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Mitch Wykoff, Inside Lacrosse’s No. 2 DII/DIII player in the transfer portal, announced Saturday evening that he’ll play his fifth year at Syracuse, according to a report from Ty Xanders. IL’s Dan Kaplan described the former Gettysburg College defender as “a plug-in defenseman in any spot at any level.” 

Wykoff played a variety of roles for the Bullets in 64 games throughout the last four years. He was on the wings during face-offs, guarded the opposition’s top dodger and scored 11 goals. 

With leading close defender Nick Mellen going pro and long-stick midfielder Jared Fernandez transferring to Johns Hopkins, SU head coach John Desko could choose to put Wykoff at close defense and move Brett Kennedy back up to his initial long-stick midfielder role. But with Wykoff’s versatility and Kennedy’s growth on defense, the two roles could be reversed as well. 

The 6-foot-2, 250-pound close defender led Gettysburg with 37 ground balls in 2020 despite having missed a game — good enough for second in the Centennial Conference for a Bullets team that finished No. 9 in the USILA poll. In his sophomore and junior years, Wykoff led his team in ground balls and was also top-three in caused turnovers. 

Wykoff was part of the 2018 Gettysburg team that made a run to DIII Championship Weekend before falling by one goal to Salisbury.