Rutgers wrestling made a big addition to the program on Friday as Harvard transfer Yaraslau Slavikouski (Yar-a-slav Slow-vuh-cow-ski) committed. He was 30-6 this past season as a Heavyweight for the Crimson and fills an immediate need for head coach Scott Goodale. It was first reported by Pat Mineo and soon after RU formally announced the addition.
It’s been a long journey in his collegiate career for the native of Rechitsa, Belarus so far.
As the No. 6 seed in last month’s NCAA Championships, Slavikouski fell just short of becoming an All-American. In the blood round, he lost a 4-2 decision in sudden victory to Northwestern’s Lucas Davison. Slavikouski went 3-2 at nationals overall in his first career appearance. He also earned a bronze medal at the 2023 EIWA Championships.
It was a great bounce back season for Slavikouski after missing most of the 2021-2022 season with an injury. His record was 4-1 and finished in second place at the Cliff Keen Invitational.
The Ivy League cancelled the 2020-2021 season due to Covid-19. Slavikouski did earn a bronze medal at Belarus Senior Nationals during his time away from the collegiate mat. He remains a member of the Belarus national team.
He made a tremendous debut at Harvard in earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors and was a First Team All-Ivy selection. Slavikouski went 30-8 overall and 12-1 in dual matches. He also finished fourth at the Midlands Championships. With the NCAA Championships cancelled due to COVID-19, he was named a NWCA Second Team All-American after earning a No. 10 seed to nationals.
Prior to Harvard, Slavikouski was a three-time Prep New England champion at Northfield Mount Hermon boarding school.
With Boone McDermott having left Rutgers for the transfer portal, Heavyweight was a big hole in the lineup in looking at next season. Adding Slavikouski give the Scarlet Knights an talented and experienced wrestler to go to battle with in the Big Ten. Credit RU for landing a quality option out of the transfer portal. In the process, Goodale has solidified the starting lineup although adding more transfers are still a possibility.
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Biochemist01
April 10, 2023 at 11:37 pm
This is a really good get by Goodale. Slav is a real deal HWT and an upgrade over Boone, who I liked and was improving. Well done.
Now we need a transfer to address our chronic lack of production at 165.