Pinto Transfers to Rutgers

For the second day in a row, Rutgers added an experienced national qualifier through the transfer portal. Yesterday, the Scarlet Knights added Michigan State’s NCAA qualifier, Remy Cotton, who made the 2025 national tournament at 197 lbs. Today, they’ve added Lenny Pinto, a three-time national qualifier for Nebraska. 

Pinto has finished in the NCAA Round of 12 in each of the last two seasons for the Cornhuskers. In both seasons he was seeded in the top eight at nationals. In 2024, he was #5 and this year he was the #8. Pinto was seeded so highly partly because of top three finishes at the Big Ten Championships. He was a finalist this past season and third in 2024. 

Heading into his senior year, Pinto will be regarded as one of the top seniors in the nation who has not AA’ed before. This year he posted a win over a past All-American (Carson Kharchla) and the eventual NCAA fourth-place finisher (Patrick Kennedy). In 2023-24, Pinto amazingly downed four wrestlers who would go on to earn All-American honors in Kansas City. 

Should he remain at 174 lbs, Pinto would be a perfect fit for Rutgers. 2021 All-American Jackson Turley has exhausted his eligibility in 2025 and there did not appear to be a sure-fire successor to Turley on the Scarlet Knights roster. 

Despite the transfer of 125 lber Dean Peterson and losses to graduation, Rutgers could field a lineup that features seven wrestlers with past NCAA experience. 

The move also brings Pinto closer to home and reunites him with former training partner Mikey Labriola, who was added to Rutgers’ staff before the 2024-25 campaign. Pinto was a 2020 AAA state champion for Stroudsburg in Pennsylvania’s fabled District XI in the northeastern part of the state.