The Changing Landscape in the Big Ten - An Opportunity for RU

SKWC · Feb 14, 2026

The teams in the BIG can probably be divided into five tiers.

# 1. Penn State
# 2. Nebraska - Michigan - Ohio State
# 3. Illinois- Iowa -Minnesota - Rutgers
# 4. Indiana - Purdue - Wisconsin
#.5. Maryland - Michigan State - Northwestern

Minnesota and Iowa are moving in the wrong direction. Minnesota lost to South Dakota State at home and Rutgers on the road. They beat Virgina Tech twice and beat Illinois 27-9. Iowa has lost to Ohio State, Minnesota, PSU, and barely beat Michigan. Iowa’s best wrestlers graduate this year.

Tiers 4 and 5 are not currently competitive. It could be argued that the BIG has only 8 competitive teams. Going forward, apart from Wisconsin, I don't see tiers 4 and 5 being a factor in the Big Ten or on national stage.

This year both Illinois and Rutgers could place in the top 15 at the national tournament, With luck, Illinois could place as high as # 10. Next year, both teams return starters of similar abilities. Rutgers has two top ten recruits and should outdistance Illinois.

The stage is set for RU to move into the second tier of the Big Ten. It all begins with strong momentum established at the National Tournament.

SirScarlet · Feb 14, 2026

SKWC said:
One could argue that there are five tiers in the BIG

# 1. Penn State - All Along at the Top
# 2. Nebraska - Michigan - Ohio State
# 3. Illinois- Iowa -Minnesota - Rutgers

Samson1975!!! · Feb 14, 2026

Top 15 seems optimistic. I hope you are right though!

Kiddagger311 · Feb 14, 2026

SKWC said:
The teams in the BIG can probably be divided into five tiers.

# 1. Penn State
# 2. Nebraska - Michigan - Ohio State
# 3. Illinois- Iowa -Minnesota - Rutgers
# 4. Indiana - Purdue - Wisconsin
#.5. Maryland - Michigan State - Northwestern

Minnesota and Iowa are moving in the wrong direction. Minnesota lost to South Dakota State at home and Rutgers on the road. They beat Virgina Tech twice and beat Illinois 27-9. Iowa has lost to Ohio State, Minnesota, PSU, and barely beat Michigan. Iowa’s best wrestlers graduate this year.

Tiers 4 and 5 are not currently competitive. It could be argued that the BIG has only 8 competitive teams. Going forward, apart from Wisconsin, I don't see tiers 4 and 5 being a factor in the Big Ten or on national stage.

This year both Illinois and Rutgers could place in the top 15 at the national tournament, With luck, Illinois could place as high as # 10. Next year, both teams return starters of similar abilities. Rutgers has two top ten recruits and should outdistance Illinois.

The stage is set for RU to move into the second tier of the Big Ten. It all begins with strong momentum established at the National Tournament.

This sounds good and hoorah and all but are these tiers dual meet rankings or by National tournament??

Top 15 at nationals, this year, sounds good but who do you have scoring all the points?? RN we only got one wrestler ranked in the top 10, proj borderline AA—Olivieri— and he’s barely been on the mat. Having 10 qualifiers seems def possible tho.

Think the last time RU had a top 15 finish was 2021 when we had 3 AA(4th Seabass, 4th Poz, 8th Turley)(some here also consider this an outlier lucky covid year?).

RUTrack94 · Feb 14, 2026

if RU beat ILLINOIS they’d be 3rd place in the standings …. Great to see a winning record …
Hope to see some surprises this in the B1G and NCAA

Barrellroll · Feb 14, 2026

It is hard to compare B1G season standings as we don’t wrestle all the teams. This year we didn’t wrestle Ohio State or Nebraska. If we did our record would have been different.

The upcoming tournaments will be a better barometer of where we stand. All teams will face similar competition.

I do hope and believe that we will do well at the B1G and NCAA tournaments.

JudgeSmails56 · Feb 14, 2026

SKWC said:
The teams in the BIG can probably be divided into five tiers.

# 1. Penn State
# 2. Nebraska - Michigan - Ohio State
# 3. Illinois- Iowa -Minnesota - Rutgers
# 4. Indiana - Purdue - Wisconsin
#.5. Maryland - Michigan State - Northwestern

Minnesota and Iowa are moving in the wrong direction. Minnesota lost to South Dakota State at home and Rutgers on the road. They beat Virgina Tech twice and beat Illinois 27-9. Iowa has lost to Ohio State, Minnesota, PSU, and barely beat Michigan. Iowa’s best wrestlers graduate this year.

