Transfer Success Stories?

[Panther78 6]

Being new to the board and relatively new to the sport of wrestling I notice that most of the discussion is about the Division 1 wrestlers and programs!

I am curious if there are many stories of successful transfer athletes in wrestling from the lower divisions up to Division 1!

 

Take it easy on a rookie sticking his neck out :)

[MSU158 1,224]

It happens very often if being a multi-year starter is considering successful.  Even if not, there have been many AA's and even Champs that started in DII or lower.

Jacobe Smith of OkState was one of the most recent AA examples.  He was a 2x Junior College champ before transferring and taking 8th as a Junior, but not placing last year after a very odd set of weight changes at the very end of the season.

TJ Williams of Iowa is probably the most successful example.  He took 2nd as a freshman in Junior College before going 98-1 at Iowa over 3 seasons taking 1st, 3rd and 1st.

[Fishbane 18]

Here are a few more examples. 

Cormier was a 2x JUCO champ and transferred to OSU. He lost in the R12 as a junior and lost in the final to Cael as a senior.

Jody Strittmatter was a 2 time Division 2 champ at Pitt-Johnston and transferred to Iowa where he finished 3rd and 2nd at the national tournament.  

I think both of the Abdurakhmanov brothers wrestled JUCO before transferring to D1 programs and becoming AAs.  

Pat Downey was kind of one of these too.  He was D1>JUCO>D1>D1 and was an AA in his second D1 stint.

Former UFC champ Rashad Evans was a JUCO>D1 transfer, but I don't think he was an AA in College. 

 

[TripNSweep 265]

Steve Fittery transferred from a D-II school and was an All American at American U.

 

Muhammed Lawal transferred to Oklahoma State from Central Oklahoma (DII) and did pretty well at DI.  

[JerryCallo 21]

I think Gwiz is the most recent best example.  AA for Binghampton then TR to NC State and won 2 NCAA titles, plus a 2nd, I believe.    Not sure if Metcalf and the others who transferred from VT to Iowa with Brands count - did they ever wrestle for VT?

[MSU158 1,224]

6 minutes ago, JerryCallo said:

I think Gwiz is the most recent best example.  AA for Binghampton then TR to NC State and won 2 NCAA titles, plus a 2nd, I believe.    Not sure if Metcalf and the others who transferred from VT to Iowa with Brands count - did they ever wrestle for VT?

Methinks you may want to read more than the title of the thread............

[WF89 64]

Marty Morgan and Ryan Lewis. Both went from Then d2 NDSU to Minnesota.  Morgan won a national title and Lewis was a runner-up.

[Fishbane 18]

18 minutes ago, TripNSweep said:

Steve Fittery transferred from a D-II school and was an All American at American U.

American had a handful of transfers that became AAs under Mark Cody.  Fittery from D2 and Ganbayar Sanjaa and Abdurakhmanov from juco.

[KTG119 729]

8 minutes ago, WF89 said:

Marty Morgan and Ryan Lewis. Both went from Then d2 NDSU to Minnesota.  Morgan won a national title and Lewis was a runner-up.

Lesnar was another good transfer for Minnesota. Juco champ before joining the Gophers I think

[JerryCallo 21]

Never Mind!

[Fishbane 18]

Brock Lesnar was a juco to D1 transfer who won NCAAs at D1.  Rulon Gardner went from juco to Nebraska and was an AA.  Gardner's teammate at Nebraska, Matt Lindland, was also a juco transfer.  I think he did not AA at Nebraska, but I'm pretty sure he won the big 12 as a senior and was the undefeated 1 seed going into nationals. 

[Fishbane 18]

Kelvin Jackson transferred from juco to MSU and won a national title in 1995.  Charlie Jones won a national title at Purdue after transferring from a junior college.  Tony Davis transferred from a juco to Northern Iowa and was their last national champ before Drew Foster. 

Not a transfer, but in 1986 Edinboro was D2 the next year they moved up to D1 and were 8th as a team at nationals with 3 AAs.  One of them, Dean Hall, had an unusual path.  He was at OSU for two years then transferred to Edinboro when they were in D2.  He won D2 nationals in 1986 which at the time came with a bid to D1 nationals and became a D1 AA.  The following year Edinboro moves up to D1 and he makes the finals and losses to Haselrig.  D1>D2>D1

[Gambatte 22]

In the reverse direction, Warren Crow transferred from Cornell to Albany State where he was a 2x College Division champion, OW, was a Division I AA (4th, 123 lbs, 1966) in the era when College DII & DIII schools competed in the DI nationals, plus defeated Rick Sanders in the semis of the College Division Championships when he was voted OW.

[BigD236 6]

Bryce Meredith- NC State to Wyoming. 

[Dr. Novak 115]

Warren Crow was an incredible talent.  Pride of Schenectady.

[KTG119 729]

1 hour ago, Fishbane said:

 

Not a transfer, but in 1986 Edinboro was D2 the next year they moved up to D1 and were 8th as a team at nationals with 3 AAs.  One of them, Dean Hall, had an unusual path.  He was at OSU for two years then transferred to Edinboro when they were in D2.  He won D2 nationals in 1986 which at the time came with a bid to D1 nationals and became a D1 AA.  The following year Edinboro moves up to D1 and he makes the finals and losses to Haselrig.  D1>D2>D1

Somewhat similar....Joe Gonzales wrestled at a juco, then the University of Oklahoma, then at Cal St Bakersfield which was D2 at the time. Two time D2 champ, which qualified him for D1, where he placed 2nd (losing a classic final to Gene Mills) and 1st (going 55-0 for season).  

