The Rutgers wrestling program has undergone a remarkable transformation, rising from near elimination to a position of national prominence. This journey, deeply rooted in New Jersey's wrestling tradition, is a testament to the dedication of its coaches, the talent of its athletes, and the unwavering support of its community.
For a program that was nearly left for dead at its own university, reaching hallowed ground in college athletics seemed like a lofty goal. The team was looking to reach hallowed ground in college athletics. The banner had something else in mind.
The Rutgers wrestling team, perennially underfunded and on the chopping block just five years ago, is closer to that NCAA title than any team at the school. Wrestling will never get the attention given to football or basketball, but it has figured out the formula that still eludes those higher-profile teams. This is a team of Jersey high school stars, led by a Jersey-bred head coach, trying to bring national success to the Jersey college. This is exactly what Rutgers wants to be in athletics.
It seems possible - very possible. The banner had something else in mind. But wrestlers are low-maintenance athletes, and with the help of some black electrical tape, the second “C” became an “A” until a new banner arrived. And now, as it hangs on the water-stained walls in that practice room, the goal no longer seems ridiculous at all.
The wrestlers are ranked fifth in one national poll and seek their fourth victory over a top-20 opponent tonight when they face nemesis Lehigh. The match, the biggest in school history, is expected to draw more than 5,000 fans at the Rutgers Athletic Center.
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This has always been a mystery in the wrestling community: How can a state with this much talent not have an elite college program? That was on the table in May 2006. But what few followers of the sport knew is that the question nearly became something else: How can a university serving New Jersey do away with its wrestling team entirely?
The team was spared the fate of crew and men’s swimming in part because of this realization: That groundswell, in a state with one of the richest traditions in the sport, would be anything but short lived. Retiring coach John Sacchi, who never had the resources to compete nationally, made an impassioned plea for his team’s potential. He realized it might not happen under him, but that it could happen.
Goodale turned his job interview into a four-hour lecture on how it could happen. He talked about improving the level of recruiting, about educating the community about the sport. Rutgers had two New Jersey state champions on its roster when Goodale was hired in July 2007. As he stood at the edge of the mat at a practice this week, the coach counted 17, including four high school national champions.
Everywhere in the country, athletic departments are lopping off wrestling while Rutgers is investing a little and gaining a national contender. Wrestling is all about numbers like this. He has since persuaded athletic director Tim Pernetti to increase that to 9.9, which is the NCAA limit for the sport. It had 4.2 scholarships when Goodale took over.
Goodale has used his deep connections within the New Jersey wrestling community to persuade the best athletes to stay home. But it’s about more than money. His first recruiting target was on his team at Jackson: Scott Winston, who was a perfect 137-0 in high school. What was he thinking? Winston heard the murmurs: He could have gone anywhere.
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Other top high school stars followed, while others who had left the state returned home. He transferred to Rutgers for his senior year. Alex Caruso picked Lehigh out of high school. Rutgers didn’t even crack his list. He will face his former school today, a team the Scarlet Knights haven’t beaten since Walt Disney released an animated motion picture named “Cinderella.”
Rutgers has won 16 straight matches, another school record, and had enough success that Goodale is having trouble getting the traditional powers to add his team to their schedules. But the true measure will come March 17-19 in Philadelphia at the NCAA Championships. Iowa has won three straight titles, and no Eastern team has won in 60 years. No one expects that to change now. A victory would establish a single-season Rutgers record for victories, with 21.
But for a program that escaped the chopping block, it would be a major accomplishment just to be in the conversation for an NCAA championship. But the true measure will come March 17-19 in Philadelphia at the NCAA Championships. Jersey Mike's Arena, commonly known as the Rutgers Athletic Center ("the RAC"), is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Piscataway, New Jersey on Rutgers University's Livingston Campus.
The Rise Under Coach Scott Goodale
Nine years into his tenure on the banks, former Jackson Memorial coach Scott Goodale has the Scarlet Knights thriving. Nine years into his tenure on the banks, former Jackson Memorial coach Scott Goodale has the Scarlet Knights thriving. The vision for turning Rutgers wrestling into a national force was scribbled on a napkin over a bottle of wine shared by husband and wife.
Scott Goodale, then the wrestling coach at powerhouse Jackson Memorial High School, wanted to be a good friend to the state program in 2007 when he fulfilled a request to put together a five-point plan. Because he wanted to impress, Goodale had John Leonardis, a friend in the high school coaching ranks, and Leonardis’ brother, an English teacher at Peddie School, review and edit the final typed product.
