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NDSU adds three to round out recruiting class

May 28, 2009

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State head wrestling coach Bucky Maughan today announced the three final additions to this year’s recruiting class. There are now nine wrestlers set to join the Bison in the fall.

Phil Hawes of Ridgefield, N.J. and Jake Love of Missoula, Mont. both signed National Letters of Intent to wrestle for the Bison. Phil Levine of Rosemount, Minn. has been accepted to NDSU and will join the wrestling program.

Hawes joins the Bison as a junior college All-American out of Iowa Central College. He won the NJCAA national championship at 197 pounds this winter and helped Iowa Central capture the team title for the fourth straight year. He also won the ICCAC title and MCAC regional title. Hawes tallied three top-six finishes at open tournaments, including a third place finish at the Daktronics Open. The New Jersey native is projected to wrestle at 197 pounds.

Love is a three-time Montana state runner-up out of Missoula High School. He finished second in three-straight state tournaments from 2006-2008. Love was also the cadet runner-up at the 2008 USA Wrestling championships held in Fargo. He finished his career with a record of 110-10 and is projected to wrestle at 133 pounds.

Levine finished his senior season as Minnesota state runner-up at 103 pounds after compiling a record of 44-2 at Rosemount High School. He’s currently ranked seventh at 103 pounds in Wrestling USA Magazine’s Best High School Seniors rankings. Levine came in fourth at the 2008 Minnesota state freestyle tournament at 112 pounds. He also competed at the NHSCA High School Nationals, where he finished fifth and earned All-America honors. Levine is projected to wrestle at 125 pounds.

The Bison finished the 2008-09 season with a record of 5-10-1 and a 2-4 mark in the Western Wrestling Conference. Junior Ryan Adams, freshman Justin Solberg and freshman Tyler Johnson earned All-WWC honors.

2009 NDSU Recruits

Name	Projected Weight	Hometown (Previous School)
Joe Arthur	Hwt.	Bloomington, Ind. (Bloomington North HS)
Brady Burgess	174 lbs.	Gillette, Wyo. (Campbell County HS)
Jordan Engen	157 lbs.	Thief River Falls, Minn. (Thief River Falls HS)
Nash Hallfrisch	149/157 lbs.	Great Falls, Mont. (CM Russell HS)
Phil Hawes	197 lbs.	Ridgefield, N.J. (Iowa Central College)
Trevor Johnson	141 lbs.	Bismarck, N.D. (Bismarck HS)
Phil Levine	125 lbs.	Rosemount, Minn. (Rosemount HS)
Jake Love	133 lbs.	Missoula, Mont. (Missoula HS)
Steven Monk	141/149 lbs.	Wasau, Wis. (Wasau West HS)