June 21st, 2021 is a day that will live in infamy for some wrestling fans and, perhaps, coaches. On the other hand, it’s also a day that student-athletes will appreciate. That was the day that the United States Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA can’t limit education-related benefits for student-athletes. Basically, collegiate athletes would be allowed to earn money based on their name, image, and likeness (NIL), which was previously a no-no. 
The NIL ruling, along with the pre-existing transfer portal, completely changed the landscape of college athletics - some for the better, and in a lot of ways, it turned out to be opening Pandora's box. 
Earlier today, we reported that 2023 NCAA Champion, Andrew Alirez, has entered the transfer portal. With a year of eligibility remaining and a likely high NCAA finish looming, Alirez should have no shortage of possible suitors and draw interest from some of the highest-profile schools in the country. 
With Alirez’s name in portal, we’re taking a look at some of the notable wrestlers that had already earned All-American honors before entering the portal. 
The wrestlers have been grouped by their first year at their transfer destination. 
 
2024-25
Jacob Cardenas (Cornell/Michigan)
Pre-Transfer: 2x All-American (4,8), 2023 EIWA Champion
 
Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin/Oklahoma State)
Pre-Transfer: 2x All-American (6,6), 2023 Big Ten Champion
 
Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers)
Entered the portal, but will not transfer.
 
Lennox Wolak (Columbia/Virginia Tech)
Pre-Transfer: 2024 NCAA 6th Place, 2024 EIWA Champion 
Andrew Alirez, Kyle Parco, and Wyatt Hendrickson are also past All-Americans that are currently in the transfer portal. 
 
An asterisk indicates a wrestler has eligibility for the 2024-25 campaign. 
2023-24
Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming/Oklahoma) *
Pre-Transfer: 2x All-American (3,8), 2022 Big 12 Champion 
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA 3rd Place, 2024 Big 12 3rd Place
 
Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State/Iowa) *
Pre-Transfer: 2023 NCAA 7th Place, 2023 Big 12 3rd Place
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA 4th Place, 2024 Big Ten 3rd Place
 
Chris Cannon (Northwestern/Michigan) *
Pre-Transfer: 2x NCAA All-American (7,7), 3x NCAA Qualifier
Post-Transfer: Injured
 
Lucas Davison (Northwestern/Michigan)
Pre-Transfer: 2x NCAA All-American (5,6), 4x Big Ten 5th Place
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA Runner-Up, 2024 Big Ten 3rd Place
 
Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern/Michigan)
Pre-Transfer: 2022 NCAA 4th Place, 2020 Big Ten 3rd Place, 4x NCAA Qualifier
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA Qualifier, 2024 Big Ten 6th Place
 
Will Feldkamp (Clarion/Iowa State)
Pre-Transfer: 2023 NCAA 7th Place, 2023 MAC Champion
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA Qualifier, 2024 Big 12 6th Place
 
Jared Franek (North Dakota State/Iowa)
Pre-Transfer: 2023 NCAA 4th Place, 2023 Big 12 Champion, 2x NCAA Round of 12 Finisher
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA 8th Place, 2024 Big Ten 4th Place
 
Austin Gomez (Wisconsin/Michigan)
Pre-Transfer: 2022 NCAA 4th Place, 2022 Big Ten Champion
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA Runner-Up, 2024 Big Ten Runner-Up
 
Shane Griffith (Stanford/Michigan)
Pre-Transfer: 3x NCAA All-American (5,2,1), 2021 NCAA Champion, 2020 Pac-12 Champion
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA 3rd Place, 2024 Big Ten Runner-Up
 
Brayton Lee (Minnesota/Indiana)
Pre-Transfer: 2021 NCAA 6th Place, 2021 Big Ten 3rd Place
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA Qualifier, 2024 Big Ten 5th Place
 
Aaron Nagao (Minnesota/Penn State) *
Pre-Transfer: 2023 NCAA 8th Place, 2023 Big Ten Runner-Up
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA Round of 12, 2024 Big Ten 3rd Place
 
Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois/Oklahoma State)
Pre-Transfer: 2023 NCAA 8th Place, 2x MAC Champion, 4x MAC Finalist
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA 5th Place, 2024 Big 12 3rd Place
 
Bernie Truax (Cal Poly/Penn State)
Pre-Transfer: 3x NCAA All-American (4,4,4), 2x Pac-12 Champion
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA 5th Place, 2024 Big Ten Runner-Up

 
2022-23
Michael Beard (Penn State/Lehigh) *
Pre-Transfer: 2021 NCAA 7th Place, 2021 Big Ten 6th Place
Post-Transfer: 2024 NCAA 8th Place, 2024 EIWA Champion
 
Dom Demas (Oklahoma/Cal Poly)
Pre-Transfer: 2019 NCAA 4th Place, 2x Big 12 Champion
Post-Transfer: 2023 NCAA Qualifier
 
Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley/Wisconsin)
Pre-Transfer: 2021 NCAA 5th Place, 2018 NCAA Round of 12, 2021 Big 12 Runner-Up
Post-Transfer: 2023 NCAA Qualifier
 
Real Woods (Stanford/Iowa)
Pre-Transfer: 2022 NCAA 6th Place, 2021 NCAA Round of 12, 2x Pac-12 Champion
Post-Transfer: 2x All-American (4,2), 2023 Big Ten Champion 
 
2021-22
Max Dean (Cornell/Penn State)
Pre-Transfer: 2x NCAA All-American (2,8), 2019 EIWA Champion
Post-Transfer: 2x NCAA All-American (7,1), 2022 NCAA Champion, 2022 Big Ten Champion
 
Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan/Penn State)
Pre-Transfer: 2021 NCAA 4th Place, 2x MAC Champion
Post-Transfer: 2022 NCAA Qualifier
 
Kyle Parco (Fresno State/Arizona State)
Pre-Transfer: 2021 NCAA 6th Place, 2021 Big 12 3rd Place
Post-Transfer: 3x NCAA All-American (5,4,8), 3x Pac-12 Champion 
 
Nick Suriano (Rutgers/Michigan)
Pre-Transfer: 2x NCAA All-American (1,2), 2019 NCAA Champion, 2019 Big Ten Champion
Post-Transfer: 2022 NCAA Champion, 2022 Big Ten Champion

It’s been a bit quiet on the transfer portal front lately - that was until Wednesday morning. That’s when the name of 2023 NCAA champion Andrew Alirez appeared in the portal. Alirez was one the number three overall recruit in the high school Class of 2019 and chose to stay at home and compete for the local Bears of Northern Colorado. 
While wrestling in Greeley, Alirez amassed a 78-10 record across four seasons and captured a pair of Big 12 titles. His 2022 conference title was the first of the Big 12 era for the Bears and his NCAA championship was the first for Northern Colorado since 1962. 
As a true freshman, Alirez was named an honorable mention All-American by the NWCA After the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled. A year later, he earned an at-large berth but was unable to compete due to an injury. After winning his first Big 12 title, in 2022, Alirez was named the fifth seed at 141 lbs and came up a match shy of the NCAA podium. It all came together in 2022-23, as Alirez completed a perfect 28-0 season and downed Real Woods (Iowa), 6-4, in the NCAA finals. 
Alirez redshirting the 2023-24 season in an attempt to make the 2024 Olympic Team at 65 kg. Over the summer, he competed in/and won, the Poland Open and notched a win over three-time world champion Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan. At the Olympic Trials, Alirez went 1-1, defeating Penn State star Beau Bartlett, before losing to former PSU two-time champion, Nick Lee, in an 11-9 shootout in the semifinals of the challenge tournament. 
With Alirez’s talents and possible NCAA point-scoring ability, he should draw interest from most of the blue-blood programs and NCAA team trophy contenders. He, along with Wyatt Hendrickson and Kyle Parco, are the highest profile names left in the portal. 
Obviously, we’ll have more on his potential transfer destinations as this story develops.

