LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs football program officially welcomed 25 new players into the family on Thursday evening at an event unveiling the team’s 2016 recruiting class.
“I think this is a good, solid class,” said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. “There’s good balance across the board. We might be a little bit smaller at this point compared to other years but that’s kind of a reflection of the limits that we have now with our training camp roster being capped at 110.
“It’s an outstanding group, a quality group that addresses instantly some of our needs. We’ve got a couple of really good linebackers, several good offensive linemen, and that’s important. And then with the graduation of Daryl Waud and Rory Connop last year, and Andrew Pedda and maybe Rupert Butcher this year we’re going to need some help inside. We think that some of the players that we have here, like Austin Miller and Spencer [Hood] can come in and compete and push right away.”
This year’s recruiting class is made up of 10 players on offence, 10 on defence, and five who could line up on either side of the ball for Western. The majority of this year’s class is from Ontario including 10 players from London who will don the colours of their hometown Mustangs. Along with the 17 players from Ontario the Mustangs added two players from Quebec, two from Manitoba, one from British Columbia, one from Alberta, one from Nova Scotia, and one from South Carolina.
“We feel great about our recruiting class,” said Mustangs recruiting coordinator Tom Flaxman. “We’re bringing in a smaller class in this year. With the new rules in the OUA, it means we have to bring in a small class to make sure we’re within that 110 [roster limit], and we’re pretty excited about the 25 athletes we have coming. We’ll probably be adding three or four more before the end of this recruiting cycle, we feel really good about a few recruits who are still out there and have yet to commit.”
Western’s 2016 recruits are certainly no strangers to success as 11 of the 25 recruits announced on Thursday were named as major award winners and/or all-stars in their respective regions, while six have played on a provincial team, one has represented Canada in international competition, and six were listed on CanadaFootballChat.com’s #CFC100 CLASS 2016 RANKINGS.
“With this class we have six or seven guys on the d-line that can come in and make an impact and help our football team early on,” said Flaxman. “We’ve got some explosive playmakers in this class too, we’re really excited to get the commitment of guys like Aidan Majury, Alex Salytchev, Mike Sananes. These are guys that can be explosive playmakers for us on either side of the ball so we’re excited to get them into our program.
The great thing about this class is that we brought in guys who are quality students, who are quality academic students and we feel like they can come in here and fit in really well in our locker room and be a great part of our university.”
The Mustangs kick off their 2016 schedule on August 28 at home against the Windsor Lancers. Western’s first away game is the following week on September 4 when the Mustangs travel to Ottawa to face the Carleton Ravens. Western’s annual Homecoming Weekend contest is scheduled for October 1 against the Laurier Golden Hawks.
Information on each one of this year’s recruits is available below.
Name: Yaw Antwi
Position: Athlete
Height: 6-2
Weight: 170
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: Catholic Central HS
Awards: 2015 OFSAA Champion, 2015 LDAA All-Star
Name: Cam Bailey
Position: Defensive End
Height: 6-4
Weight: 233
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: A.B. Lucas Vikings, London Jr. Mustangs
Awards: 2014 OFSAA Champion, 2014 LDAA All-Star
Name: Mitchell Besplug
Position: Running Back
Height: 5-10
Weight: 205
Hometown: Calgary, Alta.
Last Team: Rundle College HS
Awards: Calgary South All-Star
Name: Matthew Bettencourt
Position: Offensive Line
Height: 6-1
Weight: 280
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: Catholic Central HS, London Jr. Mustangs
Awards: 2015 Dr. Allen Award for Top Lineman in London, 2015 OFSAA Champion, 2015 OVFL O-Line of the Year
Name: Pearson Brown
Position: Athlete
Height: 6-2
Weight: 185
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: Catholic Central HS
Awards: 2015 OFSAA Champion, 2015 LDAA All-Star
Name: Fernando De La Rosa
Position: Defensive Back
Height: 6-0
Weight: 180
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: Catholic Central HS, London Jr. Mustangs
Awards: 2015 OFSAA Champion, 2015 LDAA All-Star
Name: Jordan Dubuc
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6-1
Weight: 185
Hometown: Montreal, Que.
Last Team: Trinity College, Selwyn House School
Name: Chris Ellis
Position: Linebacker
Height: 6-1
Weight: 210
Hometown: Vancouver, B.C.
