Who Called The Class of 2027?

The first allowed contact for the Class of 2027 was on June 15th just after the clock struck midnight. Since then, top recruits across the country have been hit with nonstop notifications from prospective coaches calling for them to come join their team. New York's 2027 class in particular is a diamond mine of talent - we have multiple time NHSCA All-Americans that sit in the low teens on the 2027 Big Board. With multiple names being sought after by a multitude of institutions, New York Wrestling News had the privilege of connecting with some of our top recruits on our 2027 Big Board.

Interesting to note here that of those we reached out to, three wrestle at the KD Training Center (Gavin Mangano, Will Soto, Anthony LaGala-Ryan) and three wrestle with Gorilla Grapplers (Landyn Shaffer, Maverick Beckwith, Ashten Haley). Both amazing wrestling clubs that continue to churn out talent.

Please note that these are the schools who have contacted each individual at the time we spoke, and that list could now be expanded. The school listing when typed out is not in order of any student-athlete's preference of schools.

GAVIN MANGANO (SHOREHAM-WADING RIVER)

The sweepstakes for the KD Training Center's Gavin Mangano have begun. Mangano has turned into the premier prospect of New York's 2027 recruiting class, and is now tabbed the 13th ranked recruit in all of the United States by MatScouts. No matter how deep a college roster may be, every single one of 'em has lined up to try and persuade the 2x state champ to join their team. If you were wondering why...

Last summer Mangano made waves at Fargo where he finished 3rd in the 16U Freestyle division at 132 lbs. Along the way he dominated Grayson Fuchs (MI) 10-0 who is Michigan's top dog in their 2027 recruiting class, and the 53rd ranked recruit in the country. During his 3rd place match he beat Jovani Solis (FL) 4-4 on criteria, and Solis is currently the 16th best recruit in the land for the 2028 class. Fast forward to Super 32 where Mangano picked up his third podium finish where he landed in 6th (previous finishes being 2nd and 8th). En route to his 6th place finish he scored a win over Adrian DeJesus (Cornell commit) who finished as the 68th best prospect in the class of 2025, and then also stuck Billy Townson (Rutgers commit) who ended as the 98th ranked recruit in the class of 2025.

It doesn't matter who Mangano has wrestles, he continues to beat whoever you put in front of him. Prospective colleges see that too. Some of the schools that have reached out to Gavin include Penn State, Rutgers, Lehigh, Cornell, Virginia, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Princeton, West Virginia, NC State, and Stanford. The universities to first contact Mangano were Princeton and West Virginia.

Mangano suffered a broken fibula in his state finals match against Ashten Haley, where he broke it in the first period. His doctors still say they don't know how he was able to finish that match (and win). Because of that gruesome injury, he was expected to be on the mend for 8-12 weeks. He wasn't able to make it to NHSCA's, but has been training and preparing for Fargo since. Perhaps we will see Mangano again at Fargo, and if not, we will certainly will see him back on the mat this fall.

Gavin mentioned that the KD Training Center has been great, and working with Coach Khaled Dassan has put him in an environment where he can succeed. He mentioned that being around KD has allowed him to wrestle more freely and with less pressure, while boosting his confidence and helping him in all aspects of his wrestling life.

WILLIAM SOTO (NEWBURGH)

Soto is one of the premier lightweight prospects in the United States where he is almost guaranteed to be a lifetime 125lb wrestler at the Division I level; this is rare to come across, and something that many institutions value. Soto is NYWN's #2 recruit in the entire Class of 2027, and also landed at the #86 spot on MatScouts latest class rankings.

Schools that have contacted Soto so far and expressed interest include Penn State, Cornell, Army West Point, Lehigh, Princeton, Stanford, Brown, Virginia, Penn, Buffalo, North Carolina State, Binghamton, Rutgers, West Virginia, and George Mason.

The calls from a lot of these schools are particularly interesting as Soto trains at the KD Training Center with Khaled Dassan. As we all know, the club holds great relationships with the coaches there. In fact, the club has hosted (or is hosting) Penn State, Princeton, Lehigh, Cornell, Stanford, and Penn who have all called Soto.

