Wisconsin Football Loses Battle for Top 2025 Defensive Line Target

According to the composite rankings, Sulfsted is the No. 609 player in the nation, the No. 60 DL, and the No. 20 player in Ohio. 

The Ohio native chose Notre Dame over offers from Miami, Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Duke, Iowa, Purdue, Louisville, Cincinnati, and many others. 

UW picked up a Crystal Ball prediction to land a commitment from Sulfsted just a week ago, but instead, the St. Xavier High School standout will join Marcus Freeman and the Irish.

Sulfsted had official visits lined up with Duke and UW. He was scheduled to visit the Blue Devils during the first weekend in June before making his way to Madison the following week. 

Wisconsin has had its fair share of recruiting battles with Notre Dame in recent months. The Fighting Irish currently holds the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, with commitments from Owen Strebig, Anthony Sacca, Matty Augustine, and Cree Thomas, all of whom the Badgers were pursuing heavily. 

The Wisconsin football program is still in search of landing its first defensive line commitment in the 2025 recruiting cycle. That said, the Badgers are in the mix for some other top targets at the position, including Drayden Pavey, Kade Pietrzak, Brad Fitzgibbon, and Maxwell Roy. 

As it stands, UW holds 11 commitments in the 2025 cycle, which comes in at No. 17 class in the country according to the composite rankings.