2021 NCAA champion Shane Griffith has officially entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. The Westwood, New Jersey native has spent the past five years in Palo Alto. Griffith entered the transfer portal in 2020 when Stanford originally made the decision to cut wrestling in 2020, but decided to stay. His national title run in 2021 played a role in Stanford reversing the decision to cut not just wrestling, but 11 sports programs.

Griffith wasn't originally sure if he was going to use his extra year of eligibility or not (watch the interview above). He was quoted as saying, "“I was planning on this being the last match of my career, but obviously not the way I wanted to go out so I’m probably going to take a couple of weeks off…get my head right.” 

As for why Griffith is ultimately choosing to leave Stanford this time around: 

“I just kinda want to move on…I’ve expunged my academic options at Stanford so even if I wanted to (wrestle)...I might have to leave.” - Shane Griffith at NCAAs

After an NCAA title in 2021 and runner-up performance in 2022, this year's 5th place was Griffith's lowest NCAA finish of his career.

While competing at 165 lbs, Griffith has an official career record of 87-11 with three All-American finishes and a canceled NCAAs in 2020. He will be a major asset to whichever program he ends up at next.

Watch Griffith's 5th-place win over Dean Hamiti at NCAAs. The performance and history earned Griffith a standing ovation.

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

You can find the full list of this year's transfers and wrestlers in the portal HERE.