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The plan changed hands from Goodale to former NFL offensive lineman Bill Ard - father of a two-time high school state champion wrestler - to then-Rutgers deputy athletics director Kevin MacConnell to his boss Bob Mulcahy. Rutgers reversed course and sought a spark for a potential sleeping giant. Two years after nearly eliminating the wrestling program as part of athletic budget cuts that eradicated six other sports.
Goodale emerged as the most intriguing candidate to replace 18-year veteran John Sacchi, but it meant Rutgers hiring a high school coach for the first time that anyone could remember. “He was passionate, charismatic, detail-oriented. He really cared. Nonstop energy. Sometimes you have to take a real risk to make a substantial change,” Mulcahy said referring to the Rutgers football program builder. “In a way, he reminded me a little bit of Greg Schiano,”
Nine years later, Rutgers wrestling is:
- A few weeks removed from achieving the highest national ranking (No. 6) in school history.
- 138-50-1 in duals with 42 NCAA qualifiers under Goodale.
- A threat to produce multiple All-Americans in the same year for the first time.
- On pace for a second straight top-six national finish in attendance with crowds approaching 3,000 per match.
- The beneficiary of about $1.7 million in new gifts and pledges for scholarships, program support and capital projects over the last 3.5 years.
Goodale was hired at a starting salary of $65,000. His only demand was to bring Leonardis as an assistant coach. Suddenly, the plan for recruiting, fundraising, academics, staff-building and accessibility needed implementation - not imagination. Goodale inherited a program with 3.4 scholarships - far below the NCAA maximum of 9.9 - and the lowest NCAA Academic Progress Rate multi-year score (904) of any at Rutgers.
Today, Rutgers is fully funded and its APR score is 966, after topping out at 974 on the 1,000-point scale. Rutgers ranks 10th out of 14 wrestling teams in the Big Ten in APR, which measures graduation and retention rates. Perhaps an even bigger change is the growth of the Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club, which provides fundraising assistance.
While it struggled to get off the ground at first, the SKWC is now a fundraising power, with $400,000 in pledges in 2014 to get assistants on the university payroll, according to president David Bugen. It also helps attract resident coaches - post-college Olympic wrestling hopefuls who train with the team.
Mulcahy promised to supply Goodale and his entire coaching staff, which included standouts such as UFC star Frankie Edgar at one point, a full education in NCAA compliance. Goodale’s first recruiting class was ranked No. 4 in the nation and included four state champions among 12 New Jerseyans. It was the product of long nights spent visiting 250 schools, clubs, clinics and camps.
“that wrestling can be a prominent sport here by getting one of our own in place,” said John Wooding, who chaired the Rutgers hiring committee. The prize of the class was Jackson Memorial’s Scott Winston, the No. 2-ranked national recruit who elected to follow his coach to Rutgers. “Our biggest thing right away was we are going to create such a buzz that whether they like it or not they are going to start believing in it,” Goodale said.
Change was more difficult to create on the mats, but Donny Pritzlaff, who recruited Winston at Wisconsin, sensed it coming from afar. “Scott has a wealth of knowledge about wrestling, but he does a lot of things that other coaches can’t do," Pritzlaff said. "He speaks about his program better than anybody I’ve ever been around. Boosters love him. Recruits love him. It’s outside-the-box, but I think wrestling would do better if they did more hires like this.”
Goodale’s tenure began with three straight noncompetitive duals at Ohio State, Lehigh and Maryland. Leonardis recalls his boss asking to swap out charter buses for yellow school buses and hotel stays for morning-of-match commutes. On the morning of Jan. 21, 2011, hours before No. 8 Rutgers cemented its national arrival by upsetting No. 3 Virginia Tech, Goodale shuttled wrestling apparel from his College Avenue Gym office to the Rutgers Athletic Center so it could be sold by a wrestler on the concourse.
Two of Rutgers' eight 2011 NCAA qualifiers were bounced one win shy of becoming an All-American. The Round of 12 was becoming an impenetrable force field for Rutgers, which had jumped from 11th to ninth to sixth to third in the EIWA Championships. Or was it merely part of the development?
One of the only copies remains on Leonardis' computer. You might expect to see a copy of the five-point plan hanging in the wrestling office. The reality is we would’ve been stagnant without it. It’s funny because without looking at that daily and looking back on it after five or six or seven years, it was what we were driving toward even without consciously thinking about it," Leonardis said. "It’s never as fast as you want it to be.”