Tiers 4 and 5 are not currently competitive. It could be argued that the BIG has only 8 competitive teams. Going forward, apart from Wisconsin, I don't see tiers 4 and 5 being a factor in the Big Ten or on national stage.

This year both Illinois and Rutgers could place in the top 15 at the national tournament, With luck, Illinois could place as high as # 10. Next year, both teams return starters of similar abilities. Rutgers has two top ten recruits and should outdistance Illinois.

The stage is set for RU to move into the second tier of the Big Ten. It all begins with strong momentum established at the National Tournament.

We're tier 4, not tier 3.

Kiddagger311 · Feb 14, 2026

Barrellroll said:
It is hard to compare B1G season standings as we don’t wrestle all the teams. This year we didn’t wrestle Ohio State or Nebraska. If we did our record would have been different.

The upcoming tournaments will be a better barometer of where we stand. All teams will face similar competition.

I do hope and believe that we will do well at the B1G and NCAA tournaments.

I agree, it’s hard to put too much stock in b10 season standings as so much just depends on the draw of the schedule. Granted, RU earned their standing based on who was in front of them but yeah no time to rest on these laurels.

Rutfan79 · Feb 14, 2026

JudgeSmails56 said:
We're tier 4, not tier 3.

I think we’re tier 3.5

biochemist001 · Feb 14, 2026

JudgeSmails56 said:
We're tier 4, not tier 3.

Agree, and calling current #20 Indiana and #21 Wisconsin "not currently competitive" is absurd. Those would be two very tough duals for RU this season if they met those teams.

Peteras9144 · Feb 14, 2026

JudgeSmails56 said:
We're tier 4, not tier 3.

Two of the other teams in tier 3 we split dual meets with between this season and last.

Kiddagger311 · Feb 15, 2026

Peteras9144 said:
Two of the other teams in tier 3 we split dual meets with between this season and last.

It feels insincere including Iowa in tier 3… when they lost to Minny they were without Peterson+Ferrarri… interestingly enough when Minny upset Iowa their 149 and 157 scored upsets over Block and Williams… much like how we got both 149/157 to upset Minny.

Anyways, if Iowa is at full strength, no one is beating Iowa in tier 3… they just beat Michigan too without Angelo so u can swap Iowa to tier 2 and put Michigan in tier 3.

I think a full strength Ohio state is like tier 1.5.. and RU is currently more like 3.5..

SKWC, you mention RU get’s 2 top 10 recruits next year but did you count how many top 10 recruits in your tier2 and tier3 teams r getting soon?

You mention Iowa is on a downswing but they get Deluca next year + that massive haul w both Kenny+ both Bachman(one of them held Basset to a decision) + they will be in the portal hunt.

Knight Shift · Feb 15, 2026

Keli Zinn says hold my tier.

LETSGORU91 · Feb 15, 2026

Kiddagger311 said:
SKWC, you mention RU get’s 2 top 10 recruits next year but did you count how many top 10 recruits in your tier2 and tier3 teams r getting soon?

Not only that. Joey O included, there are six starters who will graduate. Rutgers is going to look massively different next year.

SCNJ · Feb 15, 2026

LETSGORU91 said:
Not only that. Joey O included, there are six starters who will graduate. Rutgers is going to look massively different next year.

Next years lineup should have more overall potential. Graduating 6 starters but replacing 2 of them with B Harer at 149 and C Harer’s return to 157.

On top of that, not too long ago people were clamoring for Ford to be starting over Pinto at 174. Nini steps in for Olivieri. While that’s a downgrade, the combination 141/149 swap probably comes out as a wash overall. Olivieri has missed half the year to boot.

285 is a problem that needs to be addressed through the portal.

That leaves 133 as the last remaining position to be filled. Knox will slide in somewhere which upgrades the team immediately. If it’s 133 great, if not Gibson slides back down or we hit the portal again.

I’ll reserve judgement until we see the final roster but theoretically it’s a team with higher end potential but relying on some question marks so the floor is also lower.