Last Team: Vancouver College
Awards: #CFC100 CLASS 2016 RANKINGS, 2015 BCHSFA AAA Defensive MVP, 2015 Subway Bowl Most Outstanding Lineman, 2015 BCHSFA Football Scholarship Award
Name: Tanner Geddes
Position: Offensive Line
Height: 6-3
Weight: 270
Hometown: Thorold, Ont.
Last Team: Dennis Morris Redmen, Niagara Spears
Name: Tyrone Hastings
Position: Defensive Line
Height: 6-1
Weight: 250
Hometown: Winnipeg, Man.
Last Team: Oak Park Raiders
Awards: Team Manitoba
Name: Nathan Haye
Position: Fullback
Height: 5-10
Weight: 225
Hometown: Oakville, Ont.
Last Team: Holy Trinity Titans, Burlington Stampeders
Awards: 2015 OFSAA Champion, 2015 OFC Champion
Name: Spencer Hood
Position: Defensive Line
Height: 6-4
Weight: 310
Hometown: Strathroy, Ont.
Last Team: Canada Prep Raiders, London Jr. Mustangs
Awards: #CFC100 CLASS 2016 RANKINGS, Team Ontario
Name: Luke Kelch
Position: Linebacker
Height: 6-3
Weight: 220
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: St. Thomas Aquinas, London Jr. Mustangs
Awards: 2015 LDAA All-Star
Name: Jack Kys
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6-4
Weight: 190
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: St. Thomas Aquinas, Forest City Thunderbirds
Awards: 2015 Anderson Award Winner for Excellence in Football, Academics, and Extra-Curricular, 2015 LDAA All-Star
Name: Aidan Majury
Position: Wide Reciever
Height: 6-4
Weight: 220
Hometown: Hammond Plains, N.S.
Last Team: The Taft School
Awards: #CFC100 CLASS 2016 RANKINGS, Team Nova Scotia Captain, 2014 NSISL Offensive MVP
Name: Mark Milewski
Position: Linebacker
Height: 6-3
Weight: 220
Hometown: Mississauga, Ont.
Last Team: St. Joan of Arc, Mississauga Warriors
Awards: OPC Variety Selection
Name: Austin Miller
Position: Defensive Lineman
Height: 6-3
Weight: 270
Hometown: Chatham, Ont.
Last Team: Chatham-Kent Cougars, Canada Prep Raiders
Awards: #CFC100 CLASS 2016 RANKINGS, Team Ontario
Name: Martin Ortega
Position: Offensive Lineman
Height: 6-3
Weight: 260
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: Catholic Central HS, London Jr. Mustangs
Awards: 2015 OFSAA Champion, 2015 LDAA All-Star
Name: George Panagiotopoulos
Position: Offensive Lineman
Height: 6-4
Weight: 275
Hometown: Etobicoke, Ont.
Last Team: Etobicoke Collegiate, Etobicoke Eagles
Name: Tony Rossi
Position: Defensive End
Height: 6-3
Weight: 230
Hometown: Winnipeg, Man.
Last Team: Grant Park Pirates
Awards: #CFC100 CLASS 2016 RANKINGS, Team Manitoba
Name: Alex Salytchev
Position: Athlete
Height: 6-0
Weight: 185
Hometown: Cambridge, Ont.
Last Team: The Taft School
Awards: #CFC100 CLASS 2016 RANKINGS, U19 Team Canada, Team Ontario
Name: Mike Sananes
Position: Athlete
Height: 5-11
Weight: 200
Hometown: Montreal, Que.
Last Team: Trinity College
Name: Mark Shelley
Position: Linebacker
Height: 6-1
Weight: 215
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: St. Thomas Aquinas, London Jr. Mustangs
Awards: 2015 LDAA All-Star
Name: Sebastian Vanin
Position: Athlete
Height: 6-3
Weight: 205
Hometown: London, Ont.
Last Team: Catholic Central HS, London Jr. Mustangs
Awards: 2015 OFSAA Champion, 2015 LDAA All-Star
Name: Ben Wilson
Position: Offensive Line
Height: 6-4
Weight: 270
Hometown: Columbia, S.C.
Last Team: Heathwood Hall
Note: Athletes who commit to Mustangs teams will be eligible to compete at Western provided they are academically admissible to Western University and have applied through the normal process with the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre in Guelph, Ont.
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