Rutgers Wrestling Announces Full 2019-20 Schedule

[TomM]

Rutgers Wrestling Announces Full 2019-20 Schedule

Scarlet Knights set to host eight home events, including Big Ten Championships at RAC

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Sept. 5, 2019) – Rutgers Wrestling finalized its schedule for the 2019-20 season. The slate features eight home events at the RAC, including the 2020 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. In total, the Scarlet Knights face six teams that finished ranked in the final 2019 NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, including four Top 10 opponents in No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Michigan, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 9 Cornell.

Times for RU's matches will be finalized at a later date. Fans can purchase season tickets by calling 1-866-445-GORU (4678) or by visiting the Rutgers Winter Sport Gameday page, which can be found here. More than 2,300 season ticket packages have already been sold for the 2019-20 campaign. Competing at one of the most electric venues in the sport, RU averaged 5,038 per dual at the RAC last season, as 40,306 fans watched the Scarlet Knights compete in Piscataway in 2018-19.

Under the guidance of reigning Dan Gable and NCAA Tournament Coach of the Year Scott Goodale, Rutgers is coming off an historic 2018-19 campaign which was capped by the program's first individual NCAA titles from Anthony Ashnault and Nick Suriano, as well as its first Top 10 finish at the national tournament.

RU returns five national qualifiers this season, including Suriano, Matthew Correnti, Joseph Grello, Peter Lipari, Jordan Pagano. The Scarlet Knights also feature an incoming 2019 freshman class ranked No. 4 in the country by FloWrestling. The group includes four 2019 NJSIAA state champions – Sammy Alvarez, JoJo Aragona, Robert Kanniard and Zach DelVecchio – as well as highly-regarded prospects Gerard Angelo, Devon Britton, Jackson Turley and Ryan Vulakh.

November

Rutgers opens the season with a quad meet on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the RAC, featuring Sacred Heart LIU and Centenary. The Scarlet Knights will send student-athletes to the 2019 Journeymen Invitational on Nov. 10 in Albany, New York before they head west to California to take on Fresno State (Friday, Nov. 15), Cal State Bakersfield (Sunday, Nov. 17) and Cal Baptist (Sunday, Nov. 17). RU closes out the month with a trip to Annapolis, Maryland to compete in the Navy Classic, an individual tournament.

December & January

The final month of 2019 features Rutgers' first Big Ten Conference match, as it hosts Maryland on Saturday, Dec. 7 at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights begin 2020 with a trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee to wrestle in the prestigious Southern Scuffle from January 1-2, which will be the second regular-season tournament of the campaign.

RU will then wrestle in six duals during a 16-day stretch, which includes three home dates and three road trips. Rutgers continues Big Ten Conference action with road matches at Ohio State (Jan. 10) and at Michigan State (Jan. 12), followed by and out-of-conference home matchup with Cornell on Friday, Jan. 17 at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights wrestle at reigning national champion Penn State on Jan. 19 before hosting back-to-back conference home matches against Indiana (Friday, Jan. 24) and Purdue (Sunday, Jan. 26).

February

As part of the Big Ten Conference's annual Super Saturday event, Rutgers will face Michigan on Feb. 1 at Madison Square Garden. The showcase, which also features the schools' men's basketball programs, will be a designated home match for the Wolverines. Additional details on Super Saturday at MSG, including ticket information, will be announced at a later date.

The Scarlet Knights host Illinois (Friday, Feb. 7) before it wrestles at Rider on Sunday, Feb. 9. Northwestern (Friday, Feb. 14) arrives in Piscataway for RU's final home match before it closes out the dual season with a trip down Route 27 to face in-state rival Princeton on Feb. 23 at Jadwin Gymnasium.

March

For the first time in program history, Rutgers will host the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, held March 7-8 at the RAC. The four-session postseason tournament is regarded as one of the premier events in the sport, with more information on the championships, including ticket information, being released in the coming weeks.

Qualifying wrestlers will close out the season at the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships from March 19-21 in Minneapolis.