t Former two-time state wrestling champion will continue his career at Boise State.

Brent Chriswell seems to get closer to Port Orchard with every collegiate stop.

That again was the case earlier this month when he chose Boise State over Oklahoma.

“It was kind of sudden,” he said. “I decided to go there because it was closer to home and a better environment than Oklahoma.”

Chriswell, a 2006 South Kitsap graduate, won a state championship with the Wolves at 171 pounds in 2005 and then claimed another title at 189 as a senior.

He had a 39-0 record with 33 pins in 2006 and was 107-3 with 88 pins in three years with the Wolves.

He signed with Purdue out of high school, but decided to transfer after his freshman year when the coach who recruited him, Jessie Reyes, resigned. Chriswell then headed to Arizona State, where he won a Pac-10 championship at 184.

But ASU president Michael Crow and vice president for university athletics Lisa Love announced May 13 that the school would discontinue men’s swimming, men’s tennis and wrestling because of financial problems.

“It sucks,” Chriswell said. “I do hate transferring. I kind of wish I had stayed at Purdue, so I wouldn’t have had to deal with the hassle of the whole thing.”

Chriswell, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, contemplated taking a two-year mission, but decided he wanted to finish out his wrestling career.

He also had the option to stay at ASU, which reinstated the wrestling program 10 days after it was suspended because of “financial support from local civic leadership,” according to Love, but Chriswell said that wasn’t a consideration for him.

“I didn’t really want to be somewhere where the administration didn’t want the team,” he said.

Chriswell said he’ll move up a weight class to 197 this season and will be eligible to compete immediately.

Since returning from Arizona, Chriswell said he’s been busy working as a union laborer.

He’s not sure want he what he wants to pursue career-wise, but said he would like to travel and learn about his heritage.

Despite multiple transfers, Chriswell expects to graduate on time in 2010.

He was a sociology major at ASU, but hopes to switch to English or history.

“Those are two subjects I really enjoy,” he said. “I like to read and learn about history. Those are the only two things I’ve ever enjoyed in school.”