J.P. Pelzman

NorthJersey

Nick Suriano is coming back to New Jersey, and he won't have to sit out at all before competing for Rutgers.

Suriano, the Paramus native who went 159-0 and won four state championships for Bergen Catholic, was granted a waiver by the Big Ten Conference on Sunday to wrestle for Rutgers immediately, a source confirmed to Gannett New Jersey.

Suriano wrestled for Penn State last season as a freshman, compiling a 16-1 record in the regular season and earning a national ranking as high as No. 2 at 125 pounds. He suffered an ankle injury in the Nittany Lions' National Dual Bowl Series win against Oklahoma State, causing him to miss the remainder of the postseason.

Last month, Penn State granted Suriano a full release to wrestle at Rutgers, but Big Ten rules stipulate that any athlete transferring within the conference must sit out one season and lose one year of eligibility, unless given a waiver by the conference. After much deliberation, that waiver has been granted.

Suriano is expected to officially enroll at Rutgers shortly. Classes begin this week. His likely debut would be in the Scarlet Knights' season opener against Maryland at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 4. Rutgers will host Penn State on Jan. 28.

There is a good chance Suriano starts the season ranked No. 1 at 125 pounds. He beat Lehigh's Darian Cruz, who went on to win the NCAA title, 7-0 last season, and the only wrestler to beat Suriano (Iowa's Thomas Gilman) was a senior.

Suriano's addition will mean a lot to a Rutgers team that already has another national-title contender in 141-pounder Anthony Ashnault, who has placed at the NCAA Championships three times including a fourth-place finish in 2016.

Suriano has been training in recent months at the independent Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club on the Rutgers campus.

Zach Miller contributed to this report

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