Overview

Head coach: Scott Goodale

Assistants: Donny Pritzlaff, Joe Pollard, Jeff Buxton

2023 NCAA tournament finish: 34th

2023 NCAA tournament points: 8

2023 NCAA tournament record: 6-12

2023 Big Ten tournament finish: 11th

2023 dual record: 10-7 (2-6)

Returning national qualifiers: 11 (Dean Peterson, Dylan Shawver, Mitch Moore, Jacob Butler, Anthony White, Andy Clark, Connor O’Neill, Jackson Turley, Brian Soldano, John Poznanski, Yaraslau Slavikouski)

Returning All-Americans: Jackson Turley, John Poznanski

Last NCAA champion: Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault (2019)

Highest NCAA team finish: 9th (2019)

Highest NCAA team finish under Goodale: 9th (2019)

Most place winners under Goodale: 3 (2021)

Click here for other early line-up looks

Last 10 NCAA Championships

2013: 45th (Goodale)
2014: 34th (Goodale)
2015: 31st (Goodale)
2016: 15th (Goodale)
2017: 19th (Goodale)
2018: 11th (Goodale)
2019: 9th (Goodale)
2020: Canceled (COVID)
2021: 13th (Goodale)
2022: 20th (Goodale)
2023: 34th (Goodale)

Summary

Rutgers has one of the more interesting and complicated line-ups in the country. Interesting because the team is balanced, and complicated because the Scarlet Knights compete in the Big Ten.

Top to bottom, this is a good team. 

Head coach Scott Goodale has 11 returning national qualifiers and two All-Americans. Transfers Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) and Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) could push this team to the top half of the Big Ten and a top 10 to 15 finish at the NCAA Championships — if everything falls into place. 

It’s conceivable that three or four wrestlers will reach the podium at nationals. Jackson Turley (174) and John Poznanski (197) are returning All-Americans, while Dean Peterson (125), Moore (141), and Slavikouski (285) have reached the round of 12.

Competing in the Big Ten makes it difficult to predict how deep this team really is. Turley finished eighth at nationals in 2021 but was 11-14 in 2023 and only won a match at nationals. Nearly every conference opponent is formidable, which leads to misleading records. Big Ten wins are hard to come by, so success becomes a game of surviving the gauntlet of the toughest wrestling schedule.

Regardless, this team is better than last year and will have better results this season. The Scarlett Knights don’t have national champions Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault as they did in 2019, but they will make up for it with depth. 

Don’t take this team lightly — especially in a dual. 

Rutgers Projected 2023-24 Line-up

125: Dean Peterson, SO (NQ)

133: Dylan Shawver, SO (NQ)

141: Mitch Moore, SR (NQ)

149: Jacob Butler, SR (NQ)

157: Andy Clark, JR (NQ)

165: Anthony White, SO (NQ)

174: Jackson Turley, SR (AA)

184: Brian Soldano, SO (NQ)

197: John Poznanski, SO (AA)

285: Yaraslau Slavikouski, SR (NQ)

125: Dean Peterson, SO
2023 record: 25-11
2023 NCAA tournament record: 3-2

Peterson had a solid freshman campaign and should make gains this season. He won three straight matches at the 2023 NCAA Championships after dropping his opening match to NC State’s Jarrett Trombley. The Barnegat, New Jersey, native is competitive in most matches and rarely gets blown out. Don’t be surprised if Peterson finds the national podium in 2024. 

133: Dylan Shawver, SO
2023 record: 12-5

Shawver won two matches at the 2022 NCAA Championships and will be back in the line-up following a 12-5 2022-23 season. His most recent college competition was the 2022 Midlands Championships where he went 3-2. 

141: Mitch Moore, SR
2023 record: 19-9
NCAA tournament record: 1-2

Moore enters the line-up after two seasons at Virginia Tech and three seasons at Oklahoma. The St. Paris, Ohio, native has qualified for the NCAA Championships four times and reached the round of 12 in 2021. He is dropping down from 149 pounds and will look to earn his first top-eight finish at nationals.

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Mitch Moore earned a 35-second fall over Kaemen Smith during a dual with Navy

149: Jacob Butler, SR
2023 record: 14-8

Rutgers snagged another Oklahoma transfer and another national qualifier in Jacob Butler. Butler reached the NCAA Championships in 2022 and will drop down from 157 last season to 149 this year. He went 4-6 in duals for the Sooners as a junior. 

157: Andy Clark, JR
2023 record: 20-17
2023 NCAA tournament record: 0-2

Clark wrestled 37 matches last season and earned a spot at the NCAA Championships after winning three matches at the Big Ten Championships. This is his second season as a starter following a 14-19 campaign as a freshman. 

165: Anthony White, SO
2023 record: 14-15
2023 NCAA tournament record: 0-2

White is moving up two weights after qualifying for the 2023 NCAA Championships at 149 pounds. He dropped a 3-0 match to current teammate Mitch Moore at nationals and went 0-2. 

174: Jackson Turley, SR
2023 record: 11-14
2023 NCAA tournament record: 1-2

Another 2021 All-American run for Turley is exactly what Rutgers needs. He lost in the first round at nationals but earned two falls and a tech on his way to an eighth-place finish. He dropped a series of tight matches to a handful of All-Americans to end the year, so Rutgers needs him to find the magic from three seasons ago. 

184: Brian Soldano, SO
2023 record: 25-12
2023 NCAA tournament record: 2-2

Soldano had a solid true freshman year that included two wins at the national tournament and a handful of significant wins. He enters the season ranked #7 so there’s optimism that a podium finish at nationals is possible. The Wantage, New Jersey, native could be the needed ingredient for this team to make gains.

197: John Poznanksi, SO
2023 record: 8-1

Poznanski redshirted last season after a fourth-place finish at nationals in 2021 and a Round of 16 appearance in 2022. He is moving up to 197 pounds after spending his first three seasons at 184. This weight isn’t as wild and wacky as the past two seasons, but it’s still unpredictable and it’s still chaotic. Add Poznanski’s name to the list of 15-20 wrestlers who have a legitimate chance of placing in the top eight. 

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Poznanski reached the semifinals of the 2021 NCAA Championships with this win over Lou Deprez.

285: Yaraslau Slavikouski, SR
2023 record: 30-6
2023 NCAA tournament record: 3-2

This was a huge transfer for Rutgers — literally. The former Harvard standout was a sudden victory loss away from becoming an All-American in 2023. He’ll attempt to get there for Rutgers during his senior season.