Transfer Portal Update (4/15/2024)

With the conclusion of the NCAA wrestling tournament and the calendar changing over to April, you’d think that it means it’s the offseason for college wrestling and all focus should turn to the Olympic styles, right? Maybe in the past, but in a new era of collegiate athletics, once the final whistle has blown on a particular postseason, it means it’s time to turn your attention to the transfer portal. 

Love it or hate it, it’s the reality. Student-athletes have the ability to transfer much more freely than past generations. Couple that with the extra year of eligibility doled out by the NCAA in the aftermath of the COVID years and you have a wild combination. There was lots of movement last “offseason” and I don’t foresee that changing this year. 

In just a week and a half since the NCAA finals, there have already been some huge names that have gone into the portal. Some have already announced their new homes, while others are still being courted. 

The first list of wrestlers we’ve listed have already publicly committed to a new transfer destination. That new school is listed first, along with their projected weight, followed by their former school. 

Below them are notable wrestlers that have gone into the transfer portal. It is not a comprehensive list. Some (like Jacob Cardenas and Lennox Wolak) knew they were graduating and were unable to continue competing at their Ivy League schools and went into the portal before the season started. Others have just submitted their names. 

Expect many updates to this feature in the coming weeks and months. 

Illinois: Ramazan Attasauov (125/133) - Iowa State

Iowa State: Evan Bockman (197) - Utah Valley

Little Rock: Brock DelSignore (184) - NC State

Lock Haven: Nick Stampoulos (157) - Buffalo

Michigan: Jacob Cardenas (197) - Cornell

Michigan: Chase Saldate (157) - Michigan State

Minnesota: Tommy Askey (157) - Appalachian State

North Carolina: Ethan Oakley (133) - Appalachian State

North Carolina: Josh Ogunsanya (174) - North Carolina

Oklahoma State: Caleb Fish (165) - Michigan State

Oklahoma State: Dean Hamiti (165/174) - Wisconsin

Oregon State: Sean Harman (174) - Missouri

Rider: Sammy Alvarez (149) - Oklahoma State

SIU Edwardsville: Luke Odom (157) - Illinois

SIU Edwardsville: Griffin Ray (165) - Nebraska

Virginia Tech: Connor McGonagle (133) - Lehigh

Virginia Tech: Lennox Wolak (174) - Columbia
 

The Virginia Tech Hokies received their second notable transfer of the offseason when they got a commitment from Connor McGonagle Monday morning. McGonagle, formerly of Lehigh, was a three-time national qualifier for the Mountain Hawks, making the tournament twice at 141 lbs and once at 133 lbs. 

McGonagle was ranked in the top ten and as high as the top five for most of the 2022-23 campaign, at 133 lbs. His most significant win of that season came against NC State’s Kai Orine, who eventually ended up on the national podium. Now, the two will be in the same conference for each’s final year of eligibility. An injury in the 2023 EIWA Championships forced McGonagle to default out of the tournament and rely on an at-large berth and he was impacted during the seeding process, as he received the #11. Shortly after the brackets were released, McGonagle had to withdraw from the tournament. 

McGonagle and Virginia Tech are no strangers as he wrestled future Hokie teammate Sam Latona in the 2023 NWCA All-Star match. McGonagle would go on to win 7-5 in tiebreakers. 

Even as the All-Star match was conducted, McGonagle was out of his spot at 133 lbs as freshman phenom Ryan Crookham defeated him head-to-head and then Vito Arujau at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. McGonagle re-emerged later in the year and wrestled in the F&M Open at 141 lbs. 

133 is where McGonagle would like to wrestle and it could be a good fit with the Hokies. The former 125 lber, Latona, already looked massive at 133 lbs and would go up for his final campaign in Blacksburg. That allows Tom Crook to redshirt as the Hokie staff initially intended in 2023-24. 

The Hokies are fresh off a seventh-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships and lost the services of multi-time All-Americans Bryce Andonian and Mekhi Lewis. With McGonagle and Lennox Wolak joining, those losses should be less painful and Virginia Tech may be capable of a similar (or better) NCAA showing in 2025. 

Portal

Ryan Boersma (285) - Missouri

Colton Camacho (125/133) - Pittsburgh

Charlie Darracott (165) - Stanford

Massoma Endene (197) - Wartburg

Logan Frazier (133) - Virginia Tech

Max Hale (184) - Penn 

Nathan Higley (149) - George Mason

Jared Hill (157) - Oklahoma

Jacob Joyce (125) - Stanford

Jason Kraisser (157) - Iowa State

Carson Martinson (165) - Iowa

Carter Martinson (157) - Iowa

Sam Mitchell (197) - Buffalo

Peyton Moore (133) - Missouri

Kyle Mosher (165) - Columbia

Danny Nini (157) - North Carolina

Bretli Reyna (149) - Iowa

Chris Rivera (141) - Campbell

Justin Rivera (149) - Campbell

Rylan Rogers (184) - Michigan

Korbin Shepherd (133) - Missouri

Yaraslau Slavikouski (285) - Rutgers

Ethan Stiles (157) - Nebraska

Clayton Ulrey (157) - Virginia Tech