[GoRU]

High school wrestling: 215-pound state title seems tied to Rutgers football

Recruiting wrestlers is a trend Schiano says he plans on continuing.

"It has made us happy," Schiano said. "Those kids do well."

This year, Southern Regional's Glenn Carson (110-11 career record) is the top seed in the state and favored to win the title.

The junior also happens to be one of the best linebackers in the state and Rutgers is more than interested in his services.

In January, Schiano arrived in style at Southern Regional High School in Stafford Township for a recruiting visit. He made sure he left an impression, arriving on campus in a helicopter.

"It was kind of cool," Carson said. "It got the school excited. A lot of people are still talking about it around school. It made me feel important in a way."

Recruiting rules prohibit Schiano from commenting on Carson.

He could only confirm that Rutgers is recruiting the junior linebacker.

As of Wednesday, 11 other Division I schools were also actively recruiting Carson including Penn State, Boston College, Stanford, North Carolina State and Virginia.

It's not that you get a scholarship to play football at Rutgers for doing well at 215, it just seems that way.

"There's a little joke. They say Schiano automatically offers (the 215-pound state champ) a scholarship," Corcoran said. "But people are just messing around."

There are some very real correlations between the two sports.

"I just think that the mental toughness required and all the training and tough stuff that goes into getting prepared (for wrestling) translates very well into the mental toughness that you need to have as a football player," Schiano said. "As a wrestler, it's just you. There isn't a team to lean on."

"It's a one-on-one thing," Corcoran said. "There aren't 10 other guys out there helping you. It's you against one other guy. It's up to you to press the action."

Carson says that while growing up, his dad and coaches used some football terms to explain wrestling. For instance, they would explain a spear-double as being just like tackling someone on the football field.

"Everything you could really need as a football player, wrestling gives it to you," Carson said. "(Coaches) know when they get a wrestler, they are going to get a tough kid."