Ever since news broke earlier this month that Nick Suriano had reenrolled as a student at Rutgers, speculation has been rampant about how he might plug into the Scarlet Knight lineup. If he does don the Rutgers singlet once again, does Nicky Push-Ups lead the best 1-2-3 punch in college wrestling? 

Iowa was widely regarded as the best 1-2 team in the nation last season, with two-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee and two-time All-American Austin DeSanto starting off the lineup that was the favorite going into NCAAs, prior to the cancellation of the championships due to COVID-19. 

Rutgers has made headlines so far this offseason, however, leading to their place in the conversation. Two-time Big Ten champion — at 125 in 2019 and 133 in 2020 — Sebastian Rivera announced his transfer to Rutgers in late June, adding to a lineup that now packs quite a punch.

If Suriano rejoins Rutgers’ roster after taking an Olympic redshirt for the 2019-20 season, that would bump Rivera up to 141 and give Iowa a run for its money. It’s a tight contest, though, as Iowa’s addition of Jaydin Eierman in the third spot just makes Iowa’s lineup for this upcoming season that much better than it was a year ago. 

As for Rutgers’ 125-pound spot, sophomore Nic Aguilar sits at No. 19 in the way-too-early rankings going into next season, and Sammy Alvarez has even suggested on the Bader Show that he’d think about cutting down to 125. So, with that in mind, who actually has the best 1-2-3 punch if Nick Suriano were to wrestle?

125: Don't make this too complicated

This one goes to Iowa, hands down, whether it’s Aguilar or Alvarez. Spencer Lee is the reigning Big Ten champion, the two-year running NCAA champion, and just keeps getting better instead of his talent and skill leveling out. 

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Aguilar earned an at-large bid to NCAAs after going 24-11 during the season. As the No. 8 seed at NCAAs, he earned his first-round match with a 6-0 decision over Eric Barnett of Wisconsin. He then faced Spencer Lee, who racked up 12 points before winning by fall in 2:53. 

Case closed. 

133: Go with the champ

The same goes for Nick Suriano and Rutgers at 133. It’s hard to argue with an NCAA champion. 

Suriano beat DeSanto in the 2019 Big Ten semifinals with just a 6-3 decision, but the difference comes in the strides they each made through the end of 2019 into 2020. As of now without Suriano in the rankings, DeSanto sits at the fourth-best 133-pounder in the nation. 

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His battles with Roman Bravo-Young left much to the imagination in 2020, when the Hawkeye had beaten him at 2019 NCAAs in a 7-2 decision. 

Suriano, on the other hand, placed third at the Bill Farrell International and fourth at Senior Nationals at the end of 2019, and qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials. 

141: The deciding weight

141 is the kicker, and it’s something that really can’t be decided until Eierman and Rivera face off against each other. 

Rivera was at 125 in 2019 — when he beat Spencer Lee twice before ultimately falling to third at NCAAs — and entered NCAAs in 2020 as the top 133-pound seed.

That being said, Eierman has both experience and success at the weight, plenty enough to build onto. He placed third at 2019 NCAAs at 141 pounds, with his only loss coming to the eventual national champion, Yianni Diakomihalis. He also earned All-American honors all three years.

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Wrestling in one of the toughest conferences in the country gives Rivera a leg up, but Eierman is a three-time conference champion in the MAC and was the conference’s Wrestler of the Year two years running. He beat Mitch McKee of Minnesota and Dom Demas of Oklahoma at NCAAs in 2019. 

If I’ve got to go with one, I’m giving Eierman the benefit of the doubt despite Rivera technically coming in higher in the 2020-21 Flo rankings. His experience at the weight outweighs anything else. 

The moral of the story is that if Iowa and Rutgers face off in dual season, expect some fireworks to start it off.

Anna attended the University of Iowa, where she covered multiple sports from volleyball to football to wrestling. She went to Pittsburgh in March 2019 for the NCAA DI Wrestling Championships and did live coverage of the entire event and Spencer Lee’s second-straight NCAA title. Follow her on Twitter.