What ever happened to Rutgers wrestling?

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Not too long ago Rutgers was looking like a perennial top 10 program and had crowned its first two national champs in Suriano and Ashnault. Then Suriano left for Michigan, Ashnault graduated and the Rutgers programs has seemed to fall back into irrelevance. Goodale is still there but they seemed to lose all momentum and now are they even a top 20 team?

 

Sad to see with all the NJ wrestling talent in state. 

[Winners Circle]

1 hour ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Not too long ago Rutgers was looking like a perennial top 10 program and had crowned its first two national champs in Suriano and Ashnault. Then Suriano left for Michigan, Ashnault graduated and the Rutgers programs has seemed to fall back into irrelevance. Goodale is still there but they seemed to lose all momentum and now are they even a top 20 team?

 

Sad to see with all the NJ wrestling talent in state. 

They have finished in the top 10 once (9th in 2019 when Ashnault and Suriano won titles) since 2000. Lmao. I quit checking at 2000, but that may be their only top 10 finish ever. Hard to call that a "perennial top 10 program". 

Edited December 3, 2025 by Winners Circle

[OMW]

8 minutes ago, Winners Circle said:

They have finished in the top 10 once (9th in 2019 when Ashnault and Suriano won titles) since 2000. Lmao. I quit checking at 2000, but that may be their only top 10 finish ever. Hard to call that a "perennial top 10 program". 

Hyperbole + Jimmy Cinnabon = Hyper-bimmy

[Winners Circle]

Just now, OMW said:

Hyperbole + Jimmy Cinnabon = Hyper-bimmy

[bnwtwg]

Rutgers is perennially top ten B1G sometimes if they luck into enough injury defaults and MFFs and Michigan State or Wisconsin wrestlers on the backside.

[grapevine]

Pritzlaff, Buxton, and Rivera left for Columbia. Ashnault left for Princeton. Lots of rumors why they left. Team has experienced off the mat issues with lack of discipline and lack of a highly respected All American coach. Out of state recruiting is good. In state coaches and kids see the lack of success since 2019 and go elsewhere. School does great job promoting the sport, has one of the best training facilities, and is located in a hot bed for recruiting. 

[wrestle87]

Rutgers fights a lot of headwinds on this front.  It is VERY Jersey, is fine enough as a school that you can’t completely walk your way through, but easy enough that nobody but your grandma congratulates you on earning a degree there.  So kids can go to a ton of much more respected schools if they care about their degree, and they can go to a ton of easier schools if they really want to get a degree for just being on a wrestling mat.

It’s also not located anywhere that anybody would actually want to go to college.  Nobody is choosing New Brunswick as a top college destination.

Then, you have to add in that Jersey is a really small state, and by the time kids finish high school, just about every kid wants to go at least an hour or two away just to see some different license plates.

So, in order to really swing hard, you have to hit the serious sweet spot in terms of athlete type and temperament.  Also, surrounding programs which used to kind of suck are getting much better.  Princeton and Columbia used to be absolute jokes.  They are much more competitive now, though we’ll see what happens now that the EIWA has been pieced up.  Lehigh, Penn, Cornell, and Rider are big draws on the available talent pool.  

Also, if you went to a prep school and then went to rutgers, it’s a bad look, so really the talent pool is only in-state public school kids who want to stay close to home, maybe even commute.

[Rassling2]

2 hours ago, wrestle87 said:

Rutgers fights a lot of headwinds on this front.  It is VERY Jersey, is fine enough as a school that you can’t completely walk your way through, but easy enough that nobody but your grandma congratulates you on earning a degree there.  So kids can go to a ton of much more respected schools if they care about their degree, and they can go to a ton of easier schools if they really want to get a degree for just being on a wrestling mat.

It’s also not located anywhere that anybody would actually want to go to college.  Nobody is choosing New Brunswick as a top college destination.

