That paid off, as Lautar committed to Ohio State on Nov. 16, just one day after he received an offer from the Buckeyes. He became the lone tight end pledge in the 2026 class.

But that wrestling background never went away, and it’s part of the reason why the Buckeyes — and so many other programs — were so interested in the Ohio tight end.

“I’ll never forget one of the first Big Ten coaches to stop in,” Lebanon coach Micah Faler began. “He said, ‘Almost every tight end that I go to recruit is a basketball player. I have never seen one this size that is a wrestler. I’m so intrigued by that.’ And then I heard it from coach after coach of like, ‘Yeah, his wrestling background is what really is intriguing us,’ because they know the hand placement, the feet placement, the physicality.”

When college coaches recruit tight ends, or even offensive tackles, it’s remarkably common that they play high school basketball as a power forward or a center. It’s the physicality of football, and learning how to play it, that has to be developed.

For Lautar, it’s the inverse. It was his catching ability and movement in space that had to develop.

“I thought I was going to wrestle in college, and that’s always just been a dream of mine as well,” Lautar told Cleveland.com before grinning wide. “And so even (football) practices in eighth grade, going over 50% on routes on air, that was a successful practice for me.”

When he moved from Hawaii to Ohio in eighth grade (his father is in the military), he was just 5-foot-8 and about 120 pounds. He was always taller than his teammates, he said, but he bemoaned the fact that he was too small to play as a lineman, and just a bit too slow to play as a receiver.

It took until his sophomore year for him to move to tight end on the football field.

“He started off as just kind of this tall, skinny, a little bit awkward receiver,” Faler said. “And really my first impression of Nick was just his wrestling background. Wrestling was his main sport, that was his thing. And I really wanted him to stay in the football program and continue to develop and see what happened there. And then just as time went on, he started growing to his body. It was like, ‘OK, you don’t see many over 6-foot-5 wrestlers.’”

Lautar, who boasted 22 offers during his recruitment, didn’t receive his first FBS offer in football until after his junior season was complete.

“It just kind of went from there,” Faler continued. “He worked his butt off and really when he started growing into his body and that coordination started to come with it, then it was like, ‘Oh man, this kid’s ceiling is super high.’”

Faler credited Lautar’s growth in recent months to extra work with his quarterback and assistant coaches, as well as his play on the 7-on-7 circuit, something the OHSAA only recently allowed. That pushed his recruitment forward to a point where he committed to Louisville on June 1.

“It was like, ‘Man, this kid is holding his own, and then some, with some of the top talent in the United States,’” Faler said.

But Lautar, now the No. 542 overall prospect and No. 29 tight end in the 247Sports composite rankings, always had Ohio State on the radar, and the Buckeyes always kept a watchful eye out. He camped this summer in Columbus, even though the team already had a 2026 tight end commit in three-star Floridian, Corbyn Fordham.

Only in September, he flipped his decision to Florida State.

That left the door open for Lautar and had Ohio State in search of a 2026 tight end. The Buckeyes didn’t have to look far, as there was a former wrestler who studied Brock Bower highlights to learn more about the craft of playing tight end just down I-71.

“Wrestling is such a hands-on sport where it’s all about the speed of your movement,” Faler said. “It’s all about your feet. It’s all about your hands, the explosiveness of your hands, the way you shoot on an opponent. I think that background really made Nick just understand the technique of the tight end position, especially in the blocking game.”

Throughout his senior year, which included a trip to the playoffs for Lebanon, Lautar continued to grow and develop, as he rose higher and higher across the rankings of various recruiting services.

Pairing his athleticism and aggressiveness in the blocking game, with improved route-running and catching, kept the Buckeyes interested.

“I started to realize it a little bit more, that it was more attainable, throughout the season,” Lautar said of going to Ohio State. “(Ohio State tight ends coach Keenan Bailey) would watch my game film at 6:30 in the morning every Saturday. I think that was something that kind of just stood out like, ‘Dang, he really cares about me and just the way I play, he’s really looking into it.’ It was something that I would just carry into the weeks going forward, just knowing not only for Ohio State, but just for myself and family. I got something to prove and make a dream come true.”

Bailey told Lautar he loves his aggressiveness on the football field, aided by his wrestling background. Lautar made sure to send Bailey clips from his highlight tape whenever he recorded a pancake block this season.

“It’s been able to just slowly grow over time, and I know he’s been pulling for me for a while for Ohio State, and that was even brought up when I talked to coach (Ryan) Day, just how much coach Kee has been pulling for me,” Lautar said. “That’s always just stuck out for me. And just seeing someone, at that high a level, who just believes in me and wants the best for me is something that I look for. And I know he develops guys really well, and that was just huge for me.”

All of that culminated with his trip to Ohio State for the game against UCLA, a visit Lautar would make without a scholarship offer in-hand.

Faler had been tipped off beforehand that an offer was coming, but he had to play it close-to-the-vest. The Buckeyes just wanted to make sure that Lautar’s family was in attendance that day in Columbus without Nick getting wise to the idea.

“You coach a kid, and especially a kid that’s so easy to coach like Nick, and you get invested yourself and you want to see them get the desires of their heart,” Faler said. “You want to see them get the best that they possibly can. And when it works out that way, it’s so gratifying, it’s fulfilling.”

Lautar then headed to Columbus, with a slight thought in the back of his mind about what may be on the horizon.

While on the visit, Bailey told him he had to meet with Day in his office, who then offered him a scholarship to play at Ohio State.

