Cody Introduces Incoming Wrestling Class

Top Recruiting Classes (WIN Magazine Rankings)
1.	Penn State
2.	North Carolina
3.	Nebraska
4.	Rutgers
5.	Iowa State
6.	Iowa
7.	Cornell
8.	Oklahoma
9.	Purdue
10.	Lehigh
11.	Ohio State
12.	Princeton
13.	Virginia
14.	Virginia Tech
15.	Harvard
16.	Minnesota
17.	Oklahoma State
18.	Wyoming
19.	Air Force
20.	Missouri
21.	Army
22.	Old Dominion
23.	Stanford
24.	Pittsburgh
25.	Michigan State

NORMAN – OU wrestling head coach Mark Cody inked nine members to his incoming signing class, which he officially announced Tuesday.

Zachary Atencio, Dawaylon Barnes, Dalton Duffield, Seth Fritts, John Shrader, Vincent Spalitto, Jose Taylor, Jeremy Thomas and Justin Thomas, ranked the No. 8 recruiting class by WIN Magazine, will join the Sooners for the 2016-17 season and look to make a big impact for Cody's squad this season and for the future of the program.

“The recruiting here just continues to get better,” Cody said. “We need more kids that are willing to do what it takes to get to another level and buy into our plan and these guys help with that. I think this recruiting class gives us a lot to build off for our class next year as well. With basically our whole team coming back it's pretty impressive that we were able to put together a top-10 class this year.”

Zachary Atencio

Ardmore, Okla.
Plainview HS

2014 Oklahoma State Champ at 126 pounds
2015 Oklahoma State Runner-Up

Coach Cody on Zach: “Zach comes in with great experience. He's wrestled in several national tournaments and placed in many of them. He comes from a great program. His dad Rocky has won the past couple state championships, so I think Zach understand the level of commitment that it takes to be successful, not only on the coaching side but he will as a student-athlete.”

Dawaylon Barnes

Muskogee, Okla.
Muskogee HS

Juco transfer from NEO
2016 NJCAA National Champion at 157 pounds
2014-14 NJCAA Academic All-American
2014 Oklahoma State Champion

Coach Cody on Dawaylon: “Dawaylon Barnes winning a Junior College national championship is outstanding. His particular weight class was very competitive this year, so with him coming away with a championship is great. We love that he's an Oklahoma kid, and we try to get as many Oklahoma kids as possible who are capable of competing at this level, and he definitely is one of those guys.”

Dalton Duffield

Moore, Okla.
Westmoore HS

Two-time Greco-Roman Junior National Champion at 120 pounds
2016 Greco-Roman Junior Nationals Outstanding Wrestler
2016 Junior National Freestyle Runner-Up

Coach Cody on Dalton: “Sometimes you bring individuals in and they decide that after they've signed that they're going to take the summer off, but what Dalton did in Fargo is very impressive. He won several tournaments, and then to go to Junior Nationals and get Outstanding Wrestler is a big statement for him and for our program.”

Seth Fritts

Ardmore, Okla.
Plainview HS

2016 Oklahoma State Runner-Up at 182 pounds
2015 Oklahoma State Runner-Up at 160 pounds

Coach Cody on Seth: “Seth was a two-time runner-up in the state of Oklahoma, and I still think he has a lot of room to grow. I believe he will do what it takes to be successful at this level.”

John Shrader

Franklin, Tenn.
Franklin HS

Transfer from Chattanooga
Finished third at the 2015 SoCon Championship at 184 pounds
2015 Academic All-NWCA and Academic All-SoCon
2012 Tennessee State Champ
2011 Tennessee State Runner-Up

Coach Cody on John: “John Shrader comes to us with plenty of college experience and success already. I feel he's going to give a well-needed boost to our upper weights. He has all the tools that he needs to be successful.”

Vincent Spalitto

Kansas City, Mo.
Rockhurst HS

2016 Missouri State Champion at HWT

Coach Cody on Vincent: “Spalitto came on to the scene this year and has beaten all the top heavyweights in the state of Missouri. He's a big, strong young man and with some focus on technique I believe he can get to the next level.”

Jose Taylor

Houston, Texas
St. Thomas HS

Two-time Texas State Champion
Two-time NHSCA All-American
Two-time Powerade placer

Coach Cody on Jose: “Jose has wrestled in several of the big tournaments around the country. He comes to us from a great program, and what was really attractive about bringing him in is that everyone we talked to told us he was an extremely hard worker.”

Jeremy Thomas

Santa Ana, Calif.
Calvary Chapel HS

Ranked No. 7 at 170 pounds
2016 California State Champion at 170 pounds
2015 California State third-place finisher at 145 pounds
Runner-up at the Walsh Ironman tournament

Coach Cody on Jeremy and Justin: “The Thomas boys have won or placed high in several national tournaments. They were both runner-ups in the Ironman Tournament, which is the toughest high school tournaments in the country. Also, winning the state tournament in California is no easy task. There are 800 schools that wrestle in California, but only one state champ in each weight class. They're both at the top of their perspective weight classes nationally.”

Justin Thomas

Santa Ana, Calif.
Calvary Chapel HS

2016 California State Champion at 160 pounds
Three-time California State medalist
2015 California State Runner-Up at 152 pounds
Runner-up at the Walsh Ironman tournament
Ranked No. 9 at 152 pounds by Flo