Next week, the final pieces of the Olympic puzzle will fall into place as the final three slots at each weight class will be filled at the World OG Qualifier otherwise known as the “Last Chance Qualifier.” Wrestlers/Countries that have not secured a place in an Olympic weight class can send a representative to Istanbul, Turkey with hopes of placing in the top-three. Unlike your typical international tournament, there will be a wrestle-off between bronze medal winners to determine that all-important third quota at the Olympic Games. 
As you probably know, the United States needs to qualify five weights for the Olympic Games. 57 and 65 kg for men’s freestyle and 60, 67, and 77 kg for Greco-Roman. All six women’s weights have been qualified. 
Yesterday, United World Wrestling released an entry list at each weight class for the event. Below, are entries for the five weights that the American fans are following most closely. They’ve been sorted via continental qualifier. 
 
Men’s Freestyle
57 kg
Africa/Oceania
Ibrahim Bunduka (Sierra Leone)
Roland Tambi (Cameroon)
Ben Tarik (Marocco)
 
Asia
Ali Aburumaila (Palestine)
Muhammad Bilal (Pakistan)
Chong Han (North Korea)
Zhipeng Jiang (China)
Rakhat Kalzhan (Kazakhstan)
Sunggwon Kim (South Korea)
Kabe Matjanov (Turkmenistan)
Alireza Sarlak (Iran)
Aman Sehrawat (India)
Tsz Shing Leung (Hong Kong)
Zanabazar Zandanbud (Mongolia)

 
Europe
Suleyman Atli (Turkey)
Roberti Dingashvili (Georgia)
Vladimir Egorov (North Macedonia)
Thomas Epp (Switzerland) 
Razvan Kovacs (Romania)
Horst Lehr (Germany)
Levan Metreveli (Spain)
Ilman Mukhtarov (France)
Simone Piroddu (Italy)
Georgi Vangelov (Bulgaria)
Andrii Yatsenko (Ukraine)
 
Pan America
Darthe Capellan (Canada)
Peter Hammer Cude (Costa Rica)
Spencer Lee (USA)
Guesseppe Rea (Ecuador)

 
65 kg
Africa/Oceania
Alibeg Alibegov (Bahrain)
Junjun Asebias (Micronesia)
Lowe Bingham (Nauru)
Gibriel Chow (Gambia)
Josh Failauga (American Samoa)
Sahid Kargbo (Sierra Leone)
Cristian Nicolescu (Palau)
Davies Oriwa (Kenya)
Anthony Wesley (Cape Verde)
 
Asia
Muhammad Abdullah (Pakistan)
Adlan Askarov (Kazakhstan)
Ibrahim Guzan (Yemen)
Tsz Hei Heung (Hong Kong)
Umidjon Jalolov (Uzbekistan)
Sujeet Kalkal (India)
Kwang Jin Kim (North Korea)
Abdulmazhid Kudiev (Tajikistan)
Jelaletdin Seyidov (Turkmenistan)
Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia)
Baowen Wei (China)
Junsik Yun (South Korea)
 
Europe
Besir Alili (North Macedonia)
Khamzat Arsamerzouev (France)
Erik Arushanian (Ukraine)
Abdullah Assaf (Palestine)
Krzysztof Bienkowski (Poland)
Kizhan Clarke (Germany)
Stefan Coman (Romania)
Islam Dudaev (Albania)
Ahmet Duman/Abdullah Toprak (Turkey)
Josh Finesilver (Israel)
Nino Leutert (Switzerland)
Ayub Musaev (Belgium)
Mikyay Naim (Bulgaria)
Maxim Sacultan (Moldova)
Niurgun Skriabin (AIN - Belarus)
 
Pan America
Shannon Hanna (Bahamas)
Josh Kramer (Ecuador)
Lachlan McNeil (Canada)
Zain Retherford (USA)

 
Greco-Roman
60 kg
Africa/Oceania
Ibrahim Bunduka (Sierra Leone)
Ismail Ettalibi (Morocco)
Josh Failauga (American Samoa)
Romio Goliath (Namibia)
 
