InterMat Staff

Earlier this week, 2024 NCAA finalist Rocco Welsh announced that he was transferring from Ohio State to Penn State. The fallout from that move has reared its head today as Penn State freshman Zack Ryder has entered the transfer portal. With the loss of five-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci at 184 lbs, Ryder was seen as the replacement for Starocci until Welsh’s decision. Now, Ryder will look elsewhere for a suitor. Ryder was the sixth overall recruit in the high school Class of 2024 and redshirted last season in State College. He was able to amass an 8-0 record with tournament titles at the Black Knight Invite and the Southern Scuffle. Despite only competing in two tournaments, Ryder was able to rack up an impressive win list. Half of his victories came over past or eventual NCAA qualifiers. At the Scuffle, he downed 2025 NCAA Round of 12 finisher DJ Parker (Oklahoma) 9-2 and pinned 2024 All-American TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech). The Black Knight Invite saw him post hard-fought wins over Rutgers national qualifiers Brian Soldano and Shane Cartagena-Walsh. Ryder’s exploits outside of the United States are partly responsible for his lofty recruiting ranking. He earned bronze medals at the U17 World Championships in both 2022 and 2023. Last summer, Ryder moved up to the U20 age group and made the world finals. Domestically, Ryder was a Cadet freestyle champion in Fargo. As a high school sophomore, he was fifth at the Super 32 and third at the Walsh Ironman. With five of the top-six finishers from the 2025 NCAA Championships graduating, 184 lbs should be wide open next year. Wherever he lands, Ryder could be one of the new faces contending for a national title.

