Report: Brayden Thompson Entering Transfer Portal

An NCAA qualifier for the Cowboys in 2024 is set to hit the portal.

Brayden Thompson, according to multiple reports, will transfer. He started at 174 pounds as a true freshman for the Cowboys last season and finished third at the Big 12 Championships that year to secure a spot at nationals. He redshirted this past season at 184 pounds.

Thompson’s move feels part of a domino effect that started when former Ohio State wrestler Rocco Welsh hit the portal and transferred to Penn State. The Nittany Lions redshirted blue-chip prospect Zack Ryder last season, who wrestles at the same weight as Welsh and Thompson. Ryder hopped in the portal and signed with Oklahoma State, and now Thompson hit the portal. Thompson will have plenty of suitors, but if he ends up at Ohio State, it would basically be a three-team trade of 184-pounders.

Thompson was a blue-chip prospect in his own right. Out of Lockport Township High School in Illinois, he was the No. 3 pound-for-pound prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, according to FloWrestling. He went 152-11 as a high schooler with his only losses coming as a freshman. He won the Ironman in 2022.

Cutting down to 174 as a freshman at OSU, Thompson went 12-11 with eight ranked wins.

He went 9-0 with six bonus-point wins at 184 pounds this season while redshirting and wrestling in open tournaments. He won the Bob Smith Open and the Reno Tournament of Champions.

Thompson had an awesome opportunity before the season started to go with David Taylor to Albania to train with him at the World Championships, as well.

Despite this loss, the portal has been fruitful for the Cowboys this offseason. Taylor and OSU have added five transfers in Ryder, Alex Facundo (Penn State), Gary Steen (Penn State), Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) and Richard Figueroa (Arizona State).