finalist, and will compete at 157 pounds.
Lane Reardon, a two-time Idaho State Champion, and transfers to the Fire from North Idaho College. He reunites with former Post Falls high school teammates
Gentry Smith and
Tyson Barnhart.
The final transfer signee in the class is
August Batson. Batson is transferring over from Keiser University and was a Florida State Finalist his senior year of high school.
The first action for the 2024-25 squad will come on October 25th at the annual Red vs. Black Dual, with the first outside competition coming at the Patriot Open in Corbin, Ky., on November 2nd.
You can view the complete schedule
here
