Returning NCAA Points Leaders by Team (Including Transfers)

More than three months have passed since the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA Championships. In simpler times, we’d be able to look at the results from the tournament and ascertain who is returning and which teams have the most points coming back. 

In this current era of college athletics, such an exercise is not so cut-and-dry. At least in late-March it isn’t. With the transfer portal now a way of life and movement from transfers is expected rather than a novelty, lineups can change significantly in the spring and early summer. 

Another unique quirk in this current era is the extra year of eligibility for wrestlers who were active during the 2020-21 season that was disrupted via Covid. In some cases, wrestlers have declined that extra year of eligibility. Most of the big point scorers have exercised the option to continue competition. 

With all of that in mind, most of the big-name transfers have announced their new destinations (or that they’ll remain with their current schools). So now it’s time to calculate returning team points - including transfer additions. 

And for the all-important ground rules. We’ve only counted wrestlers who competed at the 2024 NCAA Championships. For the most part, that gives us a clear picture of which teams will be strong in 2024-25. Of course, there are some outliers like Illinois and Northern Colorado, who have significant point-scorers who are left out. 

Oklahoma State is another unusual team for this exercise. They added a handful of transfers, a few of whom might be expected to move weights. We did not factor in three of their qualifiers that may not be in the starting lineup. 

1. Penn State - 133 points

125 lbs - Braeden Davis (2 points)

133 lbs - Aaron Nagao (3 points)

141 lbs - Beau Bartlett (20 points)

149 lbs - Tyler Kasak (19 points)

157 lbs - Levi Haines (26 points)

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