PISCATAWAY — The setting was certainly unique, but familiar for Nick Suriano.

The word he used the most was "home."

Rutgers unveiled its most prized recruit since, well, it’s been a while, as Suriano made his wrestling debut for the Scarlet Knights Saturday with a 24-7 tech fall win over Brandon Cray of Maryland at 125-pounds.

In a fine twist of marketing, the Scarlet Knights hosted a wrestling/football doubleheader at High Point Solutions Stadium against the Terrapins. It had originally been scheduled for Yankee Stadium, but the Yankees advancement in the playoffs scuttled those plans.

And even though the football game drew a bigger crowd, there’s no denying the attraction that Suriano has become. His transfer from Penn State, and the subsequent battle to become eligible right away for Rutgers generated national headlines, revealing once again the hypocrisy of the NCAA and its draconian rules on service.

Saturday at noon, Suriano, now a sophomore, stepped on the mat as the unofficial poster child of Rutgers athletics. He didn’t disappoint.

“I guess that’s just what I bring,” said Suriano later. “You could see it out there and feel it. There were people rooting and screaming. I have a lot of support. I thrive off of that. It felt great out there. I could feel it.”

Penn State appeared to be the perfect landing spot for New Jersey’s only four-time individual and four-time team state wrestling champion, but Suriano found the environment cold.

Or rather, the Rutgers environment warmer.

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One couldn’t help but notice the North Jersey vibe around the Scarlet Knights program on Saturday.

Former Lyndhurst star Donny Pritzlaff is a Scarlet Knights assistant coach.

Former Northern Highlands star Nick Gravina (a four-time Bergen County champ) wrestled at 184 for Rutgers and won his match after popping his shoulder back in place. Former Don Bosco state champ Razohnn Gross wrestled at heavyweight. One of Suriano’s former Bergen Catholic teammates, Kevin Mulligan, won his match at 197.

Maryland even had its own North Jersey connection as former Paramus High star Kyle Cochran made his debut at 157 for the Terrapins, losing to Richie Lewis.

Even the Rutgers wifi password Saturday was Ho-Ho-Kus. How much deeper in North Jersey do you need to go?

“I grew up with more than half the kids on the team, I trained with Nick growing up,” said Suriano. “I know these guys. They know me. They’re my kind of people.”

Let’s face it, Rutgers may never consistently be a college football powerhouse. It doesn’t seem to have the infrastructure to be able to consistently attract elite players. It’s too bad, because Rutgers is a wonderful college football environment.

Meanwhile, the Scarlet Knights wrestling program is currently ranked No. 12 in the country in two media polls and that may be conservative.

North Jersey likes its high school football. We are spoiled to have the non-public powerhouses and several prominent public school programs.

New Jersey is a wrestling state. There is enough talent in New Jersey to make Rutgers a wrestling powerhouse. That’s probably because wrestlers don’t need the same type of things a football player does. They need a room, a training partner (or two) and a singlet. Then they work.

When you get down to it, that’s all Suriano needs.

“That was a great start to what’s going to be a great career here at Rutgers,” said Rutgers wrestling coach Scott Goodale.

Cray, who won two New Jersey state titles at Steinert, gave Suriano a tussle. He even took down Suriano early in the match, rolling through a scramble and catching Suriano out of position. Of course, Suriano knew Cray -- every wrestler knows every other wrestler – his reaction to the takedown was interesting.

“Today I got taken down, and maybe before, I would have gotten a little spooked,” said Suriano. “But I was laughing in my mind when it happened. It was a nice move. I don’t even know what he did, so to me, it was like, all right, wow, let’s keep going. I needed that. It’s good to feel that, 100 percent.”

Then it was a takedown show. Suriano finishing off Cray early in the third period, leaving him on his knees while Suriano accepted the cheers from the crowd.

Suriano is sure to feel the pressure mount as the season progresses. He’ll be reminded a lot that Rutgers has never had an NCAA champion, which is Suriano’s stated goal. There’s also a match in January coming against another loaded Penn State team.

But that’s later, Saturday Suriano was looking forward to seeing his family and girlfriend waiting for him at the tailgate party. Those type of events are things he feels he didn’t get enough of at Penn State. You can’t beat home cooking.

“There’s no doubt in my mind this is where I need to be,” said Suriano.