PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rutgers wrestling announced the addition of three-time NCAA qualifier and 2025 Big Ten runner-up Lenny Pinto to its roster. A standout at Nebraska, Pinto will be immediately eligible for the Scarlet Knights next fall. Pinto joins Remy Cotton (Michigan State) as high-impact transfers to join the program ahead of next season.

Pinto is reunited with former teammate and current assistant coach Mikey Labriola, who wrestled at Nebraska from 2017-23, produced 120 career wins and was a five-time All-American and 2023 national runner up during his time in Lincoln.

A native of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Pinto produced 70 career wins for the Cornhuskers, qualifying for the national tournament three consecutive seasons from 2023-25. Last season, Pinto went 24-7 in his first varsity season at 174 pounds, finishing as the runner-up at the 2025 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in Evanston, Illinois. Pinto earned the No. 8 seed at the NCAA Championships, where he produced three victories, advanced to the Blood Round and helped Nebraska to a historic runner-up team finish in Philadelphia.

Pinto, who also advanced to the Blood Round at nationals in 2024, competed at 184 pounds during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns. Pinto went 24-6 in 2023-24 and produced 22 victories the season prior as a redshirt freshman.

A 2020 Pennsylvania state champion at Stroudsburg, Pinto tallied 119 wins at the scholastic level, earned gold in freestyle at the 2019 Fargo Cadet National Championships and bronze in Greco-Roman. Pinto entered college ranked No. 5 in his weight class by Intermat and was the No. 16 overall wrestler in 2021 by FloWrestling.

Pinto joins a program that had seven national qualifiers and three Blood Round participants last month at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia. Rutgers wrapped up the regular season No. 11 in the final NWCA Coaches Poll, marking the Scarlet Knights' highest finish in the rankings since they closed the 2015-16 campaign No. 10. It also signified the program's 13th top 25 final team ranking under head coach Scott Goodale.