Earlier this month, Columbia Wrestling was ranked in the nation's Top 25 for the first time ever. If head coach Brendan Buckley has his way, the Lions will become permanent residents in the Top 25, and he has taken strong steps to ensure that.

Recognizing what Buckley calls “one of the strongest mid-year recruiting classes in my seven years at Columbia,” nationally-respected wrestling expert Rob Sherrill, writing in W.I.N. magazine, has ranked Columbia's 2006-07 mid-year recruiting 20th among the nation's top 25.

Sherrill cited four future Lions, but Buckley and his staff have since added a fifth. They are the nucleus of a future first-year class that the coaches expect to assume major roles as early as their first season.

“With this group,” says Buckley, the Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling, “we are bringing in five outstanding student-athletes to Columbia. Collectively, they have six state titles among them, with their senior seasons still ahead.”

The five all possess a work ethic and zest for the sport which have become characteristic of Columbia wrestlers. They also, despite their young ages, have wide experience.

“In addition to scholastic success,” Buckley notes, “most of these young men have not only competed, but more importantly, succeeded on the national level.

“We look for that in the recruiting process. It is what makes me believe that all could help us immediately, possibly as members of our starting lineup.”

Columbia's mid-season recruiting class includes three middleweights and two lightweight wrestlers. They include:

EREN CIVAN, 157, Bethesda, Md. (Walt Whitman HS)

TRAVIS CREAGAN, 157-165, Cleveland, Tenn. (Bradley Central HS)

PAUL VAETH, 149-157, Islip, N.Y. (Islip HS)

RYAN WILSON, 133, Rahway, N.J. (Rahway HS)

MARC ZURLA, 125, Garnerville, N.Y. (North Rockland HS)

Although the five student-athletes represent the majority of his recruiting class, Buckley and his staff continue to recruit for the 2007-2008 season. “I'm very pleased,” he says, “to have the majority of our class committed at this early juncture.”