Razohnn Gross Gross was a walk-on for the Scarlet Knights football squad when he was charged with participating in an assault in April 2015 in New Brunswick, New Jersey over a parking space that left the victim with a broken jaw, police said.
Last month, Gross was granted permission to enter the Pre-Trial Intervention Program, according to court records, which means he avoided jail time and was put on probation as a first-time offender. If he completes the terms of his sentence without getting into further legal trouble, the charges would be removed from his record.
"All that stuff kind of was dropped and he was back in the school,'' Rutgers head wrestling coach Scott Goodale told NJ.com, website for a number of New Jersey newspapers, including the Newark Star-Ledger. "If he's back in school, what's he doing? He was doing nothing (athletics-wise).''
Goodale stressed that he did his due diligence before inviting Gross to come out for wrestling at Rutgers.
"We've done our background with him and we've talked to all the right people, all the important people inside the university,'' Goodale said. "We feel good about it. He's been in our room working really, really hard. Nothing is guaranteed. He'll have an opportunity to make our team. That's as far as we'll go for now. ... We'll give him a second chance. He'll have a short leash, but I don't foresee any problems. He's very appreciative and he's working hard.''
"I will say this: He is super athletic and he's super strong and it seems like there is a passion,'' Goodale said of Gross, who he had recruited the two-sport athlete "a little bit" before the Franklin Park native chose to play football at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey. "But everybody has passion in the spring and the summer. I need to see the passion in November, when it's on the line. I think he misses it. I think this is what he should've been doing it all along. He should've been with us from the get-go.''
NJ.com described Gross as "one of New Jersey's best wrestlers from 2011 to 2013." In his high school career, Gross tallied a 127-18 record, four District 5 titles and three Region 2 championships, winning back-to-back NJSIAA (New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association) titles at 195 pounds in 2012 and 2013. Interestingly, one of the wrestlers Gross will be joining on the Rutgers wrestling roster: Anthony Messner, who Gross beat in the 2013 finals.
Some wrestling fans may have a sense of déjà vu in reading about coach Goodale welcoming a former New Jersey mat champ who had a brush with the law after high school.
Andrew Campolattano, four-time NJSIAA titlewinner who transferred to Rutgers after being dismissed from Ohio State two years ago over drug trafficking charges (which were later dropped). Campolattano ended up leaving the Scarlet Knights wrestling program to concentrate on academics. He recently graduated with a 3.2 grade-point-average, according to Goodale.
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