November 23, 2004

BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech wrestling staff announced its early signing class Tuesday, a class that will enroll at Tech in the fall of 2005. Five athletes make up the early signing class that will be head coach Tom Brands' first recruiting class. Jay Borschel, Daniel LeClere, T.H. Leet, Brent Metcalf and Joey Slaton combine to give Tech one of the best early signing classes in the nation, according to one internet company.

"In the early signing period, Virginia Tech's class is certainly a top-five class nationally," said Tom Owens, who runs InterMat.com, one of the top sites devoted to wrestling of all levels. "Tech has one of the top recruits in the country, who could be argued as the No. 1 guy. You also have three highly ranked Iowa wrestlers and a Georgia wrestler who a lot of people are high on. So as for early signing classes, it has to be right up there with Minnesota, Iowa State and Cornell in the top five nationally."

Borschel is a five-star recruit (out of five possible stars), meaning InterMat considers him "a future contender for a NCAA Championship." He is from Marion, Iowa, and is a three-time Iowa state champion for Linn-Mar High. He is ranked the No. 19 recruit overall in the nation and the No. 4 recruit at 160 pounds by InterMat. He is projected as either a 165- or 174-pounder at Tech and chose the Hokies over Iowa and Northern Iowa.

LeClere is ranked as the No. 5 recruit nationally at 140 pounds, and the No. 40 recruit overall by InterMat. Hailing from Coggin, Iowa, LeClere is a three-time Iowa state champion for North-Linn High. He is listed as a four-star recruit by InterMat and chose Tech over Iowa and Nebraska. He placed third at the 2003 Cadet Freestyle National Championships and fourth at the 2003 Cadet Greco-Roman National Championships.

Another commitment in the early signing period came from Leet, a Westminster, Ga., native who is one of the top 171-pounders in the country. The two-time Georgia AAA state champion (152 pounds in 2003, 160 pounds in 2004) wrestles for The Westminster Schools and was named to the 2003-04 GWCA Dream Team as the 160-pounder after going 48-1 last year. He is ranked the No. 9 171-pounder, regardless of class, by Wrestling USA Magazine.

Metcalf highlights the class as he is the No. 2 recruit nationally, and the No. 1 recruit at 145 pounds, as ranked by InterMat. The Davison, Mich., product is listed as a five-star recruit. Metcalf, who wrestles at Davison High, chose the Hokies over Michigan, Missouri and Purdue. He is projected as a 149- or 157-pounder in college. An excellent student, Metcalf carries a 3.9 GPA and has an interest in engineering. He is a three-time Michigan state champion heading into his final season with a career record of 168-0. He was named as a member of the 2004 ASICS Tiger High School All-America First Team at 145 pounds. Metcalf has also been stellar in freestyle and Greco-Roman competition. He won USA Wrestling Junior freestyle and Greco-Roman national titles in 2003 and 2004. He was also a FILA Junior freestyle and Greco-Roman national champion in 2004. He is a member of the National Honor Society and he was recently nominated for the Wendy's Heisman Trophy, which is awarded to the top high school student-athlete in the nation.

Slaton hails from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and attends Kennedy High. He is ranked the No. 6 prospect in the nation at 130 pounds, and the No. 24 overall recruit in the nation by InterMat. He is listed as a four-star recruit (out of five possible stars), meaning InterMat considers him "a future NCAA high All-American candidate." Projected as a 133- or 141-pounder at Tech, Slaton has a career record of 125-11 heading into his final season. He was an Iowa state champ last year after finishing as the runner-up his freshman and sophomore seasons. He finished second at the 2003 FILA Cadet Freestyle Nationals and took sixth at that event in 2002. He chose the Hokies over Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa.

"Priority-wise, what we are trying to do is put recruiting at the top of our list," Brands said. "We put a lot of effort and energy into this class and it paid off. But, that being said, the next step is to get them on to campus and develop this class into multiple national championships. For us, the criteria we look at are attitude, work ethic and weight class need. This class fits those criteria very well."