They're bold, they're brash, and they're looking for a party to crash in Cleveland this coming March. Rutgers was at the center of the biggest story of the summer and are now trying to finish in the Top-10 for the first time in school history.

But now that Nick Suriano is able to wrestle this season, they are dealing with injuries to Anthony Ashnault that will have him out until at least December. 

While the coaching staff could fight for a medical redshirt, there are five other seniors on this team. It's now or never for the 13th ranked Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers 2017-18 Lineup

125: #3 Nick Suriano
133: #11 Scott DelVecchio
141: #5 Anthony Ashnault
149: Eleazar DeLuca
157: #7 Richie Lewis
165: John Van Brill
174: #14 Jordan Pagano/Joe Grello
184: #10 Nicholas Gravina
197: Matthew Correnti/Kevin Mulligan
285: Razohnn Gross

We have discussed every nook and cranny of the Suriano situation, but the bottom line is, he starts the year ranked third and has wins over last year's NCAA finalists. There are probably a good number of people who live east of Columbus, Ohio that will pick Suriano to beat Nathan Tomasello this year in the finals.

In our article on the teams with best lightweights, we mentioned that Scott DelVecchio looks like the fourth best 133 pounder in the Big Ten. With new assistant Johnni DiJulius in his corner, DelVecchio may be able to pull off the one or two upsets needed to close out his career with a podium finish.

Depending upon whom you ask, the scope of Ashnault's injuries range from missing six weeks as a precautionary measure to possibly having to apply for a medical redshirt and missing the whole year. With six seniors in the lineup, three of whom are on the bubble of All American status, a Top-10 finish relies heavily upon Ashnault's health. He is already the only three-time AA in Rutgers history.



Eleazar DeLuca is a well travelled veteran who started at Clackamas Community College, then Northern Colorado, and is now a graduate student at Rutgers. He placed 4th at the Big 12 championships in 2016, and was in the NJCAA finals the year before that. He might not place like Kenny Theobald did last year, but qualifying for NCAAs would be a reasonable expectation for him.

Few love to talk as much on social media as Richie Lewis. The 2016 NCAA qualifier starts the year ranked seventh, and has multiple wins over No. 5 Tyler Berger. He placed fourth at Midlands in 2015 and had finishes of second and third at the NJCAA tournament while at Iowa Central. A successful return from injury would certainly put him in the discussion to place at 157.

Lewis' only match from last season


John Van Brill is similar to DeLuca in that he projects as a potential national qualifier. He was 1-2 in St. Louis last year down at 157, and even one more win this March in Cleveland would bring the Scarlet Knights that much closer to Top-10 status.

Two weights don't have clear cut starters at this time, one of which is 174. Former Cadet world team member Joe Grello is bumping up to 174 and challenging Jordan Pagano for the spot. Pagano started last year, qualifying for NCAAs and getting big wins over Ryan Preisch and David Kocer.

Nick Gravina has twice qualified for NCAAs, and earned the 15 seed back in 2016. Though he did not place last year, he made the round of 12 with his losses coming to two-time AA Sammy Brooks and three-time AA Tim Dudley. All it takes is a good string of matches in March for a guy who starts the year ranked 10th to wrestle on the last Saturday of the season.



The other roster battle is between a pair of second year wrestlers in Matthew Correnti and Kevin Mulligan at 197. Both were on the 2016 Big Board; Correnti was No. 19 out of Holy Cross in the Garden State, while Mulligan wrestled for Jersey power Bergen Catholic and finished as the 62nd overall recruit. Correnti started last season, going 13-10 as he qualified for NCAAs.

Razohnn Gross had a couple big wins over Round of 12er Conan Jennings last season, but will need to do more than that to get to Cleveland in his final year of eligibility. The Big Ten has been known to qualify double digits in weight classes before, but he'll want to climb higher than the No. 10 spot in our conference rankings just to be safe.

This will be the best team head coach Scott Goodale has had in his 11 years at the helm in New Brunswick. Their season tickets are selling like hotcakes, they've got multiple guys who can be All Americans, and they've emerged as a team that belongs in the Big Ten. One way or another, Rutgers will make a whole lot of noise this season.


BONUS: Assistant coach Joe Pollard at the recent C3 event.

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