“It was kind of surreal, I mean it was just so cool,” Lautar said. “I just couldn’t believe it.”

He maintained wasn’t focused on NIL or the other miscellaneous things that come with recruiting. Lautar said he just wanted to be developed to a level where he could make it to the NFL.

That’s why it only took until Sunday morning for him to back off of his pledge to Louisville and commit to the Buckeyes officially.

It’d been a long road for Lautar to get to that point, from growing up in Hawaii and excelling on the wrestling mat long before he did so on the football field. But a call to his coach shortly after his earned the Ohio State offer said everything about where Lautar had been, and where he was headed.

“‘Coach, I’ve always wanted to be a Buckeye,’” Faler recalled Lautar saying. ‘This is what I’ve been waiting for.’”

There’s expected to be five signees to Ohio State’s 2026 class, all of whom will bring a various skillset to the offense. And while five is a large number, it could end up proving worthwhile.

The two headliners in the class are five-star Chris Henry Jr. and four-star Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, who were teammates at Mater Dei in California. Both should enter the receiver room with a chance to contribute right away.

Dixon-Wyatt fits the mold of a more recent blue-chip Ohio State receiver, like a Carnell Tate — who is his comparison on 247Sports. Him factoring into the two-deep in his freshman year certainly is a possibility.

Henry, though, provides a bit of a different spark.

He’s a massive receiver at 6-foot-5, and perhaps even taller than that. He fits a prototype of an Ohio State receiver that hasn’t existed in recent years, especially under Hartline. When he shows up on campus, he should have the talent to be ready to contribute right away.

Then, you factor in his size, and he could be someone that the Buckeyes use in red zone situations as a specialist. At bare minimum, his addition should give Ohio State some flexibility.

Then there’s three other prospects, all of whom will almost certainly be depth players in their first seasons in Columbus with three-stars Brock Boyd and Jaeden Ricketts, and four-star Jerquaden Guilford.

Boyd and Ricketts profile as slot receivers — Boyd being the more refined route-runner, and Ricketts being the speedster that can give the Buckeyes another element out of the slot.

Ricketts, an in-state prospect, committed very early in the process, just after his junior season had ended. He was the second receiver pledge, behind Henry.

Boyd took his recruitment into the spring, when Ohio State pushed for him to back off of his pledge to TCU. The Buckeyes eventually won out, as they landed Southlake Carroll’s all-time leading receiver.

Guilford, the last addition of the class, committed over the summer despite a strong push from Ole Miss as his commitment drew near. A late-riser in the class, he’s truly exploded onto the season as a senior and become one of the best receivers in the entire 2026 class.

He profiles as an outside receiver, leaving Boyd and Ricketts to the slot. Though Hartline prefers his receivers be able to play all three spots, which Guilford can do, he should be able to stand out on the outside with his athletic profile.

Altogether, Ohio State’s 2026 class has everything anyone could conceivably want in not just a receiver class, but in any position group.

The Buckeyes have elite, game-breaking upside. They’ve got versatility to move around at the position. There are different body types that can provide different looks to opposing teams. There are in-state prospects who are likely to understand what it means to commit to the home state program, and out-of-state prospects who compete in some of the best areas of the country. There are development projects, ready-made talents and upside that can be developed.

Once again, Ohio State’s receiver class is the gold standard for all recruiting classes across the country.

Chris Henry Jr.

School: Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California)

Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 205 pounds

247Sports rating: Five-star prospect rated the No. 1 receiver and 1st-best recruit in California. 247Sports composite’s 10th-ranked player nationally.

Other offers: Akron, Alabama, Auburn, Boston College, Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida State, Georgia, Grambling, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Miami (FL), Michigan, Michigan State, NC State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, South Florida, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, UConn, UMass, USC, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Kayden Dixon-Wyatt

School: Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California)

Height, weight: 6-foot-2, 180 pounds

247Sports rating: Four-star prospect rated the No. 21 receiver and 15th-best recruit in California. 247Sports composite’s 135th-ranked player nationally.

Other offers: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, California, Colorado, Colorado State, Florida, FAU, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Miami (FL), Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Sacramento State, SMU, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, UConn, UNLV, USC, Utah, Washington.

Jerquaden Guilford

School: Northrop (Fort Wayne, Indiana)

Height, weight: 6-foot-2 1/2, 190 pounds

247Sports rating: Four-star prospect rated the No. 22 receiver and 1st-best recruit in Indiana. 247Sports composite’s 137th-ranked player nationally.

Other offers: Ole Miss, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, Akron, Arkansas, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami (FL), Michigan State, Missouri, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Toledo, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Jaeden Ricketts

School: Watkins Memorial (Pataskala, Ohio)

Height, weight: 6-feet, 187 pounds

247Sports rating: Four-star prospect rated the No. 62 receiver and 20th-best recruit in Ohio. 247Sports composite’s 424th-ranked player nationally.

Other offers: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Illinois, Indiana, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, West Virginia.

Brock Boyd

School: Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas)

Height, weight: 6-foot-1, 180 pounds

247Sports rating: Four-star prospect rated the No. 84 receiver and 81st-best recruit in Texas. 247Sports composite’s 601st-ranked player nationally.

Other offers: Arizona, Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Baylor, Boston College, California, Colorado State, Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Texas, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, SMU, TCU, Tennessee, Texas State, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tulane, UNLV, UTEP, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Washington, Wisconsin.

Read more about Ohio State’s 2026 wide receiver class