I have always heard that if the University of Houston could lock down all the D1 talent in thier area that they would compete for the National Title in Football every year.

If Kentucky had a D1 program right now, and all the D1 talent from KY were on that team, how do you think it would compete on the national level?

What would the team look like?

Tell me 10 Kentucky kids who are ranked at the Div I level. Yenter at Michigan State, Ervin at Illinois (along with Fahy), and a great bunch who are seniors this year in HS--all great wrestlers but none of them are near AA level yet. Not saying they won't be, but they aren't yet.

How many have made AA from Kentucky? Ruschel (sp) a few years ago at Wisconsin. Are there any more?

I love Kentucky wrestling, but we are nowhere near competing on a national level head to head against the wrestling hotbed states.

I agree.  I don't think an all KY D-1 team would be a threat to win a national title or anything, just wondering who might be on it, and how competitive they would be? 

This is just one of those silly topics to get some insight and a little discussion going.

Here's a list from another topic of the kids currently wrestling Division I, or signed for next year:

2011

John Lampe - UTC

Caleb Ervin - Illinois

2012

John Fahy - Illinois

Garth Yenter - Michigan State

T.J. Ruschell - Wisconsin

2013

Kevin Cooper - UTC

Wade Willen - SIUE

Jayce Carr - Cleveland State

Gabe French - Indiana

2014

Nathan Boston - Iowa State

Justin Lampe - UTC

Brock Ervin - Illinois

Sean Fausz - NC State

A Division One program in Kentucky would be great, but would require some serious recruiting out of state to compliment the in-state talent.  

Trae Blackwell to Oklahoma ?

Should Stephen Myers be at the D-1 level. I know he has competed pretty well this year against some D-1 kids.

So arguably the historically most successful college program in America is the University of Iowa. Only 18 of the 37 young men on the roster right now are from the state of Iowa, the rest recruited from New Jersey to California. That's true of every sport and all respected programs. Mark Stoops just recruited 7 of the top 25 football players in Ohio, but building around trying to keep the best in state talent here.

There are enough D1 wrestlers here to build a nice program around them.

It will need to be Louisville in the ACC. The SEC is not an option - although Mizzou kept their program and took wrestling to the MAC when other sports joined the SEC.

I would still like to see a D1 program in the state.

I would too, i think it is what we really need to grow our sport more here in KY.

Intermat rankings as of this week. States and the number of wrestlers ranked from the respective state.

1. Pennsylvania--38, no surprises and why Cael left ISU.

2. Illinois--26, seems to be up and coming.

3. California--23, huge wrestling state. Top to bottom not as good as other states, but the sheer volume of teams produce the third most intermat rankings.

4. Ohio--22, blue blood state. I think they'd be second to Pa if each brought their best to a dual.

5. NJ--21, good state but artificially inflated by Blair's 8.

In the Fab Fifty.

1. Pennsylvania with 7 teams in the top 50.

2. Ohio, not far behind with 6.

3. California, Oklahoma, and New Jersey have 5.

So, back to Ky against its neighbors. Ky in a dual with the best from each state. Ky has 4 ranked wrestlers, Ohio has 22, Illinois has 26, Indiana has 10, Missouri has 10, Tennessee has 1, Virginia has 4, and WV doesn't have any.

Of course the duals would be interesting with some studs bumping weights around. I see Ky losing big to Ohio and Illinois, competing with but losing to In and Mo, and handily winning against Tenn and WV. The dual with Virginia would be a tossup. I see Ky going either 2-5 or 3-4.

That's a long way from just a generation ago in the 1990s when I wrestled in Ohio high school and South Carolina college.

I don't consider Ky part of the south. But for those who do I think aside from Virginia, Florida and Georgia, Team Ky would roll everyone else. Some good wrestling in the Carolinas too.

Awesome breakdown ,over the years though I have noticed Fl is always overrated , bet Kys best would do well against them !

An in state D1 program helps wrestling at all levels in the state.

Florida is hit or miss. Brandon is the real deal. Isn't the Cozart kid at Lindsey-Wilson the son of their coach? Talk about a state that needs a wrestling college.

Yes Cozart is legit , Brandon is for real .