Rutgers wrestling has locked in a 2026-27 slate that packs Jersey Mike’s Arena with a mix of Big Ten heavyweight bouts and non-conference matchups.
The Scarlet Knights will wrestle eight times at home, with four Big Ten duals and four additional non-conference dates on the schedule. Season tickets are available now, and the times for home and away matches will be announced later.
The home lineup starts with Lehigh on Sunday, Nov. 15, and runs through a February stretch that includes Penn State, Indiana, Northwestern, Iowa and Hofstra. Rutgers also has home dates against Rider and American.
Here is the full home schedule: Sunday, Nov.
15: Lehigh
Thursday, Jan.
7: Rider
Saturday, Jan.
9: Penn State
Sunday, Jan.
17: Indiana
Saturday, Jan.
30: American
Friday, Feb.
5: Northwestern
Sunday, Feb.
7: Iowa
Tuesday, Feb.
16: Hofstra
Rutgers is coming off a strong 2025-26 season that ended with a No. 11 ranking in the final NWCA Coaches Poll for the second straight year. The Scarlet Knights finished the regular season on a six-match winning streak, highlighted by the program’s first-ever victory over then-No. 6 Minnesota, a result that helped Rutgers secure its best regular-season Big Ten finish.
Under head coach Scott Goodale, Rutgers also put nine wrestlers into the NCAA field, its most since 2016.
Several key names are back. NCAA qualifiers Andrew Barbosa at 165, Shane Cartagena-Walsh at 184 and Remy Cotton at 197 are all returning. The roster also gains NCAA qualifiers Daniel Herrera, who comes in from Iowa State, and Brett Ungar, who arrives from Cornell.
The incoming class adds even more firepower. Rutgers highlighted four-time NJSIAA state champion and 2026 World Team Trials runner-up Anthony Knox, along with U23 Freestyle Nationals runner-up Brandt Harer.
The season opens Saturday, Nov. 7, with neutral-site duals against LIU at 2 p.m. and Navy at 4 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as part of Journeymen’s WrangleMania event. Rutgers then hosts Lehigh on Nov. 15 before heading to the Keystone Classic on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Palestra in Philadelphia.
December brings another trip to Philadelphia, with Rutgers facing Drexel on Friday, Dec. 4.
The Scarlet Knights then travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the National Duals Invitational from Dec. 12-13 at the BOK Center. That event features 16 of the top NCAA Division I teams competing for a total purse of more than $1 million, with $250,000 going to the championship team.
January is loaded with conference action. Rutgers opens the month by hosting Rider on Jan. 7 and Penn State on Jan. 9, then heads to Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 15, for its first Big Ten road dual of the season.
Indiana visits Piscataway on Sunday, Jan. 17.
The road gets tougher from there, with back-to-back Big Ten away matches at Wisconsin on Jan. 22 and Minnesota on Jan. 24.
Rutgers finishes the month at home against American on Jan. 30.
February begins with a home Big Ten weekend against Northwestern on Feb. 5 and Iowa on Feb. 7.
Rutgers then travels to Maryland on Friday, Feb. 12, before meeting Princeton on Sunday, Feb. 14, at Jadwin Gymnasium. The regular season wraps up with Hofstra in Piscataway on Tuesday, Feb.
The Big Ten Conference has already set the 2027 Big Ten Wrestling Championships for March 6-7 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The NCAA Wrestling Championships will follow from March 18-20 in St. Louis.
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