ETSU and Ohio State sign Central American standouts

[MEN’S RECRUITING] Colleges are paying closer attention to teams in Central America. East Tennessee State signed Guatemala under-20 national team captain Mario Samperio, while Felipe Santibanez, who represented Costa Rica at the 2009 Under-17 World Cup, is headed to Ohio State.For the recruiting classes at American, Appalachian State, Butler, Cal State Bakersfield, Cleveland State, Coastal Carolina, Colgate, Dartmouth, Davidson, East Tennessee State, Elon, Georgia State,Holy Cross, IUPUI, Memphis, Niagara, Ohio State, Quinnipiac, Seattle, Towson, UMBC, UNLV, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wofford, Wright State …

AMERICAN. TheEagles will welcome eight newcomers: Tyler Collins (Norwalk, Conn.), Eli Dennis (Easton, Md.), Tyler Fisher (St. Louis), Billy Knutsen (San Francisco), Chris Kuramoto (Loveland, Ohio), Patrick Mehlert (Bethesda, Md.) and Michael Sheinfeld (Dallas) and transfer ChaseHumphrey (University of Denver). Mehlert is the son of former American University men’s coach Pete Mehlert.

APPALACHIAN STATE. Goalkeeper Matthew Boyd, midfielder/forward Ty Daniel, defender Harrison Delbridge, defender Robert Kelley, defender Evan Kent and defender Walker White will all join the Mountaineers in the fall. “We have bolstered the defense, as all of them have good size and tremendous speed,” Coach Shaun Pendleton said.

BUTLER. Set to join the Bulldogs next fall are Austin Oldhamof Greenwood, Adekunle Oluyedun of Westfield, Jamie Vollmer of Westfield, AdamGlanzer of Harrisburg, S.D., Andy Holte of Iowa City, Iowa, and Adam Tormoehlen of Highland Ranch, Colo. Oldham,Oluyedun and Vollmer each played for Development Academy U-17/18 champion Carmel United.

CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD. Jurgen Chambers (L.A. Galaxy youth academy) and Joseph Masumiya both signed letters of intent to play for the Roadrunners.

CLEVELAND STATE. Signing with Cleveland State are Manual Conde (Caracas, Venezuela), CalebEastham (Mason, Ohio), Tommy Fitzgerald (Hudson, Ohio), Jordan Hart (Erie, Pa.), and Aldo Maiorano (Whitby, Ont.). Eastham, Fitzgerald and Hart will enter CSU as freshmen with four years of eligibility remaining, while Lakeland Community College transfers Conde  andMaiorano will enter as juniors.

COASTAL CAROLINA. Joining the Chanticleers for the 2010 season are JustinPortillo, Jordan Schwartz, Mac Kowaleski, Zach Clark, Dent Wise, Edric Martinez, Danny Merriman and RohenGresalfi.
 
COLGATE. Coach Erik Ronning has announced the 2010 recruiting class, an extremely wellbalanced class of players who hail from five different states: Nick Arpey (Iowa City, Iowa/West), James Byer(Farmington, Conn./Farmington), Scott Brown (Wilton, Conn./Wilton), Chris Locandro (Kennesaw, Ga./The Walker School),Andrew Mercier (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington); Barrett Metzger (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), and Jack Randazzo (Avon, Conn./Loomis Chaffee).

DARTMOUTH. Coach Jeff Cookannounced four early decision recruits: Gabe Hoffman-Johnson (Seacoast United), Patrick Murrey (ClevelandInternationals), Justin Roster (Seacoast United) and Colin Skelly (YMS Xplosion).

DAVIDSON. Wildcats coach Matt Spear added eight players: midfielder/forwards Jake Keator and Chris Pettiglio, midfielders Alex Givens and Nick Grube, defenders Ryan Malden and Coleman O’Neill, and goalkeepers Ben Gold and Max Henry.

EAST TENNESSEE STATE. ETSU coach Scott Calabrese announced thesigning of eight players: David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.), Mario Samperio (Guatemala),  Blake Woodruff (Georgetown, Texas), Itode Fubara (Nigeria), Nick Dykes (Nashville, Tenn.), Colin Pugh (Dublin, Ireland), Steven Matlock (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Jason Finn(Ireland). Samperio is the Guatemala U-20 national team captain. Pugh is a transfer from Jefferson College.

ELON. The Phoenix added Eliot Browarsky (Toledo, Ohio), Daniel Lovitz (Wyndmoor, Pa.), Glenn Scott (Raleigh,N.C.) and Matt Wescoe (Willow Springs, N.C.).

GEORGIA STATE. Coach KeremDaser signed goalie CJ Cochran, whose Forsyth Fusion team won the 2009 Region III Premier League title.

