When wrestling fans discovered that Nick Suriano entered the transfer portal, they instantly started debating where he should go. Let’s add some more spark to the debate with these 5 landing spots for Nick Suriano.
Why Not Arizona State?
The seemingly obvious choice for Nick Suriano is to transfer to Arizona State. He has been training and competing for the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, so why wouldn’t he just stay in Arizona? The problem with Suriano transferring to ASU is that their lineup is stacked.
With returning NCAA finalist Brandon Courtney at 125 and All-Americans Michael McGee and Kyle Parco filling in at 133 and 141, respectively, there are not any clear openings for him. Granted, Suriano is good enough to make just about every lineup in the country, but there would definitely be issues for the lightweights at ASU if he stays in Tempe. It may be the easy choice, but where else could he go instead?
A Big Ten Wrestler at Heart (Ohio State)
Suriano is a Big Ten wrestler. When he was figuring out where to commit in 2015 he was between Penn State, Iowa, Nebraska, Rutgers, Ohio State, and Arizona State — five out of six are Big Ten schools. Since that time he has wrestled for Penn State and Rutgers, so why not make his rounds to another Big Ten school?
There is still a slight lightweight issue at OSU, but either he or Malik Heinselman would bump up to 133 lbs. While Suriano is likely wrestling 57 kg at the World Team Trials, it is not a foregone conclusion that he won’t wrestle 133 lbs, where he won an NCAA Title in 2019. With training partners in Heinselman, D’Emilio, and Sasso, this could be a great choice for him.
Suriano Back to the Nittany Lions? (Penn State)
Could Nick go back to Penn State? Many fans have posed the question because he wrestled for the Nittany Lions in 2017. Rumor has it that Robbie Howard (125) will redshirt this season, so Gary Steen could step in to bat. But, what if Suriano steps in instead?
Roman Bravo-Young and Olympian Thomas Gilman could be great training partners; however, Suriano could be competing against Gilman at 57kg in the near future. This isn’t the only flaw in the idea that Suriano will go back to Penn State. Fans forget that Suriano left PSU because he “wasn’t happy there.” Nicky to Penn State? Don’t count on it.
Joining The Movement (UPenn)
Maybe Suriano won’t go to Penn State but to UPenn instead. He would fit in well at 125 with NCAA qualifier Michael Colaicco at 133. And #TheMovement is strong at the University of Pennsylvania with Jordan Burroughs, Joey McKenna, Ethan Lizak, and Mark Hall all training at the Penn RTC.
Sure, he could still wrestle with Olympic Team Trials Champion Jordan Oliver at Sunkist, but runner-up Joey McKenna isn’t a bad second choice. With the other tough resident athletes training in Philadelphia, this could level-up Suriano’s wrestling.
Can’t Take The Boy Out of Jersey (Princeton)
What if the Jersey boy wants to stay in Jersey? There aren’t many states that have as much pride as New Jersey (whether it’s warranted or not). Remember how pumped Sebastian Rivera felt about “Neeew Jerseeey!” after winning the Big Ten Championships in 2020? And he was wrestling for Northwestern at the time, not Rutgers — good grief.
Suriano has two options outside of Rutgers: Rider and Princeton. With a potential training partner in All-American Pat Glory, I would presume he transfers to the latter out of these schools. Again, one guy would have to bump up to 133 lbs, but at Princeton the 4X New Jersey State Champ could still represent The Garden State.
Pursuing an Alternate Dream (Stanford)
Even though winning a World Title is on the forefront of Nick Suriano’s mind, he has expressed interest in areas outside of college wrestling such as MMA and acting. If he still wants to pursue a career in acting, why not travel to where all of the actors are: California!
CSU – Bakersfield is the closest to Hollywood, then Cal Poly, then Stanford. But even with a 6 hour drive from Stanford to Hollywood — and I can only imagine the traffic — he could still pursue both dreams in wrestling and acting. With a new Head Coach in Rob Koll, a former Penn State connection in Vincenzo Joseph, and great partners in Jackson DiSario and Real Woods, this could be a legitimate option. And with NIL legislation here to stay, who’s to say he can’t make some change from acting on the side?
Where Else Could He Transfer?
Nick Suriano is a cryptic man, so don’t expect him to be very public about his transfer process. That’s fine, though, because at least we get to see him compete again in a folkstyle match, which nobody thought would happen again.
After reading this article, do you still expect him to transfer to Arizona State, or will he go somewhere else?