Asia
Aslamjon Azizov (Tajikistan)
Munkh Erdene Batkhuyag (Mongolia)
Sumit Dalal (India)
Umit Durdyyev (Turkmenistan)
Rayan Hawsawi (Saudi Arabia)
Dahyun Kim (South Korea)
 
Europe
Pridon Abuladze (Georgia)
Razvan Arnaut (Romania)
Virgil Bica (Sweden)
Daniel Bobillo Vigil (Spain)
Melkamu Fetene (Israel)
Gevorg Gharibyan (Armenia)
Aleksandrs Jurkjans (Latvia)
Christopher Kraemer (Germany)
Sadyk Lalaev (AIN - Russia)
Hleb Makaranka (AIN - Belarus)
Murad Mammadov (Azerbaijan)
Nikolai Mohammadi (Denmark)
Edmond Nazaryan (Bulgaria)
Justas Petravisius (Lithuania)
Viktor Petryk (Ukraine)
Bajram Sina (Albania)
Georgij Tibilov (Serbia)
Michal Tracz (Poland)
Leo Tudezca (France)
Ilias Zairakis (Greece)
 
Pan-American
Dalton Roberts (USA)
Alexis Rodriguez (Mexico)
 
UWW
Jamal Valizadeh 

 
67 kg
Africa/Oceania
Mohamed El Sayed (Egypt)
Sahid Kargbo (Sierra Leone)
 
Asia
Muhammad Aliansyah (Indonesia)
Abdullo Aliev (Uzbekistan)
Ahmed Barahmah (Saudi Arabia)
Ashu Bazard (India)
Din Koshkar (Kazakhstan)
Ji Leng (China)
Firuz Mirzorajabov (Tajikistan)
Begmyrat Nobatov (Turkmenistan)
Yong Jin Ro (North Korea)
Hansu Ryu (South Korea)
 
Europe
Abu Amaev (Bulgaria)
Mateusz Bernatek (Poland)
Selcuk Can/Murat Firat (Turkey)
Dominik Etlinger (Croatia)
Adomas Grigaliunas (Lithuania)
Artur Jeremejev (Estonia)
Haavard Joergensen (Norway)
Etienne Kinsinger (Germany)
Aliaksandr Liavonchyk (AIN - Belarus)
Matias Lipasti (Finland)
Mihai Mihut (Romania)
Niklas Oehlen (Sweden)
Valentin Petic (Moldova)
Gjete Prenga (Albania)
Andrea Setti (Italy)
Krisztian Vancza (Hungary)
Andreas Vetsch (Switzerland)
Aslan Visaitov (AIN - Russia)
Ramaz Zoidze (Georgia)
 
Pan-American
Ellis Coleman (USA)
Julian Horta Acevedo (Colombia)
Nilton Soto Garcia (Peru)
 
77 kg
Asia
Tongyu Chen (China)
Vikas Dalal (India)
Bazargeldi Ezimov (Turkmenistan)
Dowon Lee (South Korea)
 
Europe
Riccardo Abbrescia (Italy)
Hassan Barnawi (Saudi Arabia)
Tsimur Berdyieu (AIN - Belarus)
Ihor Bychkov (Ukraine)
Ilie Cojocari (Romania)
Kamil Czarnecki (Poland)
Fabio Dietsche (Switzerland)
Paulius Galkinas (Lithuania) 
Ibrahim Ghanem (France)
Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova)
Idris Ibaev (Germany)
Antonio Kamenjasevic (Croatia)
Oliver Krueger (Denmark)
Kevin Kupi (Albania)
Per Anders Kure (Norway)
Zoltan Levai (Hungary)
Iuri Lomadze (Georgia)
Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria)
Viktor Nemes (Serbia)
Per Olofsson (Sweden)
Georgios Prevolarakis (Greece)
Marcos Sanchez (Spain)
Adlet Tiuliubaev (AIN - Russia)
Oldrich Varga (Czech Republic)
 
Pan-American
Emmanuel Benitez (Mexico)
Kamal Bey (USA)
Joilson Ramos (Brazil)
Jonathan Viruet (Puerto Rico)
John Yeats (Canada)

For the list of all other remaining weights, check the UWW site.