Later also placed 3rd in world in free. 

[KTG119 729]

1 hour ago, Gambatte said:

In the reverse direction, Warren Crow transferred from Cornell to Albany State where he was a 2x College Division champion, OW, was a Division I AA (4th, 123 lbs, 1966) in the era when College DII & DIII schools competed in the DI nationals, plus defeated Rick Sanders in the semis of the College Division Championships when he was voted OW.

A pretty notable reverse was Gable’s ISU ‘mate Chuck Jean who won D1 twice before transferring to NAIA Adams St where he won two more titles. 

[Chitown 22]

2 hours ago, Fishbane said:

Kelvin Jackson transferred from juco to MSU and won a national title in 1995.  Charlie Jones won a national title at Purdue after transferring from a junior college.  Tony Davis transferred from a juco to Northern Iowa and was their last national champ before Drew Foster. 

Not a transfer, but in 1986 Edinboro was D2 the next year they moved up to D1 and were 8th as a team at nationals with 3 AAs.  One of them, Dean Hall, had an unusual path.  He was at OSU for two years then transferred to Edinboro when they were in D2.  He won D2 nationals in 1986 which at the time came with a bid to D1 nationals and became a D1 AA.  The following year Edinboro moves up to D1 and he makes the finals and losses to Haselrig.  D1>D2>D1

Charles Jones was NAIA runner-up and 3rd at Olivet Nazerine in 1989 & 1990, not JUCO.

He then transferred to Purdue where in 1991 he was 3rd at 167 where he lost to Kevin Randleman (they had some great battles), and then in 1992, he won it all at 167 beating Todd Chesbro in the finals. Due to military service he was like a 24 year old freshman. 

https://www.teamusa.org/usa-wrestling/features/2008/january/24/african-american-ncaa-champion-17886?p=1

"Charles Jones, Purdue - At the age of 28, Charles Jones became the oldest wrestler ever to win an NCAA title when he captured the 167-pound crown in 1992. Jones wrestled for two seasons for the Boilermakers and posted a career mark 67-4-0. He was also a Big Ten champion in 1992 and finished third in the 1991 NCAA tournament.:"

1989 NAIA

• 177 pounds Champion Kenny Rucker, Northern Montana
• Runner-Up Charles Jones, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
• 3rd Hugh Meek, Carson-Newman (Tenn.)
• 4th Joseph Giacometto, Black Hills State (S.D.)
• 5th Gianni Buono, Simon Fraser (B.C.)
• 6th Kurt Olson, Jamestown (N.D.)
• 7th Bob Waldner, Chadron State (Neb.)
• 8th Terry Ochsendorf, Southwest State (Minn.)

1990 NAIA

• 167 pounds Champion Tim McDaniel, Adams State (Colo.)
• Runner-Up Trevor Wilson, Dickinson State (N.D.)
• 3rd Charles Jones, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
• 4th Clint Woodward, Southern Oregon
• 5th Shane Snyder, Western State (Colo.)
• 6th David Tawater, Fort Hays State (Kan.

[TobusRex 1,285]

It's been a long time ago (1982), but Karl Lynes was a JUCO National Champ and transferred to OSU his last two years. He AA'd in 4th place his Sr year.  I'm sure there are probably several other Juco guys that moved up and AA'd.

 

[TobusRex 1,285]

On 5/20/2019 at 8:08 PM, KTG119 said:

Lesnar was a shaved gorilla for Minnesota. Juco champ before joining the Gophers I think

FIFY

[TobusRex 1,285]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:08 PM, KTG119 said:

A pretty notable reverse was Gable’s ISU ‘mate Chuck Jean who won D1 twice before transferring to NAIA Adams St where he won two more titles. 

Wow, that's kinda weird. Why'd he do that?

[jchapman 602]

9 minutes ago, TobusRex said:

Wow, that's kinda weird. Why'd he do that?

He killed a deer.

[TobusRex 1,285]

1 hour ago, jchapman said:

He killed a deer.

They kicked him out for deer hunting?

[TobusRex 1,285]

1 hour ago, jchapman said:

He killed a deer.

LOL...found this. Jean must've been completely nuts.

http://www.usawks.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=129920

 

my favorite part of the article:

I threw that bloody carcass across Gillespie's new Gran
Torino, which made him mad. A few days later, we had a keg party and
barbecued Sammy.

 

Edited May 22 by TobusRex

[Panther78 6]

12 minutes ago, TobusRex said:

LOL...found this. Jean must've been completely nuts.

http://www.usawks.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=129920

 

my favorite part of the article:

I threw that bloody carcass across Gillespie's new Gran
Torino, which made him mad. A few days later, we had a keg party and
barbecued Sammy.

 

Or this one.......

Many years ago, Manny Holmes was the 167-pounder for Mason City (Iowa)
Community College. The Iowa State freshmen were scheduled to wrestle
Manny's team. A quote from Holmes in the Mason City newspaper - "It's
too bad Jean won't be down to 167 for this match" - made its way to
Ames.

"I cut 33 1/2 pounds in three days to get to 167," Jean said. "Manny was down 17-1 when I pinned him."

Please, young Jeff Long, take this advice: When referring to Chuck Jean as "Chicken Wing," never forget to smile.