Nebraska put a final bow on what may be the greatest transfer portal haul in the history of college wrestling.
With Friday afternoon’s news that three-time All-American and two-time age-level World Champion Meyer Shapiro had announced his decision to transfer to Nebraska from Cornell, the Huskers officially added the three best wrestlers in the transfer portal to their squad while also filling a huge need with a former Penn State backup.
The Huskers have now added Shapiro to a portal class that already included NCAA Champion Vincent Robinson from NC State at 125 pounds, two-time All-American Anthony Echemendia from Iowa State at 149, and Lucas Cochran from Penn State at 184.
It really is an incredible haul that shows that Nebraska isn’t content to play second fiddle to anyone.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Shapiro’s addition has a caveat though — although he has two years of eligibility remaining, he’s planning to sit out of the starting lineup this year as he takes a season to train and get fully healthy. A guy who has had concussion issues and was in a medically induced coma due to seizures in February of 2025, Shapiro could probably use the year off after finding the podium three times for Cornell and winning World gold medals at both the U17 and U20 levels.
This was a known thing when Shapiro hit the portal though, but the NCAA’s 5-for-5 ruling threw a wrench into his plans of redshirting this year, giving him an opportunity to wrestle in two more NCAA tournaments if he so chose to. Despite that, it appears the plan is for Shapiro to sit out this year.
Shapiro wrestles at 157 pounds where NCAA Champion Antrell Taylor currently resides, so the thought process here is that Shapiro sits a year while serving as an incredible practice partner in the room for Taylor before taking over at 157 in 2027 for one more run at a national title.
While at Cornell, Shapiro finished third at NCAAs as a freshman before placing fifth and eighth the past two seasons — he fell to Taylor 7-2 in the NCAA semis in 2025.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
In freestyle, Shapiro is considered one of the best prospects in America — he captured gold medals at both the U17 World Championships (2021) and the U20 World Championships (2023) already. Shapiro has his sights set on World and Olympic titles, so he’s a great addition for the Nebraska Wrestling Training Center.
The NWTC really is building a serious squad in freestyle, led by US Open Champion Ridge Lovett at 70 kg, Brock Hardy at 65 kg, Caleb Smith at 61 kg (Puerto Rico), U20 World bronze-medalist LJ Araujo at 74 kg (Brazil), Christopher Minto at 79 kg, U20 World bronze-medalist Camden McDanel at 97 kg, and U20 World bronze-medalist Omar Ayoub at 65 kg. That’s in addition to Taylor and Shapiro at 70 kg.
Smith will wrestle at the Senior World Championships this year for Puerto Rico, while Araujo and Ayoub will both compete for their respective countries at U23 Worlds. Also former Huskers, James Green (70 kg) and Mikey Labriola (79 kg for Puerto Rico) are set to compete at Senior Worlds this year.
