One member of David Taylor’s 2026 recruiting class is getting ready to wrestle in the Big 12 Championships this weekend, and the others have been dominating in their respective state tournaments.
Dreshaun Ross, Jordyn Raney, Jayden Raney, Michael White, Rocklin Zinkin and Luke Hamiti all stood atop the podium to close their high school wrestling careers, and they left little doubt in doing so.
Here’s a recap of how each preformed at their state tournament.
Ross
Flo cut together all four of Ross’ matches from the Iowa state tournament — that video is just 7:14 long.
Ross, who has a good shot at being the Cowboys’ heavyweight starter next season, teched his way to a fourth state title. None of his opponents even made it out of the first period.
Two of his foes got teched within a minute of the match starting with Ross looking like a high-level angler with all the catching and releasing. Ross’ quarterfinal match lasted 41 seconds as he managed four takedowns in that time.
Flo considers Ross the No. 5 pound-for-pound recruit in all of high school wrestling and the top heavyweight in the country.
The Raneys
Winning four state titles is something every middle school wrestler probably dreams about. Well, thanks to rules in Kentucky, the Raney twins leave high school with 11 state titles between them.
That’s right, middle schoolers are eligible for the state tournament. Jordyn and Jayden became the second and third Kentuckians to be five-time state champs while Jordyn became the first six-time Kentucky state champ.
Jordyn nearly pinned his wat through the 150-pound bracket. His first three matches took a combined 1:44 seconds. He won his final match via a 20-4 tech fall against Santiago Gonzalez in the final.
Per Flo, Jordyn’s career ends having gone 203-4 with 186 pins and a 94.6% bonus rate.
Jayden did pin his way through the 144-pound bracket. His entire five-match state tournament took 5:39. For reference, a standard wrestling match is seven minutes long.
Per Flo, Jayden was 201-6 in his high school career with 171 pins and a 98% bonus rate.
Both Raneys are U17 Greco World champs. Flo considers Jayden the No. 4 pound-for-pound wrestler in the high school ranks, while Jordyn is at No. 6 — separated by a Dreshaun Ross.
Zinkin
Rocklin Zinkin was a good prospect when he committed to Oklahoma State way back in September of 2024, but of late he’s really been taking off.
Zinkin had a highly anticipated state final against two-time U17 world champ Sammy Sanchez. Sanchez hadn’t lost a high school match … until he came up against Zinkin in that 120-pound final.
Zinkin picked up his third California state title, winning a dog fight 5-2.
Zinkin picked up tech fall wins in his first three matches of the tournament before beating his semifinal opponent via a 10-3 decision to get to Sanchez.
Zinkin was once considered the No. 100 recruit in the class but has climbed his way up to No. 15 on Flo’s pound-for-pound big board regardless of class.
White
Michael White hasn’t been wrestling long, but he’s proven to be a force on the mat.
After only starting wrestling as a high school freshman, White finished his senior year at 47-0 with an Indiana state title.
He teched his first three foes of the tournament before winning a wild 18-15 match in the final against Sam Howard.
White is the top-ranked 190-pound wrestler in the country, per Flo.
Hamiti
The younger brother of OSU national champ Dean Hamiti, Luke Hamiti won an Oklahoma state title with the Stillwater Pioneers at 190 pounds.
None of Hamiti’s three matches were particularly close, with him opening his state tournament with a 15-0 tech before securing a 12-3 major decision in the semis.
Hamiti beat Broken Arrow’s Brock McKnight 10-3 in the final, finishing the state tournament without being taken down.
While he wrestled at 190, Flo considers Hamiti as the No. 18 175-pounder in the country.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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