Prairie View via Clackamas CC

Cosby

Cane Bay

Gouverneur

The Woodlands

Venice

Frisco

Gilroy

Wyoming Seminary

Waynesburg

Columbia Central

Clinton

Olentangy Orange

Palmer

Altamont

Clover

Grand Haven

Since the 2025 NCAA Championships wrapped up, the biggest topic of conversation has been the transfer portal. Who entered it? Where could they be looking? Who has made a transfer decision? And for how much? Your traditional fans may yearn for a day when we didn’t fill the first two weeks after the tournament talking about transfers. But that’s the landscape of college wrestling and college athletics to a larger degree. Using the transfer portal to your advantage is almost a necessity these days in college wrestling. Sure, you need recruiting, retention, and development, but filling a potential hole with a transfer could be the difference between a team trophy and fifth or sixth place. Need proof? Below are the point totals from the 2025 NCAA Championships accumulated by wrestlers who have transferred at least once in their collegiate careers. We realize that all transfers aren’t created equally and there’s a difference between a transfer from 2022 and our current portal/NIL climate, but we’ll let you sort that out. Until then, here are the numbers. Oklahoma State (82.5 points) - Total Team Points: 102.5 125 - Troy Spratley (17.5 points) 141 - Tagen Jamison (5.5 points) 157 - Caleb Fish (5.5 points) 165 - Cam Amine (5.5 points) 174 - Dean Hamiti (22.5 points) 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (26 points) Iowa (43 points) - Total Team Points: 81 125 - Joey Cruz (0 points) 149 - Kyle Parco (1 point) 157 - Jacori Teemer (0 points) 165 - Michael Caliendo (18 points) 197 - Stephen Buchanan (24 points) Penn State (34.5 points) - Total Team Points: 177 165 - Mitchell Mesenbrink (24 points) 285 - Greg Kerkvliet (10.5 points) Michigan (29.5 points) - Total Team Points: 35.5 157 - Chase Saldate (6 points) 197 - Jacob Cardenas (13.5 points) 285 - Josh Heindselman (10 points) Lehigh (17 points) - Total Team Points: 29 197 - Michael Beard (3.5 points) 285 - Owen Trephan (13.5 points) Purdue (14.5 points) - Total Team Points: 34.5 125 - Matt Ramos (14.5 points) Oregon State (14 points) - Total Team Points: 18.5 125 - Maximo Renteria (0.5 points) 149 - Ethan Stiles (12 points) 197 - Trey Munoz (1.5 points) CSU Bakersfield (13.5 points) - Total Team Points: 14 points 197 - AJ Ferrari (13.5 points) Utah Valley (12.5 points) - Total Team Points: 12.5 points 165 - Terrell Barraclough (12.5 points) Virginia Tech (11 points) - Total Team Points: 41 133 - Connor McGonagle (9 points) 174 - Lennox Wolak (2 points) Oklahoma (10 points) - Total Team Points: 10.5 125 - Antonio Lorenzo (1.5 points) 141 - Mosha Schwartz (1 point) 174 - Gaven Sax (1 point) 184 - DJ Parker (6.5 points) Lock Haven (7.5 points) - Total Team Points: 7.5 133 - Anthony Noto (1 point) 141 - Wyatt Henson (2 points) 174 - Avery Bassett (0.5 points) 285 - Gavin Hoffman (4 points) Nebraska (7.5 points) - Total Team Points: 117 125 - Caleb Smith (7.5 points) Northern Colorado (6.5 points) - Total Team Points: 17.5 125 - Stevo Poulin (5.5 points) 133 - Dominick Serrano (1 point) Rider (6.5 points) - Total Team Points: 10 149 - Sammy Alvarez (6.5 points) 165 - Enrique Munguia (0 points) South Dakota State (6 points) - Total Team Points: 19 141 - Julian Tagg (2.5 points) 157 - Cobe Siebrecht (3 points) 165 - Drake Rhodes (0 points) 197 - Cole Glazier (0.5 points) Hofstra (5.5 points) - Total Team Points: 5.5 165 - Kyle Mosher (5.5 points) Minnesota (5.5 points) - Total Team Points: 51.5 125 - Cooper Flynn (3 points) 157 - Tommy Askey (2 points) 174 - Clayton Whiting (0.5 points) Indiana (4 points) - Total Team Points: 18.5 133 - Angelo Rini (3 points) 285 - Jacob Bullock (1 point) Little Rock (4 points) - Total Team Points: 22.5 149 - Jordan Williams (4 points) Northern Iowa (3.5 points) - Total Team Points: 45.5 149 - Colin Realbuto (1 point) 165 - Jack Thomsen (2.5 points) Illinois (3 points) - Total Team Points: 44.5 184 - Edmond Ruth (3 points) Maryland (3 points) - Total Team Points: 18.5 285 - Seth Nevills (3 points) West Virginia (3 points) - Total Team Points: 21 125 - Jett Strickenberger (3 points) Iowa State (2.5 points) - Total Team Points: 18 165 - Aiden Riggins (2.5 points) 184 - Evan Bockman (0 points) Cal Poly (1.5 points) - Total Team Points: 17.5 149 - Chance Lamer (1.5 points) North Carolina (1.5 points) - Total Team Points: 17 133 - Ethan Oakley (0.5 points) 174 - Josh Ogunsanya (1 point) 285 - Nolan Neves (0 points) Rutgers (1.5 points) - Total Team Points: 12 285 - Yaraslau Slavikouski (1.5 points) Pittsburgh (1 point) - Total Team Points: 18 125 - Nick Babin (0 points) 184 - Reece Heller (1 point) Edinboro (0.5 points) - Total Team Points: 0.5 133 - Colton Camacho (0 points) 184 - Jared McGill (0.5 points) Campbell (0 points) - Total Team Points: 2 141 - Shannon Hanna (0 points) Central Michigan (0 points) - Total Team Points: 5 174 - Johnny Lovett (0 points) North Dakota State (0 points) - Total Team Points: 11.5 125 - Tristan Daugherty (0 points) 133 - Kyle Burwick (0 points) Wyoming (0 points) - Total Team Points: 19.5 149 - Gabe Willochell (0 points) 157 - Jared Hill (0 points)

The National Duals Invitational, a groundbreaking $1 million collegiate wrestling event sponsored by Paycom, has announced the qualification process for the inaugural 16-team bracket. Featuring top programs from across the country, this high-stakes tournament will bring together elite competition and unprecedented prize money to the BOK Center in Tulsa this fall. Automatic entry will be awarded to the top 12 teams in the final 2025 NCAA Division I standings: Penn State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, Cornell, NC State, Northern Iowa, Illinois, Virginia Tech and Michigan. To secure their spots, these 12 teams must complete their participation agreements by April 15. Final teams will be listed on the website as they are confirmed. “While we know this is not an accurate representation of dual team rankings, we believe it will ensure that the event features some of the best competition in the country,” said Matt Surber, Tournament Director. “I’m excited to see additional participation as we grow the sport of wrestling.” The remaining spots will be filled through a random drawing on April 24 from teams that finished 13-24 in the NCAA standings. The teams competing for these final spots are Purdue, Missouri, Lehigh, Pennsylvania, Little Rock, Arizona State, Stanford, West Virginia, Navy, Wyoming, South Dakota State, Indiana, Maryland and Oregon State. The premier 16-team event will feature a total purse of more than $1 million. The top eight teams will earn payouts, with the winning squad walking away with $200,000. The second- and third-place teams will earn $150,000, while fourth place earns $75,000. Fifth through eighth place payouts will be: $50,000, $40,000, $25,000, and $20,000, respectively. All participating teams will receive $20,000 for attending. Thirty-four-time NCAA champion Oklahoma State will serve as the host school. This event will be held at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 15-16. Learn more at nationaldualsinvitational.com.

