More big news on the college coaching front! Today’s edition comes courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh and Keith Gavin, who has hired Lou Rosselli as an assistant coach. 
Rosselli gets back into the collegiate coaching game after sitting out the 2023-24 campaign. He was most recently the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, a position he held for seven seasons. During his time in Norman, Rosselli produced four All-Americans after sending 48 wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament. In 2021, Rosselli’s squad claimed the school’s first Big 12 championship in almost 20 years (2002). 
Prior to his tenure as the Sooners head coach, Rosselli spent ten years on the Ohio State bench. He was a part of the Buckeyes 2015 national championship-winning team and an instrumental member of Ohio RTC freestyle staff. 
Before Ohio State, Rosselli spent 11 years assisting at his alma mater, Edinboro and was a 1996 Olympian. 
Rosselli and Gavin are no strangers - their paths have crossed professionally on two occasions. Gavin spent time with the Ohio RTC training in freestyle under Rosselli. He then was a member of Rosselli’s staff at Oklahoma for a year before accepting the head coaching position at Pittsburgh. 
The 2024-25 Pittsburgh squad should be younger than in recent years; yet it could feature a lineup that contains six past national qualifiers.

New Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor has wasted no time in putting together a star-studded staff in Stillwater. A few hours ahead of Taylor’s introductory press conference, Oklahoma State’s wrestling Twitter (X) account announced the addition of two new assistant coaches. 
Jimmy Kennedy will be joining the staff as the Associate Head Coach and Thomas Gilman will be added as an assistant coach. Both Kennedy and Gilman are very familiar with Taylor. 
Kennedy is Taylor’s brother-in-law and has been serving on the Penn State staff for the previous two seasons on Penn State’s coaching staff and was at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club for the 2021-22 campaign. Prior to coming to Penn State, Kennedy was on the Northwestern bench for three years. As an athlete, Kennedy made the NCAA podium in each of his final three years wrestling for Illinois (4,5,5). He was also a Big Ten runner-up in 2008 and placed in the top-three at the conference meet three times. 
Having an experienced assistant like Kennedy was a necessity since Taylor doesn’t have any actual collegiate coaching experience. He should be able to help Taylor get up to speed on the administrative portion of the job. 
Gilman was a teammate of Taylor on the 2020(1) Olympic Team, where he captured a bronze medal at 57 kg. Since April of 2020, Gilman has been in the State College, Pennsylvania area training with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club - no doubt in close association with Taylor. 
This will be Gilman’s first collegiate coaching position, as well. Gilman wrestled collegiately at Iowa and finished in the top-four at the NCAA Tournament in all three of his appearances. He was a one-time Big Ten champion and a national runner-up in 2016. 
Since his graduation, Gilman has sandwiched four world team appearances around his 2020(1) Olympic medal. He is a three-time world finalist with a world championship in 2021. 
Both Kennedy and Gilman were two of the most talked about choices for Taylor’s staff. We’ll see how it rounds out the crew in the coming days or weeks.

With the conclusion of the NCAA wrestling tournament and the calendar changing over to May, 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. 
 
Cal Poly: Korbin Shepherd (133/141) - Missouri
Edinboro: Colton Camacho (125/133) - Pittsburgh
Edinboro: Ryan Michaels (149) - Pittsburgh
Illinois: Ramazan Attasauov (125/133) - Iowa State
Indiana: Angelo Rini (133) - Columbia
Iowa State: Evan Bockman (197) - Utah Valley
Little Rock: Brock DelSignore (184) - NC State
Lock Haven: Max Elton (125) - Buffalo
Lock Haven: Nick Stampoulos (157) - Buffalo
Michigan: Jacob Cardenas (197) - Cornell
Michigan: Chase Saldate (157) - Michigan State
Minnesota: Tommy Askey (157) - Appalachian State
Minnesota: Cooper Flynn (125) - Virginia Tech
Minnesota: Clayton Whiting (174/184) - Missouri
Morgan State: Xavier Doolin (285) - Northern Colorado
Nebraska: Sam Ewing (141) - Buffalo
North Carolina: Ryan Boersma (285) - Missouri
North Carolina: Ethan Oakley (133) - Appalachian State
North Carolina: Josh Ogunsanya (174) - North Carolina
Northern Colorado: Clayton Ulrey (157/165) - Virginia Tech
Northern Illinois: Markel Baker (125/133) - George Mason
Northern Illinois: Spencer Mooberry (197) - North Dakota State
Oklahoma: Gaven Sax (174) - North Dakota State
Oklahoma: Carter Schubert (165) - California Baptist
Oklahoma State: Caleb Fish (165) - Michigan State
Oklahoma State: Dean Hamiti (165/174) - Wisconsin
Oregon State: Sean Harman (174) - Missouri
Pittsburgh: Nick Babin (125) - Columbia
Pittsburgh: Chase Kranitz (184) - Buffalo
Pittsburgh: Evan Tallmadge (125) - Navy
Rider: Sammy Alvarez (149) - Oklahoma State
Rutgers: Dagen Condomitti (157) - Oregon State
SIU Edwardsville: Ben Lunn (141) - Minnesota
SIU Edwardsville: Luke Odom (157) - Illinois
SIU Edwardsville: Griffin Ray (165) - Nebraska
Virginia Tech: Connor McGonagle (133) - Lehigh
Virginia Tech: Lennox Wolak (174) - Columbia
West Virginia: Tommy Maddox (133) - Buffalo
Wyoming: Sam Mitchell (197) - Buffalo
 