Nowhere does it mention a new practice facility or holding outdoor matches on the football field, but an out-sized dream in 2007 is keeping up with the Joneses in 2016. Rutgers has beaten five Top 25 opponents this season and could add another victim Feb. 20 when it hosts the prestigious National Championships Dual Series.
Facilities: From the College Avenue Gym to Jersey Mike's Arena
The history of Rutgers wrestling is intertwined with the evolution of its facilities. From the cramped practice room in the basement of the College Avenue Gymnasium to the roar of Jersey Mike's Arena, the venues have played a crucial role in shaping the program's identity and success.
College Avenue Gymnasium ("The Barn")
College Avenue Gymnasium (commonly known as "the Barn") is an athletic facility on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A gymnasium was first built on the site in 1892, replacing College Field, where the first collegiate game of American football was played on November 6, 1869. The basketball team reached its only NCAA Final Four in 1976, going undefeated until losing to the University of Michigan in the semifinal. Home games at the Barn were festive affairs, with the crowd yelling so loudly that paint chips fell from the ceiling.
There is an annex attached to the side of the gym that sport courts for basketball, indoor soccer, and a variety of other sports. The Barn has a rock climbing wall and provides willing students with lessons, as well as a room for kickboxing and mixed martial arts. There is also a room with multiple Olympic weightlifting platforms.
Jersey Mike's Arena (Rutgers Athletic Center)
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New Jersey governor William T. Cahill announced support for a new arena for Rutgers basketball during a game against Princeton in 1971 at the badly outdated "Barn" on College Avenue. He set a goal of a 10,000 seat venue, and provided $250,000 for feasibility studies. A bond issue passed that November, and by July the following year, the Rutgers Board of Governors unveiled a request for proposals. There were plans for a 13,000 seat arena in downtown New Brunswick, which turned out to be unfeasible. Instead, the university made plans for an arena on Livingston Campus, which would host 11,000 seats for basketball, ice hockey, and aquatics.
The Rutgers Athletic Center was ultimately designed by architect Robert Hillier. Originally, he proposed a larger structure with modern amenities, however, the budget was limited to $8 million. The arena opened on with a 102-96 exhibition game win against the Soviet Union national team on November 21, 1977. This was followed up by the official home opener against rival Seton Hall nine days later, yielding an 81-76 win. The fans liked the then-new arena as an upgrade from "the Barn". It soon became apparent that the acoustics of the design made the venue very loud when it was full.
The arena was known as the Rutgers Athletic Center until 1986, when it was renamed for Louis Brown, a Rutgers graduate and former member of the varsity golf team, who made a large bequest to the university in his will. The arena was upgraded with air conditioning for the first time in 2016, at the insistence of newly hired coach Steve Pikiell. The arena was equipped with wi-fi in 2020 by the Rutgers IT department for $62,000, using off the shelf parts from Ubiquiti, which contrasted with million-dollar bids offered by outside vendors.
The team opted to put equipment in the rafters instead of under seats, citing research that basketball fans are uploading more than downloading data. The design of the venue made it simple to install for each half of the main seating areas. the impact of the metal roof on radio signals also impacted the deployment. The arena was renamed Jersey Mike's Arena in 2021, after the university sold its naming rights to the sandwich chain in a 20-year $28 million deal, which includes signage inside and outside the arena, on the scoreboard and court. Additionally, the chain will be promoted in print and digital media, as well as radio and television.
The deal begins with a $1.1 million annual payment that will increase to $1.7 million at its end on June 30, 2041. The signage cost $300,000 at Rutgers expense. The deal also will bring Jersey Mike's subs to the concessions, to be operated by Rutgers or a third-party. It also has opt-out clauses for both parties, with the sponsor able to suspend the deal starting July 2029 if upgrades or a new arena are not built, and both can unilaterally opt out starting in July 2036.
Jersey Mike's Arena is renowned for being one of the loudest arenas in college basketball at maximum capacity. The trapezoidal design of the building resonates crowd noise onto the court, creating a deafening environment. The RAC has even been described as being "louder than a 757 at Newark Airport." The acoustics have earned it a nickname: "the Trapezoid of Terror".
Eric Zwerling of the Rutgers Noise Technical Assistance Center noted the hard surfaces and concrete structure reflect and trap the sound, which has been measured to reach 118 to 125 decibels, which can cause a temporary threshold shift, and with repeated exposure, damage the inner ear. A rudimentary study by the Rutgers Society of Physics Students measured sound levels around the arena, and found that it was loudest at the highest seats, where the compact flat surfaces focus noise.