It should be no surprise that these schools are interested in Soto's services - he's continued to perform well both in-state and out-of-state. The 2x state champ has dominated the competition within the New York boundaries, his closest match in the 2024-25 season being a 12-4 major decision in the state finals. Last summer Soto competed at the U15 Pan-Am Championships where he represented the Puerto Rico National Team, and came back with gold in the freestyle division of the 48kg weight class. He's also finished 6th at Fargo and won NHSCA's.

ANTHONY LAGALA-RYAN (LONGWOOD)

The Long Island standout and KD Training Center product has continued to perform at the highest level both in-state and out-of-state throughout the last several years. Throughout LaGala-Ryan's prep career thus far he's landed high on the podium three times at the state tournament (5-5-3) in deep brackets with nationally accomplished wrestlers. LaGala-Ryan registered 43 wins during his sophomore campaign with 39 of those coming by pin or tech fall, 3 coming by way of major decision, and only 1 match coming by way of decision. Included in those 43 wins were wins over a couple Division I wrestling commits - those being Tommy Aiello (Long Island) and Cullen Edwards (Buffalo).

Outside of the Empire State, LaGala-Ryan has won NHSCA Nationals twice and placed three times. He's also competed at Fargo, where he went 4-2 in the 16U Freestyle bracket a year ago. Over the last 12 months LaGala-Ryan has registered wins over Ryan O'Keefe (VA - State Champ), Layne Martin (MI - State Champ, Fargo 16U Freestyle AA, GFC Runner-Up), Jack Baker (CA - Fargo 16U Greco AA), Cullen Edwards (NY - GFC Champ), and Mac Johnson (NC - State 2nd). It makes complete sense as to why he's currently tabbed 3rd on our 2027 Big Board, and 138th nationally by MatScouts.

As we all know, the KDTC continues to have college coaches coming through their room to run clinics / practices, and those coaches get to see how LaGala-Ryan trains. Those who are lining up for the lightweight stars talents include Cornell, Lehigh, Buffalo, NC State, Stanford, Hofstra, Penn, Army West Point, and George Mason. Wherever he lands, he's a star pickup.

LANDYN SHAFFER (DEPOSIT-HANCOCK)

Landyn Shaffer has turned the corner in the last 12 months and is turning into a captivating 2027 recruit. He's a bruiser who attacks you for the entire match and empties the gas tank, which makes sense considering he's training at Gorilla Grapplers. Throughout the 2024-25 wrestling season he competed against some of the states best, and contested extremely close matches against Luke Satriano (top 250 graduating senior on MatScouts), and Chris Noto (top 5 2026 in-state recruit). After placing third at the state tournament with a close match against Noto, he travelled down to NHSCA Nationals where he was originally the #13 seed and ran through the bracket en route to a fourth place finish. His significant wins included Orion Hill (CA - State 7th), Deven Lopez (CO - 4A State Champ), and Carter Price (WV - AA State Champ).

Shaffer currently sits as the #4 in-state recruit in the Class of 2027, and has not yet cracked the national class rankings. Despite not yet cracking the national class rankings, many institutions still see this gem out of Section IV as a future asset to their program. It comes to no surprise that half a dozen Division I schools are in the works for his commitment - those including Penn, Cornell, The Citadel, Buffalo, and Army West Point.

Be on the lookout for Shaffer these next few months as he has plans to wrestle at Fargo, Grappler Fall Classic, and Super 32.

MAVERICK BECKWITH (NORWICH)

Not only a pretty cool name, but an awesome wrestler from New York's Southern Tier region that trains at Gorilla Grapplers. He also happens to be a 2x state champ and 3x state medalist (3-1-1) who is now sitting at #5 on our 2027 Big Board and 129th nationally by MatScouts. Beckwith has been a premier name in New York dating back to his middle school days.

Beckwith mentioned that the first school to call him once the recruiting window opened was Buffalo. We knew Donnie Vinson is packing firepower in his 2026 class, but he's keeping his foot on the gas with efforts to keep Beckwith closer to home. Other schools that are in the running for the Section IV standout include another university close to home in the Bearcats of Binghamton alongside Penn, Northwestern, Hofstra, and Cornell.

