It’s all about family for Angel Escobedo.
Since he was named head coach of the Hoosiers in 2018, Escobedo has been preaching unity and team values.
But, on signing day, it really was about family.
Two of the four future IU wrestlers that signed their national letters of intent are the younger siblings of current Hoosiers.
Jacob Moran, whose older brother Jonathan is a sophomore, and Nico Bolivar, whose older brother Eddie is a freshman, both penned their names in commitment to the Hoosiers.
The list of blood-related Hoosiers will continue to grow in the coming years as a pair of brothers, freshman Cayden Rooks and his brother, sophomore Graham Rooks, are both currently on IU’s roster.
Jacob Moran, who is from Portage, Indiana, decided to take a gap year after graduating high school last spring. Jacob Moran reclassified to the 2020 recruiting class and has been spending the year developing his skills at the USA Wrestling Olympic training center in Colorado Springs.
Jacob Moran was a two-time state champion, taking home titles in 2018 at 106 pounds, and 2019 at 113 pounds.
His older brother Jonathan expressed his pleasure on social media, posting “family business” on Twitter.
The Hoosier coaching staff was also able to flip the commitment of highly-touted recruit Santos Cantu out of Crescent Valley High School in Oregon.
Cantu, who has captured a state title in his first three years of high school, originally pledged to Ohio State on Sept. 28 but changed his decision to IU.
Cantu is currently ranked seventh in the country in the 195-pound weight class by InterMat, a wrestling recruiting and rankings website. After his sophomore year, Cantu took home a gold medal for Team USA in the Pan-Am Championships in Guatemala.
The decision by Cantu marks a huge win for the IU program.
Derek Gilcher, out of Detroit Catholic Central High School in Novi, Michigan, is the fourth member to make his spot at IU official. Gilcher is a two-time state champion and is currently ranked sixth by InterMat in the 160-pound weight class.
The signing period will continue until Aug. 1, 2020, giving Hoosier prospects plenty of time to ink their names to IU.
