This week saw the first week of winter sports, and it was a jam-packed week at Jersey Mike’s Arena for wrestling and both basketball programs. In addition, fall sports are entering their final month, with
men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, women’s tennis, and football making their final pushes in November. Here is your one-stop shop for everything you need to know from around the world of Rutgers Athletics.
Women’s golf has wrapped up its fall season, but redshirt senior Grace Lu was named Women’s Player of the Year by New Jersey Golf. Lu was recognized at the NJPGA/NJ Golf Celebration of Golf on Oct. 30, where she spoke about her achievement.
“It’s really cool to represent New Jersey on the collegiate level. It’s always special to travel with my teammates while representing where I’m from. To join the list of past Women’s Players of the Year, many of whom were my role models, is really rewarding.”
In addition to back-to-back top-ten finishes to close out the Rutgers season, which included a sixth-place result at the Route 66 Invitational, Lu also performed exceptionally well on the amateur circuit, placing fourth in the 3rd New Jersey Women’s Open at The Bedens Brook Club and tying for third as the low amateur in the WMGA/Metropolitan PGA Women’s Open.
She also reached the quarterfinals of the 100th New Jersey Women’s Amateur Championship at Hackensack Golf Club, while guiding the Scarlet Knights to consecutive top-five team finishes, which included a runner-up finish at the Princeton Open and a fifth-place finish at the Route 66 Invitational.
Women’s tennis is back in action for its fall finale at the Big Green Invitational on the campus of Dartmouth University. In addition to Rutgers and Dartmouth, Yale and UMass will participate in the four-team field. The event will run from Friday to Sunday, with play starting at noon and doubles beginning at 4 PM.
Rutgers previously competed at the ITA Regionals in Philadelphia from October 9th to 14th, facing opponents from around the nation. As a team, the Scarlet Knights collected 14 wins at the UNC Charlotte Invite, including five singles and nine doubles victories, with duo Mai Nyguen and Naomi Karki remaining undefeated.
Men’s soccer (8-5-3, 3-4-2 B1G) will conclude its regular season at #25 Indiana (11-5-1, 4-5-0 B1G) at 8 PM on Friday. Rutgers snapped a three-game losing streak last Friday at Yurcak Field with a 1-1 draw against Michigan State, with Francesco DiPonzio scoring just 12 minutes into the game as the Spartans’ goalkeeper came out of the box to challenge him, leaving DiPonzio an open net. Star keeper Ciaran Dalton came up with a huge penalty save to keep Rutgers ahead 1-0, but MSU would find the equalizer with just under 10 minutes to go to secure the draw.
Volleyball picked up a sweep of Ohio State on Friday night before being swept by Michigan State on Saturday. Rutgers earned their eighth sweep of the season and second Big Ten victory, taking down the Buckeyes 25-17, 25-17, 25-19. Although Ohio State is the worst team in the Big Ten with a record of 3-17 (0-12), the Scarlet Knights picked up some confidence and a much-needed conference win.
They were unable to carry that momentum into a win on Saturday, with Michigan State taking the contest in straight sets of 25-12, 25-18, 25-22. The slow start derailed Rutgers’ chances of winning, and the Scarlet Knights were unable to take a set, despite Zora Hardison becoming the rally-era season solo blocks leader and Lexi Visintine becoming the rally-era season aces leader.
This weekend, Rutgers makes its return to the Banks, with the Scarlet Knights hosting Michigan at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Friday at 7 PM and Ohio State at the College Ave Gym, which will take place on Sunday at 1 PM. The Wolverines are receiving votes in the latest poll, while RU will look to go 2-0 against the Buckeyes this season. Sunday’s game at the College Ave Gym will be free, so go check out volleyball for a great chance at a win.
Field hockey fell to Michigan 2-1 in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals, which saw the game go to double overtime before being decided by the Wolverines’ game-winning goal. You can find my recap of the devastating loss and its implications for their tournament hopes at the link above. The Scarlet Knights dropped to an even 9-9 and 4-4 in Big Ten play, although all nine losses came against top-fifteen teams in the latest coaches’ poll.