SirScarlet · Feb 15, 2026

The program is very clearly in great shape to take the next step...and that's on Goodale, so he gets all the credit. And with Zinn and team in place, we are in a very good place.

I think it's also not controversial to say something needs to improve to take that next step. NIL will def help. But is that enough?

My opinion is we need an a-list coach to join his staff...but Goodale has earned rhe right - imho - to make the call.

Kiddagger311 · Feb 15, 2026

SCNJ said:
Next years lineup should have more overall potential. Graduating 6 starters but replacing 2 of them with B Harer at 149 and C Harer’s return to 157.

On top of that, not too long ago people were clamoring for Ford to be starting over Pinto at 174. Nini steps in for Olivieri. While that’s a downgrade, the combination 141/149 swap probably comes out as a wash overall. Olivieri has missed half the year to boot.

285 is a problem that needs to be addressed through the portal.

That leaves 133 as the last remaining position to be filled. Knox will slide in somewhere which upgrades the team immediately. If it’s 133 great, if not Gibson slides back down or we hit the portal again.

I’ll reserve judgement until we see the final roster but theoretically it’s a team with higher end potential but relying on some question marks so the floor is also lower.

Unless C Harer shown significant improvement(not gtd for most wrestlers) then ,objectively speaking, him and White are considered a wash for now.

Ford attacks and like his pace but realistically how will he look against the top ranked 20 guys?

Heard a lot of people hype up Nini but is it bc of his freestyle results? Has he proven himself against any D1 guys yet, any known results? RU has had a lot of hyped up guys in the past and I’m trying think how many ended up living up to potential compared to not.

285… maybe, at the right price, we can get Ludington.. he looks to have the frame/height for hwt just needs to try and fill out body more.. then he can be like our NJ version of Kueter and NJWrestle can say he’s a 184 pounder wrestling up at hwt

133… I have a feeling Smith will have a good postseason tourney where it becomes undeniable it would be wasteful to just have him on the bench.. yes he will be undersized but I think he should be able to beat Gibson at 133 but, who knows, maybe Gibson will be a killer at 33.

There will be a lot of questionmarks on next year’s roster.. I hope Knox goes 125 as I feel his chance to win a title is greater at that weight.. although lineup wise makes sense to try and fit in Ayden but 133 will be stacked.. B Harer getting a lot of hype but it’s still too early to tell if he’s going be one of those freshman that contend for AA right off the bat/maybe he just RS as well. I do agree w ya, theoretically, next years team has more higher end potential.. lotta question marks.

Peteras9144 · Feb 15, 2026

Kiddagger311 said:
It feels insincere including Iowa in tier 3… when they lost to Minny they were without Peterson+Ferrarri… interestingly enough when Minny upset Iowa their 149 and 157 scored upsets over Block and Williams… much like how we got both 149/157 to upset Minny.

Anyways, if Iowa is at full strength, no one is beating Iowa in tier 3… they just beat Michigan too without Angelo so u can swap Iowa to tier 2 and put Michigan in tier 3.

I think a full strength Ohio state is like tier 1.5.. and RU is currently more like 3.5..

SKWC, you mention RU get’s 2 top 10 recruits next year but did you count how many top 10 recruits in your tier2 and tier3 teams r getting soon?

You mention Iowa is on a downswing but they get Deluca next year + that massive haul w both Kenny+ both Bachman(one of them held Basset to a decision) + they will be in the portal hunt.

Iowa on a bad year would be an all time year for us. I m not saying what I said to diss them, just that we aren't far from the other two teams mentioned in tier 3.

Kiddagger311 · Feb 15, 2026

Peteras9144 said:
Iowa on a bad year would be an all time year for us. I m not saying what I said to diss them, just that we aren't far from the other two teams mentioned in tier 3.

U think RU got a chance against Iowa? If they aren’t far from other two teams in your opinion then what about tier 3 RU as well. Aren’t tiers supposed to be.. well that.. on the same level essentially?

Peteras9144 · Feb 15, 2026

Kiddagger311 said:
U think RU got a chance against Iowa? If they aren’t far from other two teams in your opinion then what about tier 3 RU as well. Aren’t tiers supposed to be.. well that.. on the same level essentially?

U said it, minny upset Iowa w two starters out. If those 2 are out again it probably gives us a shot, long shot, but a shot.