Jore Volk is coming home! The 2024 NCAA All-American announced last night that he will return to his home state and transfer to the University of Minnesota. Volk earned All-American honors for Wyoming in 2024 as he finished seventh in the nation at 125 lbs. A few weeks earlier, Volk claimed a title at the Big 12 Championships which led to the #5 seed at NCAA’s. Volk fell in the opening round but battled back through the consolations to take seventh place. To lock up his spot on the podium, Volk needed a sudden victory win over top-seeded Big Ten champion Braeden Davis of Penn State. Volk finished his sophomore campaign with a 27-8 record. In 2024-25, Volk started the year with a pair of wins and then downed Tanner Jordan of South Dakota State at the NWCA All-Star Classic. The following week, he suffered a pair of losses to opponents from the Big 12 Oklahoma schools and was injured and lost for the year. Volk was tabbed the #64 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 after winning three Minnesota state championships and capturing a U20 world championship later that summer. He never redshirted at Wyoming - immediately jumping into the Cowboy lineup and notching a 25-11 record while qualifying for NCAA’s as the #21 seed. Volk will jump into a Minnesota lineup that features a returning of past All-Americans with Vance Vombaur (141) and Max McEnelly (184). The Gophers have a quality 125 lber returning in Cooper Flynn, as well. Flynn is a two-time national qualifier who joined Minnesota last offseason. He went 2-2 at the 2025 national tournament. To get both in the lineup, one of the two might be able to move up to 133 lbs, as starter Tyler Wells has a redshirt available. Volk should have two years of eligibility remaining as he missed the vast majority of the 2024-25 campaign with his injury.

