Ofc he was never a thought to not start bc he was the “prized recruit”. And are u sure it was 3? Either way , I remember the one I saw Lipari was in the lead and Aragona needed a last second take down to win.. so yeah at least for that match it was “close” buddy. Don’t make it sound like Aragona was rolling up and Bonusing Lipari. Lipari was a NQ and solid wrestler.
2026-27 Roster/Lineup Discussion (Portal opens 4/1)
- Thread starter Leonard23
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I’ve heard that crooks has been a giant headache for teams he’s talked to and is acting like he’s national champ so hard pass on that guy.
Unger is 23/24 5th/6th year guy and lost his spot to a guy that went 1-2 at ncaas so who knows if he has anything left.
Ben Vanida is a 197 and has no eligibility left he wrestled in 4 big ten tournaments.
Santiello just got to rider or tcnj he couldn’t handle the ACC the big ten will chew him up and spit him out
Crooks would be the home run baggage and all going 2-2 at NCAA’s. Clark would be OK as he did improve from freshman to sophomore year taking 7th at B1G’s Would hope to go after someone else at 133.
Agreed, don’t really think any of them would move the needle, prolly best to save the $$.. maybe Ungar.. but is he going to be the sr type that wants to get on podium bad or the type of who knows if he got anything left. Clark could be Ok if we get him for good value, should be at least a NQ again. Or is it better to just roll the dice on Parkins/NiNi development at 141
any guarantee Nini can or is willing to try to make 141? He went 149 two years ago
Unger doesn't seem promising. Knox is the type we need. Don't settle.
Bill: You're our only hope of getting good information. What's the deal with Gibson? Can he not go 133? Have we given up on him? Can Nini or Magro make 141? If not, I don't know why Magro isn't already in the portal.
Aragona barely beat Lipari in the dual. I’m talking about their 3 unofficial bouts in the Rutgers room before Lipari transferred. Aragona destroyed him all 3 times.
Yeah I was talking about when I saw Aragona needing a last second takedown to beat Lipari… that’s when I started having feelings he might not pan out… that feeling only grew as the season progressed..
What a bust he was. Top 5 RU wrestling busts 1) Aragona 2) Camp 3) Mason 4) Janzer 5) Glasgow
I don’t think it’s fair to put Janzer that high up. He was a 2x NQ that got stuck in between weights. Glasgow’s story is a shame, he was pretty talented but had some poor lifestyle choices.
In hindsight I think Aragona was extremely over ranked. The year before his breakout year, I’m pretty sure he lost to Jake Benner in states, Benner of course was a career backup here. We got excited when we saw Aragona’s P4P rank, but didn’t that only come because he beat somebody highly ranked at a national tournament, but who also ended up being a bust? Busiello maybe? I don’t remember.
Add in the fact that Aragona was either burnt out quickly or prioritized other aspects of his life ahead of wrestle and you have a recipe for not reaching your potential.
Camp and Mason get a pass bc they were transfers.. Camp was already cooked before he got here.. and Mason.. he actually had #3 seed at nationals but just didn’t AA… Janzer was not a blue chip recruit and was serviceable so can’t really call him a bust.. I agree with Aragona and Glasgow tho… I’d consider Mulligan up there too.. he was ranked in the 50s n did squat… hmm who else… Winston could be since he was #2 but he was riddled with injuries but def didn’t live up to potential…
Yeah Aragona beat Busiello at beat the streets, who also ended up being a massive bust.. he also won beast of east that year+ state title + think he won his dapper Dan matchup + he won his who’s number 1 matchup to become #1 138 pounder.. if I remember correctly it was a 4 man bracket to determine whos number 1… don’t kno if he wrestled S32 his sr season.. but he absolutely deserved his #1 ranking and his trajectory looked like it would keep going up… he had the accolades but when recruiting guys we gotta find the wrestlers that truly love the sport or they won’t make it…
I forgot about mulligan. Yeah, it was like watching paint dry and so disinterested when he wrestled. The kid I wish who stayed was Wagner at one ninety seven. He left for the marines or some sort of military career. I wonder what he's doing now. Kid had tons of potential. I always thought Gross at heavyweight was a bust , too. Was to small for heavyweight, but couldn't make one ninety seven , either.
I don’t think Winston could ever be called a bust whether he had individual accolades or not. He completely changed the program. Without him coming here, I don’t know if Rutgers still has a wrestling program.
True, Winston is a NJ legend for sure.. him and that early #2 ranked recruiting class were full of nj states champs… really helped put RU back on the map.. we landed a lot of nj state champs but I can’t believe we missed all the ones that actually became ncaa champs of that era…Rey, Burroughs, Russell(ok he gets Blair excuse), Molinaro, Caldwell, Zabriske.. etc
All those you listed graduated while Goodale was still at Jackson. His last year coaching high school Rey, Russell, Molinaro were all seniors and those others you mentioned were already in college.
