Rutgers Announces 2011-12 Wrestling Slate
Jul 15 | Wrestling
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (July 15, 2011) – Rutgers head wrestling coach Scott Goodale has announced the 2011-12 wrestling schedule. The Scarlet Knights will face a competitive slate this winter that includes eight schools who placed in the top-20 in last season’s NCAA Championships.
“We are very excited about this year’s schedule,” said Goodale. “It is extremely challenging for the fact we will be wrestling some national powers on the road, not to mention the Virginia duals, National Duals and Midlands. It is important that we continue to wrestle the best but at the same time we need to be ready, healthy, and prepared for the national tournament. This staff knows and understands that.”
The home slate includes a number of exciting matches, highlighted by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/ Cliff Kean Division I National Dual Meet Championships on Saturday, Feb. 11. RU will host five schools at the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC), including four who placed in the top-20 nationally. Wrestling powers Minnesota (placed sixth), Michigan (placed 18th), Kent State (placed 19th), Missouri (placed 17th) and California Polytechnic State University (placed 32nd) will each travel to Piscataway for the NWCA/Cliff Keen Division I National Dual Meet Championships. There will be a total of four, six-team regions participating in the event the weekend of Feb. 11-12 with the winner of each region advancing to the championship round on one of the participating campus sites the following weekend. The event includes 22 of the top 25 teams in the last season’s final NWCA national poll.
RU will open the 2011-12 campaign on Saturday, Nov. 12 in Brockport, N.Y. where the Scarlet Knights will once again compete in the challenging Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Invitational with several nationally-ranked schools represented. RU finished second in the meet last season.
Six days later on Fri., Nov. 18, Rutgers will test itself against the nation’s elite when the Scarlet Knights travel to Stillwater, Okla. to face Oklahoma State, who finished fourth at the NCAA Championships last year.
The Scarlet Knights will travel to Albany, N.Y. the following weekend to compete in the Northeast Duals on Saturday, Nov. 26 where they will face Central Michigan (placed 12th in the NCAA Championships last season), Purdue and North Carolina. RU earned a sweep in its three duals last season, defeating Stanford, Missouri and Columbia.
Rutgers will host its first of six home matches on Friday, Dec. 2 as Old Dominion comes to town for a 6:30 p.m. competition either at the College Avenue Gymnasium or the Rutgers Athletic Center. The Scarlet Knights will remain in state for their next two duals, traveling to Princeton (1 p.m.) and Rider (6 p.m.) on Saturday, Dec. 10.
The 2011 Midlands Championships will take place in Evanston, Ill. Thursday-Friday, Dec. 29-30. Four Scarlet Knights placed at the highly-competitive event last season.
Rutgers opens the new calendar year at home on Friday, Jan. 6 against Brown and Harvard at the College Avenue Gymnasium. The Scarlet Knights close the weekend on Sunday, Jan. 8 in West Point, N.Y. for a 3 p.m. match with Army.
The Virginia Duals will take place Friday-Saturday, Jan. 13-14 in Hampton, Va. which features several nationally-ranked programs.
The Scarlet Knights will travel to Lehigh, who finished eighth in the 2011 NCAA Championships, on Friday, Jan. 20. Last season, RU faced Lehigh in front of a record crowd of 5,011 at the RAC, dropping a 21-9 decision to the Mountain Hawks.
Rutgers will return to campus for a pair of home duals against Navy and Hofstra on Jan. 22 and Jan. 27, respectively. Each competition will be held either at the RAC or College Avenue Gymnasium.
A trip to West Virginia is next for the Scarlet Knights, who will head to Morgantown on Sunday, Jan. 29.
Rutgers will spend the following weekend in the state of Virginia for a pair of challenging duals, traveling to Blacksburg, Va. to face Virginia Tech on Friday, Feb. 3 and Charlottesville, Va. to take on Virginia (finished 23rd in last year’s NCAA Championship) on Saturday, Feb. 4.
RU will remain home to close out the regular season with the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Dual Championships on Saturday, Feb. 11 at the RAC and a dual match against Drexel on Thursday, Feb. 16.
The 2011 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships will be held on Saturday-Sunday, March 3-4 at a site yet to be determined. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will take place Thursday-Saturday, March 15-17 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.
2011-2012 Rutgers Wrestling Schedule
Date Opponent(s) Location Time
Nov. 12 Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Invit. Brockport, N.Y. All Day
Nov. 18 Oklahoma State Stillwater, Okla. TBA
Nov. 26 Northeast Duals Albany, N.Y. All Day
Dec. 2 Old Dominion Rutgers Athletic Center/College Ave Gymnasium 6:30 p.m.
Dec. 10 Princeton Princeton, N.J. 1:00 p.m.
Rider Lawrenceville, N.J. 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 29-30 Midlands Championships Evanston , Ill. All Day
Jan. 6 Brown/Harvard College Ave Gymnasium 5:00 p.m.
Jan. 8 Army West Point, N.Y. 3:00 p.m.
Jan. 13-14 Virginia Duals Hampton, Va. All Day
Jan. 20 Lehigh Bethlehem, Pa. TBD
Jan. 22 Navy Rutgers Athletic Center/College Ave Gymnasium TBD
Jan. 27 Hofstra Rutgers Athletic Center/College Ave Gymnasium TBD
Jan. 29 West Virginia Morgantown, W. Va. TBD
Feb. 3 VA Tech Blacksburg, Va. 7:00 p.m.
Feb. 4 Virginia Charlottesville, Va. 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 11 NWCA National Duals Rutgers Athletic Center All Day
Feb. 16 Drexel College Ave Gymnasium 6:30 p.m.
March 3-4 EIWA Championships TBD All Day
March 15-17 NCAA Championships St. Louis, Mo. All Day
Home Matches in Bold