Maverick scored a signature win over Nico Rivera this year, who got the best of Nikos Filipos (Navy commit) and Finnegan O'Brien (top 75 sophomore nationally). Out of state, Beckwith recently beat Jonas Rebstock (LA) who is a LA DII state champ and 3x Adidas Nationals All-American. Beckwith was one match shy of earning All-American honors at NHSCA Sophomore Nationals this spring, and placed 2nd at the Ohio Tournament of Champions in 2024.

ZANE KROPMAN (PENFIELD)

Kropman is one of the most captivating recruits in the country if you were to ask us (and many institutions will also agree), and that's for a few reasons. The first being that he made the blood round of the D1 170 lb state tournament as just a freshmen in a bracket that included Devin Downes (Maryland commit, top 5 nationally at 215 lbs), Gage LaPlante (Army WP wrestler), Leo Venables (who beat LaPlante), and Johnathan Clohecy (formerly at Fulton) who just won a Florida state title.

Fast forward to his sophomore year and Kropman didn't wrestle a single match until January 30th. He wrestled 11 matches total in his sophomore season with one third of those being at the state tournament. He then goes into MVP Arena and upsets Josh Jorgge (who beat top 100 recruit Tavio Hoose) en route to his first state title.

Wrestling also hasn't been a full-time sport for Kropman as he's historically split his time between the wrestling mat and the gridiron 50/50 for a number of years. The young man is just hitting his stride, with tons of upside, and has now recently quit football to solely focus on wrestling.

Kropman is currently ranked 6th on our 2027 Big Board, but has been tabbed the 67th ranked recruit in the country by MatScouts. He has currently gotten calls from Cornell, NC State, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Hofstra, Princeton, Brown, and George Mason who all are lining up for his services.

ASHTEN HALEY (COBLESKILL-RICHMONDVILLE)

The Section II and Gorilla Grapplers standout has placed three times at the NYS tournament including a runner-up finish (6-5-2), and has qualified for the big show four consecutive times in a row dating back to when he was a 7th grader. His only loss at the NYS tournament came at the hands of Gavin Mangano, who is now a perennial top 15 recruit in the nation. Haley is currently our 7th ranked recruit in the entire Class of 2027. With the window for 2027 recruits to be contacted now opened, he's getting rung from several universities including Penn and Army West Point. Outside of the New York high school season, Haley has placed at the Journeymen World Classic. Continue to be on the lookout for Mr. Haley!

RYKER COX (COXSACKIE-ATHENS)

After qualifying for the state tournament as a 7th grader and freshman, Ryker Cox had a stellar sophomore campaign where he finished fourth at the Division II state tournament at 160 lbs. As we all know, these weights are typically littered with upperclassmen. After breaking through as a sophomore, his phone is already ringing and two of those schools include Army West Point and Penn. Outside of New York Cox has performed well nationally having placed at multiple tournaments. In 2023 he placed 8th in Greco at the US U15 Open, then in 2024 he also placed 8th at NHSCA Nationals. Despite not placing at NHSCA Nationals this year, he notched a win over Conrad Kopari (ND - State 2nd) and Luke Louzensky (TN - State 5th).

Cox is currently the 9th ranked recruit on our 2027 Big Board. Other schools that could potentially be in the sweepstakes for Ryker Cox include Navy and Michigan State. Cox's father wrestled in college at Navy, and his dad is originally from the Grand Rapids area.

MASON TANNER (JEPU)

Over the course of the last 12 months Mason Tanner has turned a corner and his wrestling has jumped to a new level. Tanner has now finished 3rd at the state tournament two consecutive years in a row, but burst onto the national scene this spring when he ran through his NHSCA Nationals bracket en route to making the finals. While wrestling through that bracket he notched a few solid wins including the likes of Eric Bocanegra (NJ - NE Regionals 1st) and Chance Wuhr (OH - State 5th). He then wrestled for Evil Empire at NHSCA Duals where he went 8-0 and won matches over Case Bridge (IN - State 3rd) and Caiden Kassel (MN - State 3rd). Currently ranked 11th on our 2027 Big Board, Tanner is expected to climb into the top 10 in the fall iteration of our rankings.

Fast forward to midnight on June 15th and it makes sense why George Mason was the first to ring up Mason Tanner and let them know they were interested in adding them to their squad. Other potential suitors for Tanner include Binghamton and Penn, with that list expected to grow.