The Replacements: Who Takes Over for 2024's Graduated Stars?

One of the idiosyncrasies of college athletics is that student-athletes only get four years of collegiate competition before either going to pursue their sport professionally or moving on to other ventures. Of course, COVID and extra eligibility have thrown that traditional four-year mark for a loop these past few years. As we move farther away from the extra eligibility and more towards normalcy, more college athletes will graduate and move on. 

This applies to wrestling like any other sport. Today, we’ll look back at some of the collegiate stars who have graduated and moved on after the 2023 tournament. As it applies to the upcoming season, we’ll look at the wrestlers slated to replace those greats. Replace may not be the best word, because, in a lot of these instances, it will be extremely difficult to replicate the production and leadership that these great wrestlers provided at their respective institutions. That being said, someone had to try! 

The wrestler that comes after the great one can come from a couple of different places. Sometimes coaches use the transfer portal. Other times, a stud freshman is waiting in the wings. Maybe it’s a teammate moving up or down in the lineup. And finally, it could be a previously unheralded wrestler who is eager to finally get a shot. Whatever the case, we’re discussing them today!

Below we’re going weight-by-weight and have singled out some of the notable seniors and have information on the wrestler (or wrestlers) that will replace them in the lineup:

125 lbs

Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 

Replacement: Nicolar Rivera

The three-time All-American will be replaced by the Badgers starter at 133 lbs last season - Nicolar Rivera.

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