Football will be back at SHI Stadium this Saturday for its 2:30 PM contest against the Maryland Terrapins. Rutgers is 4-5 on the season while Maryland is 4-4 after rough Octobers, making this a crucial contest for both teams. You can find our preview podcast episode with Nolan Rogalski from the Testudo Times, as well as our preview and film room articles at these links.
Rutgers opened the 2025 NCAA wrestling season at Jersey Mike’s Arena with the NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday night, which consisted of some of the top wrestlers in the country squaring off. In the 133-pound weight class, seventh-ranked Dylan Shawver fell to reigning NCAA Champion Lucas Byrd of Illinois. Shawver scored the first point of the match by escape, but Byrd landed a takedown and a near fall for a 7-1 victory.
Nebraska transfer and eighth-ranked Lenny Pinto made his Scarlet Knights debut at the All-Star Classic, falling to #3 Simon Ruiz of Cornell in the 174-pound weight class. The matchup was a rematch from last year’s “Blood Round” at the NCAA Tournament, and Pinto landed two takedowns for an early 6-2 lead in the first period. Ruiz countered with a rideout and two near-fall points in the second period, and finished the match with an escape and takedown of his own to defeat Pinto 9-6.
Rutgers then opened its own season with a sweep at its home quad meet against Centenary (44-0), Gardner-Webb (37-5), and Bloomsburg (38-2), with the Knights taking all three matches convincingly by winning 28 of 30 matches across their three duals. Some of the biggest standouts were No. 13 Joseph Olivieri (141), who secured back-to-back pins, while No. 15 Hunter Catka (HWT) contributed multiple tech falls. Max Hermes (157), Nate Blanchette (174), and Damian Weaver (184) all added falls for the Scarlet Knights as well.
Wrestling is ranked No. 14 nationally and will next face Navy (0-1) at a neutral-site match in Bethlehem, PA, at Journeymen Wranglemania. Check out this preview from Rutgers Athletics for more details and the projected lineups for the contest!
Women’s basketball is 2-0 on the season, defeating Wagner 79-50 before taking down Quinnipiac 64-55. Rutgers cruised past the Seahawks in the season-opener, but the Bobcats were a much tougher opponent as they led most of the game and into the fourth quarter. The Scarlet Knights proceeded to outscore Quinnipiac 26-11 in the final period, with Imani Lester and Kaylah Ivey providing the surge the home team needed to secure the victory.
Lester and Ivey were the team’s top players in their Rutgers debut against Wagner, with Lester posting a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds while Ivey had 13 points and dished out eight assists. After Nene Ndiaye had 10 points in the opener, she was the star of the show against the Bobcats, leading the Knights with an efficient 23 points and nine rebounds. Rutgers will be back in action against Stony Brook on Sunday at 2 PM.
Men’s basketball also began its season this week at Jersey Mike’s Arena with an 81-53 victory over the in-state foe Rider Broncs. In addition to this recap from Andrew, Greg Hanchuk launched his observations column, breaking down what went right and what went wrong in the season-opening matchup.
NJIT transfer guard Tariq Francis led the team with 20 points and 4-8 shooting from beyond the arc, while sophomore forward Dylan Grant had 17 points and seven rebounds, and veteran guard Jamichael Davis had 15 points and six rebounds.
Transfer center Baye Fall played just four minutes as Rutgers struggled on the inside, with Rider nearly matching the Knights in points in the paint as well as in rebounds, even as Emmanuel Ogbole grabbed 10 boards while scoring zero points. Rutgers also left many points at the free-throw line, ending the night just 21-33 from the charity stripe. Dennis Badalau got the other starting nod at forward, but went an abysmal 1-12 from the field and finished with just five points, although he secured seven rebounds.
Off the bench, Rutgers combed through their entire rotation, with Darren Buchanan scoring 11 points in 17 minutes. Lino Mark saw 11 minutes of action but finished the game 0-2 from the field with one steal and got some work in postgame, while Harun Zrno showed off his hot shooting with two early triples but finished the game 2-5 with seven points and one rebound.
Gevonte Ware also played seven minutes and scored his first collegiate bucket, while Bryce Dortch and Chris Nwili were the other Scarlet Knights to record double-digit minutes. Shooting guard Kaden Powers made the most of his seven minutes on the floor, with four points, two rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Rutgers men’s basketball will return to action early next week when it hosts the Maine Black Bears on Monday at 6:30 PM.
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