I also wouldn't put Iowa in that tier or say ru ever really has a chance of beating Iowa normally. They just beat UM.

Kiddagger311 · Feb 15, 2026

SKWC said:
The teams in the BIG can probably be divided into five tiers.

# 1. Penn State
# 2. Nebraska - Michigan - Ohio State
# 3. Illinois- Iowa -Minnesota - Rutgers
# 4. Indiana - Purdue - Wisconsin
#.5. Maryland - Michigan State - Northwestern

Minnesota and Iowa are moving in the wrong direction. Minnesota lost to South Dakota State at home and Rutgers on the road. They beat Virgina Tech twice and beat Illinois 27-9. Iowa has lost to Ohio State, Minnesota, PSU, and barely beat Michigan. Iowa’s best wrestlers graduate this year.

Tiers 4 and 5 are not currently competitive. It could be argued that the BIG has only 8 competitive teams. Going forward, apart from Wisconsin, I don't see tiers 4 and 5 being a factor in the Big Ten or on national stage.

This year both Illinois and Rutgers could place in the top 15 at the national tournament, With luck, Illinois could place as high as # 10. Next year, both teams return starters of similar abilities. Rutgers has two top ten recruits and should outdistance Illinois.

The stage is set for RU to move into the second tier of the Big Ten. It all begins with strong momentum established at the National Tournament.

Uncompetitive tier 4 Wisconsin just beat tier 2 Michigan 19–17

Kiddagger311 · Feb 15, 2026

Peteras9144 said:
U said it, minny upset Iowa w two starters out. If those 2 are out again it probably gives us a shot, long shot, but a shot.

I also wouldn't put Iowa in that tier or say ru ever really has a chance of beating Iowa normally. They just beat UM.

I’m talkin about a healthy Iowa that’s why these tiers are off.. it looks nice RU and Iowa are same tier apparently, id like that too, but that’s not reality yet..

People forget that Iowa also beat Okie state this year..

NJwrestling26 · Feb 15, 2026

Kiddagger311 said:
Uncompetitive tier 4 Wisconsin just beat tier 2 Michigan 19–17

Wisconsin was also down 30-0 to Indiana thru 8 matches and had 0 takedowns just a week ago

Kiddagger311 · Feb 15, 2026

NJwrestling26 said:
Wisconsin was also down 30-0 to Indiana thru 8 matches and had 0 takedowns just a week ago

Good point, so if we are going by the logic that RU beat Minny and Minny beat Iowa, therefore, RU=Iowa tier….

So to be consistent.. Indiana beat Wisconsin and Wisconsin beat Michigan, therefore, Indiana=Michigan tier…

Moral of the story is the b10 is tough!

mjckrash · Feb 16, 2026

Kiddagger311 said:
I agree, it’s hard to put too much stock in b10 season standings as so much just depends on the draw of the schedule. Granted, RU earned their standing based on who was in front of them but yeah no time to rest on these laurels.

Nice to finish 5-3 but Rutgers did not wrestle Iowa, Nebraska or Ohio St

Samson1975!!! · Feb 16, 2026

I agree Rutgers is not in tier 3. Citing dual meets with people out and nobody prioritizing them as evidence of anything is futile. Rutgers can not keep pace with the teams in that tier in the post season. I do think they are ahead of all of 4 though for the most part. Post season will show where everyone is at. 3.5 sounds about right

koleszar · Feb 16, 2026

Need to get three hammers instead of 10 middling's to make any movement up in this conference. Current squad has none.

Samson1975!!! · Feb 18, 2026

Tier 4 can score some points at NCAAs. Blaze at Purdue for instance can potentially score a lot of points. Anywhere from 2nd to 4th is realistic for him.

SCNJ · Feb 18, 2026

Samson1975!!! said:
Tier 4 can score some points at NCAAs. Blaze at Purdue for instance can potentially score a lot of points. Anywhere from 2nd to 4th is realistic for him.

Part of the reason why I despise team scoring at an individual tournament. Blaze will essentially carry a mediocre Purdue team up the standings.

Samson1975!!! · Feb 18, 2026

All 3 of those tier 4 teams will have likely AAs. Rutgers could too of course.

Its true that 1 or 2 guys can really make a huge difference.

Crackersisback · Feb 19, 2026

Rutgers is nowhere near tier 3.Middle of the pack, yes. We are also lower end of the top 20.Our ranking is totally inflated.