The 2025 NCAA Championships are still fresh on our minds and in that tournament Penn State captured their fourth straight national title and 12th under head coach Cael Sanderson. Despite falling victim to a couple of upsets, the Nittany Lions still managed to put ten wrestlers on the podium - a feat only accomplished once before. Much has been said about Penn State’s record in the most important rounds of the national tournament. We’ve decided to see how that stands after the 2025 tournament and how that compares to a handful of other programs around the country. Below are 21 programs sorted by their overall records at the NCAA Tournament from 2021-25. Along with their total record is how each program fared during that time period in the NCAA finals, the semifinals, the quarterfinals, and the bloodround. The programs listed below have had a total of at least 125 matches at the NCAA Tournament between 2021-25, so every team is not listed. 1. Penn State Total: 196-47 (.807) Finals: 17-6 Semifinals: 23-7 Quarterfinals: 30-8 Bloodround: 8-3 2. Iowa Total: 149-86 (.634) Finals: 2-7 Semifinals: 9-6 Quarterfinals: 15-13 Bloodround: 12-5 3. Michigan Total: 123-73 (.628) Finals: 2-4 Semifinals: 6-8 Quarterfinals: 14-6 Bloodround: 5-8 4. Cornell Total: 102-61 (.626) Finals: 4-0 Semifinals: 4-3 Quarterfinals: 7-4 Bloodround: 6-7 5. Arizona State Total: 100-63 (.613) Finals: 1-3 Semifinals: 4-7 Quarterfinals: 11-7 Bloodround: 9-1 6. Nebraska Total: 132-84 (.611) Finals: 2-3 Semifinals: 5-5 Quarterfinals: 10-13 Bloodround: 14-7 7. Ohio State Total: 119-83 (.589) Finals: 2-3 Semifinals: 5-4 Quarterfinals: 9-8 Bloodround: 8-11 8. Oklahoma State Total: 119-86 (.580) Finals: 3-5 Semifinals: 8-3 Quarterfinals: 11-5 Bloodround: 8-4 9. Missouri Total: 109-85 (.562) Finals: 2-1 Semifinals: 3-4 Quarterfinals: 7-9 Bloodround: 8-9 10. NC State Total: 112-88 (.560) Finals: 1-2 Semifinals: 3-5 Quarterfinals: 8-10 Bloodround: 8-7 11. Iowa State Total: 97-77 (.557) Finals: 2-1 Semifinals: 3-2 Quarterfinals: 5-5 Bloodround: 7-6 12. Virginia Tech Total: 108-89 (.548) Finals: 1-2 Semifinals: 3-5 Quarterfinals: 8-14 Bloodround: 10-7 13. Northern Iowa Total: 83-70 (.542) Finals: 1-2 Semifinals: 3-2 Quarterfinals: 5-3 Bloodround: 1-8 14. Northwestern Total: 73-63 (.537) Finals: 1-0 Semifinals: 1-2 Quarterfinals: 3-7 Bloodround: 6-3 15. North Carolina Total: 67-63 (.515) Finals: 2-1 Semifinals: 3-1 Quarterfinals: 4-4 Bloodround: 6-2 16. Stanford Total: 66-63 (.512) Finals: 1-1 Semifinals: 2-2 Quarterfinals: 4-4 Bloodround: 5-4 17. South Dakota State Total: 73-70 (.510) Finals: 0-1 Semifinals: 1-2 Quarterfinals: 3-1 Bloodround: 5-5 18. Minnesota Total: 91-89 (.506) Finals: 2-1 Semifinals: 3-2 Quarterfinals: 5-7 Bloodround: 8-5 19. Rutgers Total: 68-69 (.496) Finals: 0-0 Semifinals 0-2 Quarterfinals 2-3 Bloodround: 5-5 20. Oregon State Total: 60-67 (.472) Finals: 0-0 Semifinals: 0-2 Quarterfinals: 2-5 Bloodround: 5-3 21. Lehigh Total: 59-71 (.454) Finals: 0-0 Semifinals: 0-5 Quarterfinals: 5-4 Bloodround: 2-6

Women’s College Wrestler of the Year finalists: Blades, Jones, Kilty, Kolawole, Mortimer, Ogunsanyah, Rodriguez, Welker. Fan vote through April 6 The finalists have been named for the 2025 USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Award. The award will be selected by a vote from three major constituent groups: wrestling journalists, women’s college head coaches and the fans. Each of these groups will account for one-third of the vote. The eight finalists were all undefeated college national champions in 2025: NCWWC (NCAA institutions) champions Kennedy Blades of Iowa, Amani Jones of North Central, Macey Kilty of Iowa, Sage Mortimer of Grand Valley State and Kylie Welker of Iowa, plus NAIA champions Esther Kolawole of William Penn, Christianah Ogunsanyah of William Penn and Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane. . Fan vote for 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year https://usawrestlingevents.com/wcwoty Women’s college varsity wrestlers from all of the recognized college organizations were eligible, including NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA/junior college programs. The finalists were selected by a committee overseeing the award program, featuring representatives of the media, college coaches and wrestling fans. These eight wrestlers were selected from a pool of 31 college national champions from the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA. Fan voting opens today (Tuesday, April 1) and runs through Sunday, April 6. The announcement of the winner of 2025 USA Wrestling’s Women’s College Wrestler of the Year will again be announced on FloWrestling on Tuesday, April 8. How to vote for USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Review the candidate bios Click “cast vote now” button Enter your email Click on the one athlete you are voting for On bottom of page, click “save vote now” button Fan vote for 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year https://usawrestlingevents.com/wcwoty The award was created in 2023. Past winners were Yelena Makoyed of North Central College in 2023 and Adaugo Nwachukwu of William Penn University in 2024. USA Wrestling’s goal is to elevate the new award to have the significance and impact as other college athletic awards, such as the Dan Hodge Trophy for men’s college wrestling, the Heisman Trophy for college football, the Hobey Baker Award for men’s college hockey, the Patty Kazmeier Award for women’s college hockey, the Naismith College Player of the Year in men’s and women’s basketball, the Dick Howser Trophy in college baseball, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and similar college awards. The Finalists (Alphabetically) Kennedy Blades, junior, University of Iowa 2025 NCWWC champion at 160 pounds 25-0 record 2 pins and 23 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion Outstanding Wrestler at 2025 NCWWC tournament 2024 Olympic silver medalist for Team USA Amani Jones, senior, North Central College 2025 NCWWC champion at 124 pounds, now 2x NCWWC champion 27-0 record 6 pins and 13 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 5 champion 2x age-group World medalist for Team USA Macey Kilty, graduate student, University of Iowa 2025 NCWWC champion at 145 pounds 28-0 record 3 pins and 21 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion 2x Senior World medalist for Team USA Esther Kolawole, freshman, William Penn University 2025 NAIA champion at 145 pounds 23-0 record 2 pins and 19 technical falls 2025 Heart of America Conference champion 2024 Olympian for Nigeria Sage Mortimer, junior, Grand Valley State University 2025 NCWWC champion at 110 pounds 24-0 record 9 pins and 11 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 5 champion 2024 U23 World champion for Team USA Christianah Ogunsanyah, freshman, William Penn University 2025 NAIA champion at 117 pounds 23-0 record 1 pins and 20 technical falls 2025 Heart of America Conference champion 2024 Olympian for Nigeria Cristelle Rodriguez, junior, Doane University 2025 NAIA champion at 124 pounds, now 2x NAIA champion 14-0 record 5 pins and 8 technical falls 2025 Great Plains Athletic Conference champion 2025 NAIA Women’s Wrestler of the Year 2024 U20 World champion for Team USA Kylie Welker, sophomore, Univ. of Iowa 2025 NCWWC champion at 180 pounds, now 2x NCWWC champion 28-0 record 6 pins and 21 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion 2021 U20 World champion for Team USA PAST USA WRESTLING WOMEN’S COLLEGE WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR 2024 – Adaugo Nwachukwu, William Penn University 2023 – Yelena Makoyed, North Central College Fan vote for 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year https://usawrestlingevents.com/wcwoty