Then, you have to add in that Jersey is a really small state, and by the time kids finish high school, just about every kid wants to go at least an hour or two away just to see some different license plates.

So, in order to really swing hard, you have to hit the serious sweet spot in terms of athlete type and temperament.  Also, surrounding programs which used to kind of suck are getting much better.  Princeton and Columbia used to be absolute jokes.  They are much more competitive now, though we’ll see what happens now that the EIWA has been pieced up.  Lehigh, Penn, Cornell, and Rider are big draws on the available talent pool.  

Also, if you went to a prep school and then went to rutgers, it’s a bad look, so really the talent pool is only in-state public school kids who want to stay close to home, maybe even commute.

[juniorvarsity]

7 hours ago, grapevine said:

Pritzlaff, Buxton, and Rivera left for Columbia. Ashnault left for Princeton. Lots of rumors why they left. Team has experienced off the mat issues with lack of discipline and lack of a highly respected All American coach. Out of state recruiting is good. In state coaches and kids see the lack of success since 2019 and go elsewhere. School does great job promoting the sport, has one of the best training facilities, and is located in a hot bed for recruiting. 

This. Why are these assistant coaches not staying?

They sell tickets I guess, but I think they could do better given all the high school talent. I did not know the intangibles about location and private school kids wanting to go to better colleges. 

[BloodRound]

Think the hardest part of selling Rutgers to prospective recruits is how the team lays down and dies in these big match moments.  Fell apart when they had Iowa on the ropes 7-8 years ago, fell apart last year with NC State, VA Tech, etc.  It ain't pretty to watch.  You know it's a problem when Penn State nearly sells out the RAC because everyone wants to see how good they are, rather than thinking anyone on Rutgers has a fighting chance.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

20 minutes ago, BloodRound said:

Think the hardest part of selling Rutgers to prospective recruits is how the team lays down and dies in these big match moments.  Fell apart when they had Iowa on the ropes 7-8 years ago, fell apart last year with NC State, VA Tech, etc.  It ain't pretty to watch.  You know it's a problem when Penn State nearly sells out the RAC because everyone wants to see how good they are, rather than thinking anyone on Rutgers has a fighting chance.

Don't tell the Minnow!

BOOM!

[BloodRound]

9 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Don't tell the Minnow!

BOOM!

I've been happily blocked out of The Wrestling Room for a few months now.  Rejoice!

[The Kid]

4 hours ago, wrestle87 said:

Rutgers fights a lot of headwinds on this front.  It is VERY Jersey, is fine enough as a school that you can’t completely walk your way through, but easy enough that nobody but your grandma congratulates you on earning a degree there.  So kids can go to a ton of much more respected schools if they care about their degree, and they can go to a ton of easier schools if they really want to get a degree for just being on a wrestling mat.

It’s also not located anywhere that anybody would actually want to go to college.  Nobody is choosing New Brunswick as a top college destination.

Then, you have to add in that Jersey is a really small state, and by the time kids finish high school, just about every kid wants to go at least an hour or two away just to see some different license plates.

So, in order to really swing hard, you have to hit the serious sweet spot in terms of athlete type and temperament.  Also, surrounding programs which used to kind of suck are getting much better.  Princeton and Columbia used to be absolute jokes.  They are much more competitive now, though we’ll see what happens now that the EIWA has been pieced up.  Lehigh, Penn, Cornell, and Rider are big draws on the available talent pool.  

Also, if you went to a prep school and then went to rutgers, it’s a bad look, so really the talent pool is only in-state public school kids who want to stay close to home, maybe even commute.

According to US News Rutgers is the 42 ranked university in the US.

While being 16th ranked public school.

Rutgers is close to NYC.  

It's not for me, but it is a respectable university imo.

[JimmyCinnabon]

Maybe someone TOLD you they were a perennial top 10 program.

[wrestle87]

1 hour ago, The Kid said:

According to US News Rutgers is the 42 ranked university in the US.

While being 16th ranked public school.

