KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dylan Shawver (133) and Yaraslau Slavikouski (HWT) earned All-America honors as No. 14 Rutgers wrestling wrapped up action at the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri. Shawver and Slavikouski both finished seventh in their respective weight classes, as the Scarlet Knights closed nationals with multiple All-Americans for the eighth time in nine seasons under head coach Scott Goodale.
Shawver and Slavikouski defeated higher seeds in their seventh-place matches on Saturday morning, as Shawver downed No. 3 seed Kai Orine (NC State) by 10-5 decision while Slavikouski followed with a 4-3 decision over No. 7 seed Taye Ghadiali (Campbell). It marked the first time in program history RU won all its matches during the medal round of the tournament.
Rutgers’ eight particpants at this year’s national tournament combined for 18 wins, including four over higher seeds, en route to 22.5 team points.
“I’m super fired up about getting two wins on the last day,” Goodale said. “It just adds to the total amount of wins we had, and those guys end on an extremely high note, which is important. Going 2-0 in the white singlets this morning is huge for our program.”
Shawver opened the morning against Orine, an All-American last season and this year’s No. 3 seed with 18 wins on the year. Shawver landed two takedowns in the first period, kept Orine off the board in the second and added another takedown late in the third for the 10-5 decision. With the victory, Shawver finished this year’s national tournament with four wins and his first top-eight finish of his career.
“It feels amazing,” Shawver said. “I’ve come a long way, and just for me to be the guy to [All-American], it means a lot to me to finally do something that I have dreamed of. It just shows how we can develop great guys [here at Rutgers]. If you believe, you can complete the dreams you have for yourself here.”
Slavikouski wrestled Ghadiali, a four-time national qualifier and this year’s No. 7 seed. Slavikouski used a takedown in the first period and stout defense in the third to muscle a 4-3 win over Ghadiali and finish with a team best five wins during the championships, including wins over three higher seeds and the No. 2 seed at his weight.
“I just felt comfortable [this weekend],’ Slavikouski said. “I know I can wrestle with all these guys and beat them. I know what I need to improve on with the help of my great coaching staff, my family, my brother and everyone around me.”
The multiple All-Americans put a punctuation on another successful season for the program, as Rutgers sent eight of its starters to this year’s NCAA Championships – its most qualifiers since all 10 starters made the trip to Madison Square Garden in 2016. The Scarlet Knights have had five or more NCAA qualifiers in each of the past 10 seasons and have sent seven or more to the national tournament the past three seasons.
RU also finished sixth at this year’s Big Ten Championships, which included an individual conference championship from Shawver, seven conference placewinners and 87.5 team points for its best team result at the conference tournament since 2016 in Iowa City. Rutgers went 12-5 during the 2023-24 dual campaign to finish No. 14 in the last NWCA Coaches Poll for its 12th top-25 final ranking of the Goodale era.
During Goodale’s 17 seasons at the helm, RU has produced 102 NCAA qualifiers, 19 All-Americans, six individual conference champions (five Big Ten, one EIWA) and the school’s first two individual national champions in Anthony Ashnault and Nick Suriano.
“I’m excited [for next year],” Goodale said. “I know what we have coming in from a recruit standpoint. It’s one of the best classes we’ve ever had. We know what we have coming back. There is no question about where we are at and where we are going.”
NCAA Championship Notes
- Under Goodale, Rutgers has now produced multiple All-Americans in eight of the past nine seasons dating back to 2016 and has had one All-American in 10 of the past 11 seasons dating back to 2014.
- Rutgers has produced 19 All-Americans during Goodale’s tenure after only having eight in the 77 seasons prior to his arrival in 2007.
- Twenty individuals have combined for 25 All-America laurels since Rutgers began wrestling in 1930.
- Shawver and Slavikouski are the first All-Americans for Rutgers since Sebastian Rivera (third) and Greg Bulsak (eighth) earned All-America laurels in 2022.
- The seventh-place wins from Shawver and Slavikouski mark the first time Rutgers won all its matches during the medal round in school history.
- Slavikouski is just the second All-American at heavyweight in program history and the first since Edward Scharer finished sixth at the 1964 NCAA Championships in Ithica, New York.
- Slavikouski’s win over No. 2 seed Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) marked the highest-seeded win since Nick Suriano defeated No. 1 seed Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) in the NCAA final during the 2019 championship in Pittsburgh. Prior to Suriano’s title, Ken Theobold also defeated No. 2 seed Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) in 2017 to reach the championship quarterfinals in St. Louis.
- Shawver is the fourth All-American at 133 pounds for Rutgers in program history, joining Suriano (2019), Sammy Alvarez (2020) and Scott DelVecchio (2018).
- Along with John Poznanski (197), Rutgers had its most Round of 12 participants at a single tournament since 2018, when Scott Delvecchio, Richie Lewis and John VanBrill all appeared.
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