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Hillsborough County:

Grajales’ Recruitment Heating Up


Football players are not the only high school senior athletes receiving a lot of attention in the recruiting process nowadays. Brandon standout wrestler Eric Grajales can attest to that.

Grajales, a three-time undefeated state champion for the Eagles who is fresh of a double All-American showing at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D., which included an individual national championship in Greco-Roman wrestling, has seen his recruitment gain a lot of steam recently. It’s an understandable occurrence considering the national wrestling website InterMat recently tabbed Grajales as the nation’s No. 2 recruit.

So far, Grajales, who holds multiple scholarship offers, has figured out where four of his official visits will take place. The schools: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Cornell and Columbia. Pennsylvania, Cornell and Columbia are Ivy League programs, which do not offer athletic scholarships but rather financial aid packages.

Grajales is in the process of finalizing the dates for the visits, which more than likely will occur in September in October, he said. He added he will also choose the fifth school in the near future.

“I obviously know a lot about each of the schools I’m going to visit, but I don’t necessarily know a lot of guys on the team and stuff like that,” Grajales said. “I’ve never really been in the area for stuff like that, so I’m looking forward to it.

“The early signing date is Nov. 11, I think, so I want to have all my visits done by then,” said Grajales, who added he plans on signing during the early period.

One obvious connection to one of the four schools Grajales will visit is that his older brother, Cesar, attends and wrestles for Pennsylvania. Grajales said the chance to join his brother is very appealing, but “I’m not sure that’s the place for me yet.”

While many other athletes in sports like football and baseball grow up dreaming of playing for a specific college program, Grajales said that was not the case for him. In fact, the only program he wanted to wrestle for is the one he’s at right now, which is why his recruitment is wide open at this point.

“Growing up, I was always going to wrestle at Brandon and wanted to wrestle at Brandon, but last couple of months I’ve realized it’s almost over and that I never knew what I was going to do in college,” Grajales said. “There’s not one college that was like Brandon to me. Brandon has always been in my blood, you can say, and that’s what makes it so hard.”

On another note, Grajales said he likely won’t wrestle at the nationally-renowned Super 32 Challenge in Greensboro, N.C., this November. Grajales is a two-time champion at the event, including last year at 125 pounds.

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