Samson1975!!! · Feb 19, 2026

lower end of top 20 seems about right. Purdue, Wisconsin, or potentially Maryland can finish ahead of Rutgers. I think Rutgrrs is better than Indiana

Rutfan79 · Feb 19, 2026

Teams should get a point for each qualifier, making it to the NCAA’s in itself is an accomplishment. That way we get rewarded for having more qualifiers than like a Purdue.

Barrellroll · Feb 19, 2026

SCNJ said:
Part of the reason why I despise team scoring at an individual tournament. Blaze will essentially carry a mediocre Purdue team up the standings.

Unfortunately, the standard is the standard. Highly unlikely it is going to be change.

Like it or not, we need to get on board with the NCAA standard. Tired of being reminded of poor finishes at NCAAs.

I long for the days when Ashnault and Suriano lead the way. That was a time when we all were proud of Rutgers wrestling. We had a golden opportunity. Don’t understand what happened after 2019.

Kiddagger311 · Feb 19, 2026

Barrellroll said:
Unfortunately, the standard is the standard. Highly unlikely it is going to be change.

Like it or not, we need to get on board with the NCAA standard. Tired of being reminded of poor finishes at NCAAs.

I long for the days when Ashnault and Suriano lead the way. That was a time when we all were proud of Rutgers wrestling. We had a golden opportunity. Don’t understand what happened after 2019.

Same here, hopefully the wait for the next Ashnault/Suriano won’t be much longer w Knox and Harer coming in next year..

The 144IB PA state bracket will be especially interesting to keep an eye on as it will be Harer/Basset/Bachmann all in it..

Samson1975!!! · Feb 20, 2026

I agree about the standard being the standard. Teams have to recruit and develop point scorers rather than wish it was different. This is what it is.

JudgeSmails56 · Feb 20, 2026

Kiddagger311 said:
Unless C Harer shown significant improvement(not gtd for most wrestlers) then ,objectively speaking, him and White are considered a wash for now.

Ford attacks and like his pace but realistically how will he look against the top ranked 20 guys?

Heard a lot of people hype up Nini but is it bc of his freestyle results? Has he proven himself against any D1 guys yet, any known results? RU has had a lot of hyped up guys in the past and I’m trying think how many ended up living up to potential compared to not.

285… maybe, at the right price, we can get Ludington.. he looks to have the frame/height for hwt just needs to try and fill out body more.. then he can be like our NJ version of Kueter and NJWrestle can say he’s a 184 pounder wrestling up at hwt

133… I have a feeling Smith will have a good postseason tourney where it becomes undeniable it would be wasteful to just have him on the bench.. yes he will be undersized but I think he should be able to beat Gibson at 133 but, who knows, maybe Gibson will be a killer at 33.

There will be a lot of questionmarks on next year’s roster.. I hope Knox goes 125 as I feel his chance to win a title is greater at that weight.. although lineup wise makes sense to try and fit in Ayden but 133 will be stacked.. B Harer getting a lot of hype but it’s still too early to tell if he’s going be one of those freshman that contend for AA right off the bat/maybe he just RS as well. I do agree w ya, theoretically, next years team has more higher end potential.. lotta question marks.

Ludington is small for 197, can't imagine he could go heavy...

Smith is a tiny 125, can't see him at 133.

BloodRound · Feb 26, 2026

Rutgers is the perfect middle line of the Big 10 conference.

NJwrestling26 · Feb 26, 2026

Poeta out officially at Illinois. They are just giving the keys to Jeremy Hunter who’s been an assistant coach at Illinois for the past 25 years through 3 different head coaches. I don’t doubt Hunters ability to coach but I can’t imagine him having the recruiting success Poeta has had. I think Illinois is about to drop off big time in the next few years

PSU_Nut · Feb 26, 2026

NJwrestling26 said:
Poeta out officially at Illinois. They are just giving the keys to Jeremy Hunter who’s been an assistant coach at Illinois for the past 25 years through 3 different head coaches. I don’t doubt Hunters ability to coach but I can’t imagine him having the recruiting success Poeta has had. I think Illinois is about to drop off big time in the next few years

He is still well known and connected in western pa wrestling which may help him a bit.

The Changing Landscape in the Big Ten - An Opportunity for RU

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