Many visiting players have also extolled the RAC's atmosphere. Former UConn shooting guard Ben Gordon said that "it is very difficult at the RAC...the gym is shaped, it seems like everybody is on top of you. At times, if you're not focused, you can get lost in the game just by how intense the crowd is." Former Syracuse power forward Hakim Warrick noted that "the way the gym is made, it's just made to keep the noise in.
Rutgers player Caleb McConnell found it weird, unimpressive, and not ideal for a big school at first. After playing, he said the atmosphere was electric with the floor shaking and an inability to hear other players on the court. The noise was recorded at 115.3 decibels in February 2020.
The arena hosted the 1985 and 1989 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournaments. The arena hosts Middlesex County boys and girls high school basketball tournament finals, and various boys and girls New Jersey high school basketball state playoff games. Rutgersfest, an annual concert, was held in the arena in 2007 due to rain, and featured The Roots, Hawthorne Heights, and Everclear. The arena is used every June as a graduation hall for J. P.
The Star-Ledger and The Daily Targum reported in 2010 that Rutgers then-athletic director Tim Pernetti planned to expand the arena to include more practice facilities, more concourse space, and a seating expansion to accommodate 12,500 fans (including club seating), and premium restaurants. When the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten Conference in 2014, the RAC was the smallest arena in conference, with slightly smaller capacity than Northwestern's 8,117-seat Welsh-Ryan Arena provided at the time. Rutgers athletic director Patrick E. Hobbs wanted to upgrade the RAC during his tenure, replacing office space with a lounge, and converting the media center into a bar.
The New Jersey State Legislature passed a budget in 2022, which provided $100 million to renovate the arena after few changes in 45 years. Plans included modernizing the bathrooms and concession stands, among other facilities, and adding luxury boxes. Hobbs presented further proposals in 2023, which included club and premium seating, concourse updates, an open-air plaza, an exterior lobby expansion, and other upgrades. The goal is to make updates that will increase revenue the most.
RWJ Barnabas Health Athletic Performance Center
After the best season in program history, the wrestling team welcomes their new facilities at the RWJ Barnabas Health Athletic Performance Center with a brand new wrestling room, locker room, offices and more. Among the new recruits inside the Scarlet Knight Wrestling room include, NJ State Champions Sammy Alvarez, JoJo Aragona, and Ronbert Kanniard. The other prospects include Gerard Angelo, Devon Britton, Jackson Turley, and Ryan Vulakh.
Looking Ahead
Wrestling received $570,000 in new gifts and pledges in Fiscal Year 2015, according to a school official. Rutgers has beaten five Top 25 opponents this season and could add another victim Feb. 20 when it hosts the prestigious National Championships Dual Series. They show up to big matches and they show up in numbers. The 2019 NCAA wrestling tournament drew more than 100,000 spectators who packed PPG Paints Arena to the brim for all six sessions. The excitement isn’t just limited to the national tournament.
Given all these venues for college wrestling, it's a tricky task to create a list of the best places to watch the sport. After the most successful season in school history, Rutgers Wrestling officials and the athletic department have signed head coach Scott Goodale to a contract extension through the 2023-24 season.
“Last year was a special year on our path to national prominence and this extension ensures that we will have Scott’s leadership here long into the future,” Director of Athletics Pat Hobbs said. This contract extension comes at the right time for Goodale.
“It’s a privilege to be the head wrestling coach at Rutgers and there’s no place I’d rather be,” Goodale said. “My family and I have dedicated the last twelve years of our lives to this University and community. We always believed that you could win at Rutgers and I’ve been blessed to have assistant coaches and staff who could see the vision before it was reality. Wrestling is a sport that teaches you so many lessons, it rewards effort and resilience. I’m lucky to have coached some of the toughest, hard nose kids who always accepted the challenge to wear the Block R. Their accomplishments give the next group of wrestlers a standard to live up to and we will never let the bar drop!
“I’d like to thank Pat Hobbs and his staff for believing in this program and giving us all the resources we need to reach our goals. There is so much excitement surrounding not only our wrestling program, but our entire athletic department, and I look forward to coaching at the RAC in front of the best fans in the country for years to come.”
Plus, with the news of Nick Suriano’s redshirt to train for the Olympics, Goodale will have a whole new crop of young talent to develop for the 2019-20 season and await Suriano’s return in the Spring of 2020 or during the next season in 2020-21.