HOLYCROSS. Coach Ted Priestly has announced the signing of nine players: Josh Cintas (San Diego, Calif.), Dane Kenny (Williston Park, N.Y.), Brendan McGill (Northborough, Mass.), Nolan McKeever(Lilburn, Ga.), Kevin Meinert (Toms River, N.J.), Kevin O’Connell (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Monty Sanders (Temecula, Calif.), Zachary Silva (Hampton, Ga.) and Tommy Uttaro(Staten Island, N.Y.).

IUPUI. Steve Franklin announced the signing of JeffKeyler, who captained the Indy Burn and is the younger brother of current IUPUI defender Greg Keyler.

MEMPHIS. Tigers coach Richie Grant announced five additions: forward Austin Gross (Tulsa, Okla.),forward Gordy Gurson (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), goalkeeper Martin Hunter (Newcastle upon Tyne, England), midfielder Jamal Keene (Atlanta, Ga.) and defender B.J. Williams (Flora, Miss.). Hunter played for Sunderland in the Premier AcademyLeague. The talented foursome joins a group of young talent that also includes defender Jordan Johnson, midfielder HugoMondragon, midfielder Cody McCoy and midfielder/forward Justin Watson.

NIAGARA. The Purple Eagles signed Ken Cooper, Gino Corasaniti and NickGarcia, all products of upstate New York.

OHIO STATE. Five players have committed to join the defending Big Ten champions: Sage Gardner (Crew Soccer Academy), Alec Lowell (Miami FC Kendall), Felipe Santibanez(Saprissa and Costa Rican under-17 national team) and Omar Vallejo (Lonestar FC) will join the Buckeyes as freshmen, while JonMoore (Owens Community College) will enter Ohio State as a transfer. “We have been able to strengthen the squad in a few key areas as we look forward to next season,” Coach John Bluem said.

QUINNIPIAC. Coach Eric Da Costa has added Brazilian Leandro Reis, a transfer from Barton Community College, where he had 24 goals and 26 assists in two seasons.

SEATTLE. Coach Brad Agoos signed Brady Ballew (Marysville, Wash.), RenatoBandeira (Sammamish, Wash.), Nico de la Cruz (Port Orchard, Wash.), Jacob Feener (Rocklin, Calif.), Logan Richards (Woodinville, Wash.) and Ben Striar (Portland, Ore.). These six will join a program that will be eligible forthe NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time.

TOWSON. Tigers coach Frank Olszewski signed five players:Olakunle Banjo (Potomac Academy), Andy Charleston (Manhattan Phoenix), MikeFusco (Albertson Academy), Jonathan Talbot (SAC Premier) and Angelo Viteritti (Commack Premier).

UMBC. Coach Pete Caringi has signed UNC Greensboro forward Nirav Kadam and his son, Pete Caringi, III. Kadam started 19 of 23 games in 2008 and scored five goalsfor UNCG. He will have two years of eligibility at UMBC. The younger Caringi earned all-state honors last fall.

UNLV. Ryan Harding (ESU Liverpool), Joaquin Rivas (Las Vegas Premier) and Dylan Serrano (De Anza Force) havesigned national letters of intent to play for UNLV.
 
WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY. A familiar name added to the Green Bay family is Anthony Santaga, whose father Greg and uncle Scott both played soccer at Green Bay inthe 1980’s while his grandfather Aldo coached the Phoenix to its first appearance in the NCAA tournament. Also committing to play with the Phoenix is SamKrenzien, Sam Ramirez, Kyle Blechner, Mackenzie Lund and Lawrence Talery.

WOFFORD. Coach Ralph Polson signednine players are Matt Frongello, Alan Gore, Ryan Hurst, Ben Limbaugh, Dennis Moore, Will O’Brien, Nick Orton, Billy Padula and Benny Puetter.  “We lost an outstanding group with lastyear’s seniors,” said Polson. “But we are excited about this group of young men. I feel that they bring a wealth of talent and experience to our program. They possess skill,athleticism, and a competitive attitude that will help us continue our success in the Southern Conference in 2010.” Wofford won the 2009 Southern Conference regular-season and tournamentchampionship, advancing to the NCAA Division I Tournament.

WRIGHT STATE. Coach Bryan Davis signed 11 playersfrom eight different states: Derek Zuniga (Cleveland International), Chris Meingast (Chicago Magic), Bryce Rockwell Ashton (FC Pride), Will Gbelee (Potomac Academy), Greg Marchand(Cleveland International), Chris Nieto (Solar), Drake Stewart (Colorado Rapids Academy), Darian Lopez (Metro Rapids),Angelo Capuano (Everest SC), Jacob Bye (FC Milwaukee Academy) and Nick Huftalin(Rockford Raptors). “Our staff has put countless hours into bringing this group together,” said Davis, “and we feel that we have added some of the best players in the U.S.”