DUAL INFORMATION
Purdue (8-3, 3-2 B1G) vs. No. 6 Nebraska (10-1, 4-1 B1G)
Friday, Jan. 27 / 7 p.m. ET
Holloway Gymnasium / West Lafayette, Indiana
Purdue Notes / Nebraska Notes / Live Video / Live Results / Promotions / Tickets
Purdue vs. No. 13 Minnesota (5-3, 4-2 B1G)
Sunday, Jan. 29 / 1 p.m. ET
Holloway Gymnasium / West Lafayette, Indiana
Minnesota Notes / Live Video / Live Results / Promotions / Tickets
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After spending last weekend on the road, the Purdue wrestling team returns home for a Big Ten Conference twin bill on Friday and Sunday. The Boilermakers will Hammer Down Cancer in a Blackout of Holloway Gymnasium on Friday against No. 6 Nebraska starting at 7 p.m. ET. Purdue will be wearing custom-made Cliff Keen singlets that are black with volt accents. Ten singlets will be part of a silent auction with all proceeds benefitting the Purdue Center for Cancer Research.
Wrestling resumes at 1 p.m. on Sunday as the Boilermakers square off against 13th-ranked Minnesota. Sunday is Wrestling Team Day with ticket specials for youth, middle school and high school wrestling teams.
This is the second consecutive season the Purdue grapplers have worn and auctioned custom Hammer Down Cancer singlets. Last season's silent auction raised $1,190 for the Purdue Center for Cancer Research. Bidding runs through intermission and starts at $30. Bids can only be made at the dual. Acceptable forms of payment are cash or check. It is also a Boilermaker Blackout and fans are encouraged to wear black Purdue gear.
With Purdue's last home dual being Mackey Mayhem, it has been nearly two months since the Boilermakers have wrestled in Holloway Gymnasium. They are coming off a double-dual weekend split on the East Coast where they beat Maryland (29-6) and suffered a loss to No. 11 Rutgers (27-9).
Half of Purdue's coaching staff will see many familiar faces across the mat on Friday against the Huskers. Third-year head coach Tony Ersland came to West Lafayette after serving as an assistant coach at Nebraska for eight seasons (2006-2014). While in Lincoln, Ersland recruited Jake Sueflohn to become a Husker, where he ended up being coached by Ersland three of his five years.
Upon the completion of his collegiate career in March 2016, Sueflohn was once again recruited by Ersland, this time to become Purdue's volunteer assistant coach. Ersland once again had Sueflohn on board and he was named to the post on July 11, 2016.
For his first experience coaching against his alma mater, Sueflohn was in the opposite corner of his former roommate, Collin Jensen, as he coached Boilermaker heavyweight Tyler Kral at Midlands in December.
"That was a weird experience, I'm not going to lie," Sueflohn said. "But he had a job to do and I had a job to do."
Friday's dual will be the first time he faces his former teammates and coaches in a dual setting.
"I'm excited to wrestle them," Sueflohn said. "A lot of them have been my teammates for four years as they have a mostly senior team, so I've been around them and know how they wrestle. That is a big advantage for us, in game planning how to wrestle them. As for how I'm going to approach it, nothing will change. I'm still going to go out there and get our guys going the best that I can. It's just a weird feeling because these guys are my friends and I want them to succeed too...just not against us."
