Jared McGill the #9 ranked 184 pounder just flipped from Army to Pitt as part of the 2019 class. Another nice addition for coach Gavin
#9 Ranked 184 commits to Pitt
- Thread starter lucac
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That is a great pick up. Interesting that he choice not to go to Army. I am shocked that the academies do not have better wrestling teams than they do. Wrestling does not have the profession that other sports enjoy. One way to get paid to compete is to be in the Army and be apart of their Freestyle or Greco team. I understand that military life is not for everyone but you would think a wrestler would fit well in that environment.
The article I read made it seem like he just thinks Pitt is a better option for his wrestling career and still a good school plus the improvement in the program he has noticed since Gavin took over is what lead to the change. Also said it was closer 2 home
I am happy with the pick up and I am not talking him about him specifically. My comment was more a general comment.
Navy was a power in the 1970's when Ed Perry (Pitt alum) was their coach. Rex Perry (his father) coached Pitt in the late 50's and 60's when we were crowning individual champs each year including Ed and Hugh (brother) who became a dentist and practiced in the North Hills for years. I don't know how true this story is but had heard when Gulf Oil was a major player and headquartered in Pittsburgh, many executives from the Oklahoma were coming to Pittsburgh and wanted to see good college wrestling. Rex was brought in from that area and put Pitt wrestling on the map. The Perry's had at least 9 individual titles between them, maybe more if freshman were eligible then as they are now. Freshman became eligible in 1970 and Randy Payne (New York) was NCAA runner up at 126.
Great pick up. Amazing we flipped a kid from West Point, that is a serious education. Not that Pitt isn't a great school but a military academy grad has a golden ticket in the military. Toss in the fact that his military job would be wrestling, it is one heck of a place to compete. Apparently Gavin is a very good recruiter.
I can’t ever remember Army being a power. But, when Ed Peery was the coach at Navy, they were a perennial Eastern power. Had a better team than Pitt all 4 years I attended Pitt. Peery got every last ounce of talent out of everyone who wrestled for Navy. By contrast, Army would have one or two good wrestlers a year.
