Wisconsin football recruiting: UW makes cut-down list and in-state awards were handed out

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any major college athletics team, but following it closely as a fan can sometimes be difficult and can often be time consuming. We’ll try and condense all the recruiting news you can use into this bi-weekly (sometimes more) post. It’ll include updates on current commits, including stats from their high school games, as well as news on players the Badgers are still pursuing. Let’s get down to business!

Badgers make cut-down list

• 2022 4-star WR C.J. Williams (Santa Ana, Calif.) out of Mater Dei High School cut down the list of schools he’s considering to 16 and the Wisconsin Badgers made the cut. The 6-foot-2 and 193 pound wideout is still considering a number of powerhouse schools like Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Georgia and Notre Dame.

Oregon, Southern Cal, Minnesota, Northwestern, TCU, Howard, Washington, Stanford, Cal and Arizona State are the other schools he’s still taking a look at. The reason he has such a big list is due to the uncertainty surround the 2022 class. He told Greg Biggins of 247Sports:

“I didn’t want to do a top five or even top 10 this early,” Williams said. “Our class (2022) is the one that might be most affected by the scholarship numbers. I’ve heard schools can go over their numbers for the ’21 class but if they have to get back down to the 85 total for my class, it means there’s going to be a lot of small recruiting classes.”

State champ!

• 2021 3-star OLB/DE Darryl Peterson (Akron, Ohio) out of Archbishop Hoban High School ended his senior season undefeated and a state champion. Peterson had four tackles and two sacks in the title game.

In-state award winners

• 2021 4-star S Hunter Wohler (Muskego) was named the best senior defensive back in the state for the 2020 season, winning the Jim Leonhard Award.

“Considered by many as the top defensive back prospect to come out of the state in many years, the Wisconsin commit had 78 tackles this year with a pair of interceptions. Patrolling sideline-to-sideline and deep middle to in the box, Wohler has 355 tackles in his career,” his award announcement on wissports.net said.

• 2021 3-star DE Ayo Adebogun (Thiensville) out of Homestead High School was named the best senior defensive lineman in the state, winning the Tim Krumrie Award.

Here is what Travis Wilson at wissports.net said about Adebogun:

Homestead’s Ayo Adebogun burst onto the varsity scene in a big way in 2019, earning WFCA Large School All-State recognition after finishing among state leaders with 31 tackles for loss and 16 sacks.

He’s been near unblockable again this season, with 52 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 7.5 sacks in just eight games. His initial burst off the line of scrimmage is as explosive as anyone in the state, and that athletic ability is his greatest strength right now.

• 2021 4-star OL J.P. Benzschawel (Grafton) was named the best senior offensive lineman in the state, winning the Joe Thomas Award.

Here is what Wilson of wissports.net had to say:

The latest Benzschawel to go through Grafton, J.P. Benzschawel joins older brothers Beau (Wisconsin and now the Detroit Lions) and Luke (Wisconsin) as Division 1 recruits, and like his older siblings, will head to Wisconsin, giving the Badgers an early commitment.

A massive, dominating force up front for the Black Hawks, he has been a four-year varsity performer on some of the top offensive units in school history.