| PURDUE PROBABLE LINEUP | ||||
| WEIGHT | NAME | YEAR | RECORD | HOMETOWN |
| 125 | Ben Thornton | RS So. | 22-9 | Stoddard, Wis. |
| 133 | Luke Welch | RS Jr. | 16-8 | Newburgh, Ind. |
| 141 | Kyle Ayersman | RS Sr. | 14-8 | Dyer, Ind. |
| Austin Nash | RS Fr. | 9-6 | Florham Park, N.J. | |
| 149 | Nate Limmex | RS Fr. | 9-10 | Ada, Mich. |
| 157 | Cole Wysocki | RS Fr. | 3-2 | Edwardsville, Ill. |
| Mario Leveille | RS So. | 3-4 | Chicago, Ill. | |
| 165 | Dylan Lydy | RS Fr. | 15-13 | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 174 | Jacob Morrissey | RS Jr. | 11-6 | Oconto Falls, Wis. |
| 184 | Tanner Lynde | RS Sr. | 13-11 | Delphi, Ind. |
| 197 | Christian Brunner | Fr. | 17-11 | East Dundee, Ill. |
| 285 | Tyler Kral | RS Sr. | 20-11 | Crown Point, Ind. |
| Jacob Aven | RS So. | 9-7 | Zionsville, Ind. | |
Head Coach / Tony Ersland
Head Assistant Coach / Tyrel Todd
Assistant Coach / Kendric Maple
Volunteer Assistant Coach / Jake Sueflohn
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE BOILERMAKERS
- This week Luke Welch earned national ranking for the first time this season by a pair of outlets ... Trackwrestling has him listed at No. 25, while WIN Magazine has him at No. 20 ... it's the first time in his career he has been ranked by WIN Magazine ... this is the first season for Trackwrestling to publish rankings.
- For a fourth straight week, 157-pounder Alex Griffin is included in the Amateur Wrestling News rankings, checking in at No. 20 ... he is also listed at No. 25 by Trackwrestling.
- See the sidebar on page 3 of Purdue's notes for information on the NCAA Division I Wrestling Coaches' Panel Rankings.
- Nebraska is the second top-10 team the Boilermakers are taking on this season ... counting the Huskers and Minnesota, four of the five ranked teams Purdue has faced hail from the Big Ten.
- Purdue's starting lineup has remained intact for its last three duals ... overall seven different lineups have been used this season and three different lineups have been used in five Big Ten duals ... Jeremy Golding started at 149 against Iowa and Northwestern and Nate Limmex made his return against Indiana ... Jacob Morrissey was out with an injury against Iowa and Peter Andreotti received the starting nod at 174.
- The Boilermakers are 7-2 when the starting weight is 125 ... they own a combined Big Ten dual mark of 23-27 ... they have six bonus point wins with two major decisions, three tech falls and one pin ... Jacob Morrissey accounts for one-third of those with a tech fall and the pin ... he carries a 4-0 Big Ten record ... last season Morrissey finished with four Big Ten dual victories.
- Eight of Morrissey's 11 wins have resulted in bonus points, which is a career high ... he is averaging a career high 7.6 points per match through 17 matches and has earned back points over half of his matches.
- The NCAA's second release of national win leaders on Wednesday has Alex Griffin tied for seventh with six technical falls against non-NCAA Division I opponents (only falls and tech falls against opponents from the same division are counted) ... the national leader is Virginia's Jack Mueller with nine ... overall, half of Griffin's wins this season have been by tech fall (10) ... he has 20 tech falls in his career, with 30 percent accounting for his 67 career wins.
- Purdue split its four matches that went beyond regulation last weekend ... two Big Ten bouts have been decided in sudden victory and three have gone into the tiebreakers ... Luke Welch's four overtime matches are the most by a Boilermaker ... he's 2-2 in those matches ... half of Kral's last six matches have gone beyond regulation ... he has won two of those matches.
- With 276 total points scored, Griffin is only two points behind last season's total point leader, Chad Welch, who had 278 ... he has surpassed Brandon Nelsen, the 2014-15 point leader, who had 267, and is nine points off of Cashé Quiroga's mark of 285 in 2013-14.
- Two others have surpassed 200 points scored ... Ben Thornton has 220 through 31 matches to average 7.1 points per match ... Welch has 201 points through 24 matches to average 8.4 points per match ... the point totals are career highs for both Thornton and Welch ... they are also Nos. 1 and 2 in takedowns, Welch with 67 and Thornton with 56.
- With 152 back points through 30 matches, Griffin ranks fourth on the Boilermakers' season record list ... he's behind Jake Patacsil who owns the top three spots (2009: 293; 2008: 226; 2007: 190) ... he is tied for third on the career standings with Chris Fleeger with 304 back points.
- The next match will be the 95th of Kral's career and the 80th of Welch's career.