Rutgers finished in the top ten for the first time in school history and crowned their first two National Champions in the process. Rutgers' 51.5 points in Pittsburgh was good enough for 9th place at the 2019 NCAA tournament, just 2.0 points behind 8th place Minnesota. 

Rutgers will graduate 25.5 points from 149 pound National Champion Anthony Ashnault (21), 157-pounder John Van Brill (4.5) and 184-pounder Nicholas Gravina (0). That will leave Rutgers with three qualifiers returning with 26 points coming back. The top returning scorer for Rutgers is National Champion 133 pounder Nick Suriano (23).  

2019-20 Rutgers Projected Lineup

125: Shane Metzler  Nic Aguilar

133: Nick Suriano

141: Peter Lipari or JoJo Aragona

149: Nick Santos or Mike Van Brill

157: Stephan Glasgow or Robert Kanniard

165: Stephan Glasgow

174: Joe Grello or Jackson Turley

184: Billy Janzer or Willie Scott

197: Matt Correnti or Max Wright or Jordan Pagano

285: Christian Colucci

125 Pounds

Safe to assume Shane Metzler and Nic Aguilar will be the two guys looking to lock up the starting spot next season. Metzler, who can still take a redshirt, got the job this past season and Aguilar took a redshirt. Rutgers struggled in the B1G at the weight so you may see California’s Aguilar step in to see what he can offer.

133 Pounds

Rutgers returns National Champion Nick Suriano at the weight. Suriano will enter his senior season, though he has a redshirt available which I don’t think he will take. The weight returns a ton of talent but I would expect Suriano to be in the mix again come next March. Rutgers is counting on Suriano’s points at next years NCAA’s and will need others to step up to make up for Ashnault’s graduation.

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141 Pounds

Peter Lipari ultimately won the spot after battling all last season with Mike Van Brill. Lipari was a .500 wrestler during the regular season but ended up qualifying for NCAA’s and winning a match in Pittsburgh. With Van Brill outgrowing the weight Lipari should go into the season as the starter. If Lipari struggles you could see true freshman JoJo Aragona come out of redshirt and take over the spot, but I've got to think Rutgers is hoping they don’t need to do that.

149 Pounds

With the departure of National Champion and four-time All-American Anthony Ashnault, this weight will be up for grabs. Two of the guys looking to nab the spot will be Nick Santos and Mike Van Brill. Santos missed all of last season due to injury, though he had won 20 matches his true freshman season. Van Brill had been the starter at 141 pounds in the 2017-18 season but as mentioned outgrew the weight and should be better suited for 149 pounds next season.

157 Pounds

Rutgers will be feeling the effects of losing another staple in the line-up to graduation in three-time NCAA qualifier John Van Brill. Van Brill thrilled the crowds at the RAC with some memorable wins over the last few years. You might see Stephan Glasgow drop from 165 pounds, where he was the starter this past year. If Glasgow doesn't make the cut, Rutgers may want to go with true freshman Robert Kanniard. Kanniard could probably benefit with a redshirt year but with the lack of depth at 157 pounds and 165 pounds he may be the best option. 

165 Pounds

As mentioned above, Glasgow was the starter here, wrestling to a 6-7 dual meet record while missing 5 duals dealing with a nagging knee injury. If he doesn’t drop to 157 pounds he should be the starter at 165. Anthony Oliveri wrestled three different weights last season could also be an option here if needed. One other possibility, and this may be a stretch, is Joe Grello, who certified at 165 pounds last year.  

174 Pounds

Assuming he doesn’t drop down a weight, Joe Grello he will be the returning starter here. Grello has shown improvement from his freshman season, winning 18 matches, qualifying for the 2019 NCAAs and winning two matches in Pittsburgh. If Grello does drop, look for true freshman Jackson Turley to step right into the lineup.

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184 Pounds

Rutgers losses four-time NCAA qualifier Nicholas Gravina, who like Van Brill, had memorable and gutsy wins over the years. I would look for Willie Scott, who started a bunch of matches last year while Gravina was healing, or redshirt freshman Billy Janzer to take the spot. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see both guys wrestle duals during the year until the coaches decide on the postseason starter.

197 Pounds

197 was probably the most frustrating weight for The Scarlet Knights last season. The coaches probably thought they were in good shape going into the season with Matt Correnti back down at 197. Correnti qualified for the NCAAs as a true freshman at 197, then took a redshirt season where he mostly wrestled heavyweight. This past season at 197, Correnti was 3-7 vs Big Ten opponents including 0-2 in the Big Ten tournament. Max Wright was brought in to compete for the spot and won the wrestle-off against Correnti but was injured early in the season and missed most of the competitions. Assuming Jordan Pagano is granted a 6th year, I would look for him to bump up to 197 and battle Correnti and Wright for the starting spot. If healthy, I could see Pagano, a 2016-17 NCAA qualifier at 174, being the best option.

285 Pounds

Christian Colucci is the returning starter and should have no problem keeping the job. Colucci probably was right on the cusp of qualifying for the NCAA’s and will look to get over the hump next season. Rutgers needs a boost from 197 and 285 this coming season to maintain their current trajectory as a program.