WPIAL Today Offseason Spotlight: 2025 OL/DL Chris Climes

Now that we are in the offseason, this is a time where a lot of high school football prospects from around the country start to talk more with colleges as they see an uptick in their recruitments. Other may not be so luck as recruits tend to fly under the radar from time to time.

With that being said, we here at Nittany Nation have decided to team up with WPIAL Today's Jonathan Magusiak as he will choose one high school football recruit to profile in order to help get that prospect a little bit more exposure on the recruiting trail!

Today, we take a look at 2025 offensive / defensive lineman Chris Climes.

Bench: 345 Lbs

Squats: 485 Lbs

Dead Lift: 505 Lbs

Hang Clean- 225 Lbs

4 Lift: 1,580 Lbs

Base Defense: 3-4

Week 1 vs Ringgold – 1 sacks, 2 Tackles

Week 2 vs West Mifflin – 2 tackle, 1 TFL, 2 Blocked punts

Week 3 vs East Allegheny – 1 tackle, 2 TFL

Week 4 vs Shady Side Academy – 3 sacks, 3 tackles, 1 TFL

Week 5 vs Knoch – 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 blocked pass

Week 6 vs Southmoreland – 3 sacks, 2 tackles, 1 TFL

Week 7 vs Mt. Pleasant – 3 tackles, 5 TFL, 2 Sacks

Week 8 vs South Allegheny – 1 tackle, 1 TFL, 2 Sacks, 2 Blocked Punts

Week 9 vs Greensburg-Salem – 2 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks

Week 10 vs Belle Vernon – DNP (Injured)

Freshman Season

• Started Both Ways (Brownsville)

• All Conference

• All County

• 3rd place overall TCFCA (High School Weight Lifting Competition – 1st place Squat

Sophomore Season

• 3A Interstate First Team All-Conference Defense – Nose Tackle

• 3A Interstate Second Team All-Conference Offense – Offensive Tackle

• All Area Elite

Chris Climes is a complete force on the defensive and offensive side of the ball as he started both ways for Elizabeth Forward as just as sophomore this past season. When you watch Chris’s film you see a man playing with boys, as his strength is superior to many players he faces on the field. He is an extremely talented pass blocker, he does a great job of keeping pass rushers in front of him and away from his quarterback. He is also an extremely powerful run blocker who moves bodies around all night long. In speaking with him earlier this week, he discussed with me how he has no idea what the accurate amount of pancakes he had this past season because it was so many! I can confirm he is being honest, as I was watching the film, I tried to count how many and I also couldn’t keep track. He is a bully on the line as he blows people out of screen view many times on his film. He is one the most dominate players in the WPIAL’s class of 2025. He is what I call a disruptive force on the defensive side of the ball. He makes tons of plays breakdown for offenses before the play even has a chance to develop. This is something that makes a quarterbacks life very difficult, that is every nose-guards main goal. Almost every snap he plays, he comes out victorious in the battle against the man across from him.

Now that we know what he does well as a nose guard and offensive tackle, it’s time to talk about what makes Chris Climes one of the top defensive players in the 2025 WPIAL Class. He is an elite pass rusher that is in the quarterbacks face all game long. He is a very powerful athlete, that just powers his way through blocks to get to the QB. He is not all power though he also has good footwork and excellent technique. He also has a few moves he likes to use to evade the pass rush.

The thing that stood out most to me when watching his film, is how many plays he made in the opposing teams backfield this past season. His pressure and physical play style is a big part of the success his team had defensively this past season. Between sacks (13 sacks) and tackles for loss (18 TFL) this past season he had a total of 31 combined. That’s an impressive amount of plays made in the opposing teams backfield. You may have seen in his stats listed above that he blocked four punts last season, that number isn’t a typo it is an accurate stat. I don’t know too many players that have blocked four punts in just one season. He loves to compete and loves the physicality that is involved in playing football. His film is listed above in the very first section of information.

How old are you? 16 y/o

Favorite Teammate ever? It’s difficult to choose just one of my teammates because I love them all but Charlie Meelieb became a brother to me on and off the field.

Favorite Coach Ever? Coach Bork (OL Coach)

Favorite thing about football? Competition and Contact.

Dream College? Penn State/Pitt

What NFL player would you say your game resembles the most? Reggie White

Who is role model? Justin Dellarose (Uncle)

Goals for 2023? Individual Football Goals: 1st Team All State – Team Football Goals: Advance past the 1st round of playoffs.

What NFL player do you watch film of to improve? Reggie White

Favorite NFL player? TJ Watt

Favorite MLB Team? White Sox

Favorite NFL Team? Steelers

Favorite NBA Team? Trail Blazer

Top 3 football songs? Dreams and Nightmares, Enter Sandman, and That’s Facts (Lil Baby).

Favorite Food? Buffalo Wings

Favorite Drink: Turner’s Iced Tea

Favorite hobby outside of Football? Fishing

Career Goals: Major: Undecided – Attend a 4-year University.

After speaking with Chris along with doing a deep dive into his film, I have concluded that Chris Climes is one of the top defensive lineman in the class of 2025. He is a playmaker who applies non-stop pressure on the quarterback. I believe his future after high school will be on the defensive side of the ball but I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if a recruiter wants him to play on the offensive line. He is a very good lineman that any quarterback would be ecstatic to have protecting them. He is one of the most powerful athletes in the class of 2025. He has the size, experience and skill to play football at the college level when the time arrives. He is only going to get bigger and better over the next two off-season’s. Listen up coaches, if you are looking for a nose guard who disrupts offenses look no further. It’s time for everyone in the WPIAL to wake up and recognize that #66 Chris Climes is one of the top DL prospects in the WPIAL’s class of 2025.

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