The transfer portal has changed the landscape of NCAA wrestling. Not only does it give us more to talk about in the off season, but coaches have had to alter their recruiting methods. This was on full display at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

This article is not an attack on any individual or program, just interesting data. I will never condemn any individual for transferring or program for picking up transfers!

I would like to remind everyone there are many reasons for an athlete to transfer such as graduating and their current institution not offering their desired graduate degree of study or their wrestling program getting cut. It's not always just about wrestling and/or money. And even if it is, that's alright too.

Quick Facts

• 57 of 330 qualifiers were transfers (17.9%)
• 20 of the 80 2024 All-Americans were transfers (25%)
• 319.5 of the total 1,441 NCAA team points scored by transfers (22.17%)
• 33 of the 68 teams at NCAAs had at least one transfer competing (48.5%)
• Of the 57 transfers, 41 had their best NCAA finish with their current institution (71.9%), 11 did not (19.2%), and 5 had the same (8.7%)
  • This stat is very surface-level and should be taken with a grain of salt. For example, Bernie Truax counts as no but 4th to 5th is basically the same. Brayton Lee counts as no because he finished in 6th place in 2021, but he was better this year at Indiana than his last year at Minnesota. Many guys spent 1 redshirt year and then transferred. I could go on, but you get the point.

2024 All-Americans Who Transferred 

125

3rd place - Anthony Noto, NC State --> Lock Haven

6th place - Caleb Smith, App State --> Nebraska

141

4th place - Real Woods, Stanford --> Iowa

5th place - Anthony Echemendia, Ohio State --> Iowa State

149

2nd place - Austin Gomez, Iowa State --> Wisconsin --> Michigan

5th place - Kyle Parco, Fresno State --> Arizona State

8th place - Quinn Kinner, Ohio State --> Rider

157

8th place - Jared Franek, NDSU --> Iowa

165

2nd place - Mitchell Mesenbrink, California Baptist --> Penn State

4th place - Michael Caliendo, NDSU --> Iowa

5th place - Izzak Olejnik, Northern Illinois --> Oklahoma State

174

3rd place - Shane Griffith, Stanford --> Michigan

7th place - Edmond Ruth, Lehigh --> Illinois

184

3rd place - Trey Munoz, Arizona State --> Oregon State

5th place - Bernie Truax, Cal Poly --> Penn State

197

3rd place - Stephen Buchanan, Wyoming --> Oklahoma

8th place - Michael Beard, Penn State --> Lehigh

285

1st place - Greg Kerkvliet, Ohio State --> Penn State

2nd place - Lucas Davison, Northwestern --> Michigan

7th place - Yaraslau Slavikouski, Harvard --> Rutgers

Wrestlers Who Went From A "Big" School To A "Small" School & Out Scored Where They Left

125: Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) outscored Jakob Camacho (NC State) 13.5 to 3.5

149: Quinn Kinner (Rider) outscored Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) 6.5 to 2

184: Anthony D'Alesio (LIU) outscored Dennis Robin (West Virginia) 1 to DNQ

141: Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) scored 0 points, but qualified while Kaden Smith (Oklahoma) DNQ

Team Points From From Transfers

The following 33 teams had at least one transfer competing in Kansas City.

If You Rescored The Tournament And Took Away Transfer Points

Who Plays The Portal The Best?

The table below shows how teams performed in terms of points scored by transfers minus those scored by wrestlers who left. Interestingly, smaller programs Lock Haven and Rider are in the top 10 when it comes to benefitting from the portal.

Did Transfer Improve At Their Current Insitition?

As I mentioned above, the data below is very surface-level. Also, an athlete's NCAA performance is not the only way to gauge their value to a program. For instance, Will Feldkamp All-Americaned last year at Clarion, but failed to do so this year at Iowa State. However, without him, the Cyclones don't win CKLV, they don't win Big 12s, and they don't finish in the top four at NCAAs. So, even though he didn't repeat his NCAA performance at his new institution, I'd say Iowa State "got their money's worth". 

If you're viewing the following chart on a cell phone, I recommend you turn it sideways for a better view.