Rutgers Losing Wrestling National Champion To Transfer Portal

Nick Suriano, the first wrestling champion in Rutgers history, has entered his name in the transfer portal, per numerous reports.

The senior hasn't wrestled a college match since winning the NCAA 133-pound title in 2019. He took an Olympic redshirt during the 2019-20 season, then took a redshirt during the 2020-21 season, spending those two years training for the Olympic Trials.

Suriano's Olympic dreams ended one day before the Trials when he was removed from the 57 kilogram bracket "due to COVID testing," NorthJersey.com's Zach Miller reports.

He had first locked in his place at the U.S. Team Trials with his fourth-place finish at Senior Nationals in December 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The 2019 NCAA Champion at 133 pounds recently secured the 57 kg freestyle individual title at the 2021 Henri Deglane Grand Prix for USA Wrestling on Jan. 16 in Nice, France, where he outscored his three opponents, 18-2, en route to his individual championship, Rutgers Athletics said.

Miller says Suriano's most likely destination is Arizona State after training with Sun Devils coaches at the Sunkist Kids Regional Training Center in Tempe since last fall.

This will be the second time Suriano has transferred. He spent his freshman year at Penn State, where he earned the No. 3 seed in the 125-pound bracket but did not compete in the NCAA Tournament due to an ankle injury. He then transferred to Rutgers, where he lost in the 125-pound final in 2018 and won the 133-pound title in 2019.