Rutgers is close to NYC.  

It's not for me, but it is a respectable university imo.

It’s not bad by any means, it’s just not the best at anything other than being extremely “jersey”, and if an athlete is good enough to get a roster spot at rutgers, they immediately get solicited by at least ten other schools, if not 20, up and down the eastern seaboard.  

It’s just an uphill battle that’s hard to win, especially with pritzlaff gone now.  Goodale unfortunately doesn’t have a great track record of development.  He strikes me very much as a Rob Koll type of coach, highly capable administrator, but he needs his proverbial Mike Grey to run the room.

[Mr. PeanutButter]

12 hours ago, grapevine said:

Pritzlaff, Buxton, and Rivera left for Columbia. Ashnault left for Princeton. Lots of rumors why they left. Team has experienced off the mat issues with lack of discipline and lack of a highly respected All American coach. Out of state recruiting is good. In state coaches and kids see the lack of success since 2019 and go elsewhere. School does great job promoting the sport, has one of the best training facilities, and is located in a hot bed for recruiting. 

Why did all those people leave? Is Ashnault around?

[Elevator]

Some good points on this thread.  Rutgers just won the Keystone Classic - so prolly on their way up again!  They looked pretty solid.  

[ionel]

2 hours ago, Elevator said:

Some good points on this thread.  Rutgers just won the Keystone Classic - so prolly on their way up again!  They looked pretty solid.  

Didn't Penn St just win the Black Night Inv?  The Keystone Classics sounds more prestigious.  Maybe Rutgers wins the big one in March?  

[Elevator]

1 hour ago, ionel said:

Didn't Penn St just win the Black Night Inv?  The Keystone Classics sounds more prestigious.  Maybe Rutgers wins the big one in March?  

 I think the Keystone Classic is usually a little tougher/deeper and notably Cael Sanderson himself was a Keystone Champ back in the day!  To some extent, if PSU shows up with A/B wrestlers, its a prestigious tourney!  That room is crazy deep with ass-kickers.

Drexel tomorrow @ Drexel - hard to see the Dragons winning a lot of those matches. 

[Elevator]

16 hours ago, Elevator said:

 I think the Keystone Classic is usually a little tougher/deeper and notably Cael Sanderson himself was a Keystone Champ back in the day!  To some extent, if PSU shows up with A/B wrestlers, its a prestigious tourney!  That room is crazy deep with ass-kickers.

Drexel tomorrow @ Drexel - hard to see the Dragons winning a lot of those matches. 

PSU at Drexel tonight - then at Lehigh.  An Eastern PA swing which is nice!

Many people may be thinking or wondering if PSU is ducking the mighty Penn Quakers (who are rocketing up in the polls) - the Quakers are only a few blocks away from Drexel.   I would suggest this is not quite fair because (I think) Penn is in the finals period and I do not think they can schedule matches during this period.  Just unlucky.  I would concede that PSU would be favored notwithstanding the momenetum of the Penn early season success.

[Spladle88]

It's a shame Lehigh doesn't have Crookham, Stanich, Griffin, Davis etc for this weekend........not taht they would challenge PSU anyway but would be a lot more interesting.......Pitt dual should be a tight one with all the Lehigh guys out of the lineup, pretty much a tossup

[feet2back]

Theres a short list of Programs that are sitting better then Rutgers  ...New AD is all aboard...Just signed top 5 class

 

 

 

[ironmonkey]

At some point, you have to realize next year and the elusive success promised with it never comes.   

 

It's a decent program but cant take the next step for varied reasons.  

[grapevine]

Rutgers is great at promoting. Just doesn’t live up to expectations. They just lost to NC State  27 to 11. Major coaching issues. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

13 hours ago, grapevine said:

Rutgers is great at promoting. Just doesn’t live up to expectations. They just lost to NC State  27 to 11. Major coaching issues. 

And that was with the upset by Rutgers at 141.