Just last week we had a portal update and almost immediately after it was posted, portal related news continued to hit. Now, we have a few notable wrestlers who have already announced their transfer destinations - along with more high-profile additions to the portal itself. Love it or hate it, it’s the reality. Student-athletes have the ability to transfer much more freely than past generations. Couple that with the extra year of eligibility doled out by the NCAA in the aftermath of the COVID years and you have a wild combination. There was lots of movement last “offseason” and I don’t foresee that changing this year. The first list of wrestlers we’ve listed have already publicly committed to a new transfer destination. That new school is listed first, along with their projected weight, followed by their former school. Below them are notable wrestlers that have gone into the transfer portal. It is not a comprehensive list. Expect many updates to this feature in the coming weeks and months. Transfers Iowa: Nasir Bailey (133/141) - Little Rock Iowa: Jordan Williams (149) - Little Rock Michigan: Taye Ghadiali (285) - Campbell Oklahoma State: Alex Facundo (165) - Penn State Oklahoma State: Gary Steen (133) - Penn State Oklahoma State: Casey Swiderski (149) - Iowa State Oregon State: Joel Adams (149) - Michigan/CKWC Penn State: Rocco Welsh (184) - Ohio State Portal Christian Carroll (197) - Iowa State Hunter Catka (285) - Virginia Tech Remy Cotton (197) - Michigan State Isaac Dean (184) - Rider David Evans (149) - Penn State AJ Ferrari (197) - CSU Bakersfield Joe Fongaro (149) - Rutgers Luke Gayer (165) - Rutgers Louie Gill (125) - NC State Eli Griffin (133) - California Baptist Bryce Hepner (157/165) - Ohio State Chase Horne (285) - NC State Hunter Mason (141) - Virginia Tech Lachlan McNeil (149) - North Carolina Billy Meiszner (149) - Kent State Spencer Moore (125) - North Carolina Draegen Orine (133) - NC State Isaiah Powe (141) - Chattanooga Caleb Rathjen (149) - Iowa Zach Redding (141) - Iowa State Mike Slade (184/197) - Campbell Brian Soldano (184) - Rutgers Sean Spidle (133) - Central Michigan TJ Stewart (184) - Virginia Tech David Szuba (285) - Rider Kysen Terukina (125) - Iowa State Jore Volk (125) - Wyoming Colton Washleski (157) - Rider