Although some huge names are still in the portal, there hasn’t been much portal-related news since the deadline to enter passed (Friday, May 3rd). With the coaching change at Oklahoma State, wrestlers there will have time to enter if they’d like. 
One of the more interesting names to commit to a transfer is Cooper Flynn, who announced yesterday that he will be attending Minnesota for the 2024-25 school year. Flynn was the #20 overall recruit in the Class of 2021 and the Tennessee native initially stayed in the south to attend Virginia Tech. After a redshirt season, Flynn was embroiled in an almost season-long battle with Eddie Ventresca over the starting role at 125 lbs. Ventresca won out and eventually got on the NCAA podium. 
Flynn appeared to be taking an Olympic redshirt for the 2023-24 season, but after Ventresca’s early-season struggles and subsequent injury, Flynn was pulled. In his first bout of the season, Flynn defeated Cliff Keen Las Vegas champion Nico Provo (Stanford), who was undefeated at the time and ranked #4 in the nation. 
At one point during the 2023-24 season, Flynn was ranked as high as second in the country; however, he was unable to topple NC State’s Jakob Camacho - losing in their highly anticipated dual and in the ACC finals. Flynn ended up with the #11 seed at his first national tournament, but bowed out after going 1-2, with losses to both Big 12 finalists. 
Flynn’s addition is yet another from the portal that has solidified the Minnesota lineup. They’ve added Tommy Askey (157/Appalachian State) and Clayton Whiting (174/184/Missouri) since the NCAA Tournament. With the departure of longtime starter and Big Ten finalist, Patrick McKee, 125 appeared to be an issue for the Gophers in 2024-25. No more with Flynn aboard. There’s a way that Minnesota head coach Brandon Eggum could send out a lineup that includes nine returning national qualifiers. 
125 lbs in the Big Ten (and nationally) was quite chaotic and one of the talking points all year. A couple of the wrestlers that made the weight so unpredictable are gone; however, it still looks up for grabs. Flynn won’t initially be viewed as a conference title favorite, at the same time, he can’t be ruled out. 
 
Portal
Andrew Alirez (141) - Northern Colorado
Cam Amine (165) - Michigan
Cade Balestrini (149) - Bloomsburg
Fernando Barreto (133) - North Dakota State
Kaleb Burgess (149) - Buffalo
Charlie Darracott (165) - Stanford
Devon Dawson (285) - North Dakota State
Massoma Endene (197) - Wartburg
Logan Frazier (133) - Virginia Tech
Max Hale (184) - Penn 
Wyatt Hendrickson (285) - Air Force
Nathan Higley (149) - George Mason
Jared Hill (157) - Oklahoma
Jacob Joyce (125) - Stanford
Jason Kraisser (157) - Iowa State
Hunter Mays (165) - Lehigh
Peter Ming (285) - Stanford
Peyton Moore (133) - Missouri
Kyle Mosher (165) - Columbia
Jack Nies (149) - American
Danny Nini (157) - North Carolina
Kyle Parco (149)  - Arizona State
Isaiah Powe (141) - Chattanooga
Bretli Reyna (149) - Iowa
Chris Rivera (141) - Campbell
Justin Rivera (149) - Campbell
Rylan Rogers (184) - Michigan
Cheaney Schoeff (133) - Indiana
Tyler Stewart (285) - Morgan State
Ethan Stiles (157) - Nebraska