Wrestling Finishes Fifth in National Attendance for 2024-25

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers wrestling finished fifth in national attendance for the 2024-25 home dual season. It marks the eighth time in nine seasons the Scarlet Knights finished within the top five nationally and the ninth consecutive year appearing in the top 10.

RU moved up four spots from last year, averaging 4,228 fans this past season. 25,368 fans attended Rutgers’ six home duals during the 2024-25 campaign, including a sellout crowd of 8,057 against No. 1 Penn State on Jan. 24 at Jersey Mike’s Arena. The 8,057 fans marked the second largest for wrestling at the venue in school history and the third sellout for the program since the Scarlet Knights began wrestling at Jersey Mike’s Arena full time in 2015-16.

Rutgers finished third in national attendance amongst Big Ten Conference schools, only trailing Iowa (13,640) and Penn State (9,007). The Scarlet Knights were one of just six schools to average 4,000 or more fans per home dual in 2024-25.

2024-25 National Attendance Average

No. 1 Iowa (13,640)

No. 2 Penn State (9,007)

No. 3 Oklahoma State (7,596)

No. 4 Iowa State (5,533)

5 RUTGERS (4,228)

No. 6 Northern Iowa (4,222)

No. 7 Ohio State (3,975)

No. 8 Nebraska (3,817)

No. 9 Virginia Tech (3,490)

No. 10 Minnesota (3,299)

Rutgers produced seven national qualifiers and three Blood Round participants at this year’s NCAA Championships in Philadelphia. The Scarlet Knights wrapped up the regular season No. 11 in the final NWCA Coaches Poll, marking the program’s highest finish in the rankings since they closed the 2015-16 campaign No. 10. It also signified RU’s 13th top 25 final team ranking under Goodale.

Rutgers also welcomes several impact transfers to next year’s squad, including heavyweight Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech), 197-pounder Remy Cotton (Michigan State) and 174-pounder Lenny Pinto (Nebraska). The trio has combined for seven NCAA Championships appearances during their collegiate careers.

Home Attendance Numbers (Since 2015-16)