Gross is pretty unique case. He played football until he got arrested for I think robbing houses and then decided he’d wrestle but he had been away from the sport for a few years at that point
True, Goodale was HC in 2007. Only Caldwell, and Molinaro were realistically possible as they both graduated in 2008..
Caldwell graduated in 2006 same class as JB, Molinaro graduated in 2007 . Goodale coached the 2007 season for jackson, they finished #1 in the state for a second straight year and then took the Rutgers job in the off season. Winston, Rinaldi Menditto and Langel were the class of 2008 and goodales first recruiting class. Caldwell AAed goodales 1st season at Rutgers and Molinaro was redshirting for Penn State.
If we keep improving, maybe we can take down mighty Little Rock one of these years. They have our number.
Good for them. I like when elite wrestlers choose something other than Iowa in the portal lol.
I like it too lol… Dunno how much $$ Ru has but could be a better strategy to invest in the high end guys(Knox) and gamble on walk-ons. Not sure how many more years we gotta be outscored by mighty Little Rock.. sure we might lose a few more duals(I doubt by much we will still beat the w Rider/Princeton etc) but immediate goals should be get guys that can score at nationals, perennial top 20 maybe?, and qualify for the paycom national duals.
As Goodale said, we gotta have March be more meaningful.. and it’s kinda wack when programs w one or two stars can outshine a whole team.. lol but maybe we can learn from that.
If he had better options he would not be at Little Rock. Land of misfit toys and most don’t stick around.
I hope Rutgers fans care and want us to be a top team and win at NCAAs.
I’ll take Daniel Herrera all day over Endene.
I would. I think Endene will have a tougher time at heavyweight, he's going to be significantly shorter/smaller than most guys. And Herrera has 3 years eligibility.
I think Herrera is worth more than Endene, he’s bigger, weighs more and has 3 years of eligibility left.
Interesting that Endene is choosing to go hwt when at 197 last year he beat ncaa runner up, Merrill, and woulda been a good shot to AA… maybe he thinks hwt would be easier to win it all then deal w Barr at 197…. Rn the top hwt are on the smaller side, Ferrarri, Kueter, Feldman..
Yeah we will see who has the better year next year Endene or Herrera… objectively speaking, I think Endene could AA at either weight but kinda puzzled if he goes hwt….another small point.. ideally Herrera could have 2 years of eligibility and we would be fine as Zalota could RS then slide right into hwt.. hopefully he doesn’t transfer bc of the possibility of missing a year.
If they were same amount of $$, going Endene one year and having Zalota slide into hwt(w/o RS) mighta not been bad idea either.. been more true freshman lately…
I have a feeling Endene is going to be a big AA threat at either weight next year… he’s shredded… so hopefully you guys are right on P’NUT and hopefully he can adapt to the B10 grind..
I don’t think Endene is in the same conversation as Herrera. He’s an insane athlete but the couple times I saw him wrestle he looked very raw. Athleticism advantage may explain why he is going HWT. Either way I’d take Herrera over Endene without question. And if Endene was a slam dunk he wouldn’t be at Little Rock
Why isn’t Endene in the same convo? You think Herrera is that much better? They were both portal options.. I’m just more surprised how many people here are so certain Herrera will outperform Endene at hwt just bc he went 197 last year… I mean we will see next year.. I am rooting for P’NUT but some of ya’ll are on another lvl of confidence lol.
I took this as Endene is an insane athlete that if he puts it together, he will be a force.
I think Endene may perform better next year, but Herrera will perform better the next 2
How much better is the question.
AA vs round of 12?
i did not watch iowa this year so have no clue....
Again, the fact that Endene is going to Little Rock says a lot. He spent his career at community college and D3 Warburg. Never placed higher than 6 in HS. Was tossed from Iowa although who knows what really happened. Raw with potential is not who you want in a B1G line up. Now with that said wouldn’t surprise me if he is AA when all is said and done.
You are contradicting yourself here.. raw with potential more describes Herrera then it does Endene.. bc Endene actually proved he can beat the top guys last year at Iowa. Don’t look into his HS results.. put more weight on most recent results, which was Endene was ranked as high as #4 and was gone from Iowa from apparent NIL disputes.. don’t put down Little Rock they been outperforming RU at nationals lol…. And the reasons you would not be Surprised if Endene AA when all is said and done is bc you saw the results he had last year beating top guys… so I’m super confused why you apply “raw w potential is not who you would want in a B10 lineup” on Endene but you don’t say the same of Herrera… Puzzling…
Well the main reason for me is he’s going up to heavyweight, if you compared them the their respective weights last year I’d say Endene had more potential to AA than Herrera but that’s not the case.
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