Last June, Badger wrestler and redshirt sophomore Kyle Burwick announced he would be entering the transfer portal to leave the Wisconsin program. Earlier in May, Wisconsin signed Taylor LaMont, a sixth-year senior and former All-American who was expected to start at Burwick’s weight class.
However, unbeknownst to Burwick, his entry into the transfer portal was over a month after the deadline of May 1 — meaning that Burwick would lose eligibility for the 2022-23 wrestling season.
Since then, Burwick has announced he will be transferring to Nebraska to wrestle for head coach Mark Manning. He is currently seeking a release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison athletic department to approve the transfer to Nebraska.
UW Athletics signaled in a statement on Twitter that their compliance staff has been working with Burwick and Nebraska to facilitate Kyle’s ability to compete in Lincoln. They also announced that his eligibility for the 2022-23 season remained in the hands of the NCAA. Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono and other officials from UW have not made any other public statements regarding Burwick’s transfer outside of this statement.
Still, Burwick and others close to the Nebraska program have taken to social media calling out UW’s claims that they are supporting Burwick’s transfer.
Burwick claims UW is not acting in good faith in the process of granting his eligibility. He said there is a release form that UW is knowingly delaying in signing.
Carrie Manning, wife of Nebraska’s head coach Mark Manning, took to Facebook to claim that Wisconsin’s press release was “smoke and mirrors” as they “refuse to sign the waiver” to allow Burwick to compete.
