DUAL INFORMATION
Purdue (8-6, 3-5 B1G) vs. No. 18 Wisconsin (3-5, 1-5 B1G)
Friday, Feb. 10 / 6 p.m. ET
Holloway Gymnasium / West Lafayette, Indiana
Purdue Notes / Wisconsin Notes / Live Video / Live Results / Promotions / Tickets
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue will close out its regular season by taking on No. 18 Wisconsin on Friday. The dual from Holloway Gymnasium is set for a 6 p.m. ET start and it will air live on the Big Ten Network. Immediately following the conclusion of the dual the Boilermakers' eight graduating grapplers will be honored: Kyle Ayersman, Jeremy Golding, Alex Griffin, Kirk Johnson, Tyler Kral, Tanner Lynde, Cody Pae and Luke Schmit.
The final match in Holloway Gymnasium will be notable for Ayersman and Lynde as they wrestle in the 100th and 90th match of their career, respectively. Additionally, it's the 50th dual under the direction of third-year head coach Tony Ersland.
The strength of Big Ten Conference wrestling has not been on the side of either Purdue or Wisconsin. Both teams enter Friday's matchup looking to pick up a much-needed victory. The Boilermakers come in after a 30-6 setback to then-No. 11 Illinois on Sunday, while the Badgers took a 33-8 loss home after wrestling at No. 3 Iowa on Feb. 3.
Jacob Morrissey (13-7) sports the best Big Ten record for the Boilermakers at 6-1 with three decisions, one tech fall and two pins. The redshirt junior has outscored his conference opponents 57-30 (points scored in pins included). Ben Thornton evened his conference mark at 4-4 and picked up his team-leading 23rd win of the season with a 4-0 shutout of Illinois' Travis Piotrowski. Luke Welch also carries an even mark at 4-4 in Big Ten duals and an overall record of 17-10.
| PURDUE PROBABLE LINEUP | ||||
| WEIGHT | NAME | YEAR | RECORD | HOMETOWN |
| 125 | Ben Thornton | RS So. | 23-11 | Stoddard, Wis. |
| 133 | Luke Welch | RS Jr. | 17-10 | Newburgh, Ind. |
| 141 | Kyle Ayersman | RS Sr. | 14-11 | Dyer, Ind. |
| 149 | Nate Limmex | RS Fr. | 11-11 | Ada, Mich. |
| 157 | Mario Leveille | RS So. | 3-5 | Chicago, Ill. |
| Cole Wysocki | RS Fr. | 9-9 | Edwardsville, Ill. | |
| Alex Griffin | RS Sr. | 22-10 | Lafayette, Ind. | |
| 165 | Dylan Lydy | RS Fr. | 16-15 | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 174 | Jacob Morrissey | RS Jr. | 13-7 | Oconto Falls, Wis. |
| 184 | Tanner Lynde | RS Sr. | 13-14 | Delphi, Ind. |
| 197 | Christian Brunner | Fr. | 18-13 | East Dundee, Ill. |
| 285 | Tyler Kral | RS Sr. | 20-13 | Crown Point, Ind. |
| Jacob Aven | RS So. | 12-9 | 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
- Wisconsin marks the seventh nationally ranked team Purdue will have faced this season and the fifth straight ... six of the seven ranked teams on their schedule hail from the Big Ten.
- The Boilermakers are 4-3 when wrestling on their home mat ... they are 7-5 when the starting weight is 125 ... all of their Big Ten duals have started at 125.
- Ben Thornton, Dylan Lydy and Christian Brunner have started every dual for Purdue this season ... the 14-dual streak is the longest among all of the starters.
- Fifteen Boilermakers have wrestled in at least one Big Ten dual ... Jacob Morrissey sports the best record at 6-1 with three decisions, one tech fall and two pins ... he suffered his first Big Ten loss last weekend to Illinois' Zac Brunson ... Morrissey has outscored his conference opponents 57-30 (points scored in pins included) ... Thornton and Luke Welch own even 4-4 records.
- A pair of Purdue wrestlers appear in Trackwrestling's top-25 rankings this week ... Welch checks in at No. 25, while Alex Griffin retains his spot at No. 22.
- The NCAA was scheduled to release its second edition of the Division I Wrestling Coaches' Panel Rankings and the first rating percentage index Thursday, but information was not yet available at the time of this publication ... see the sidebar on page 3 for more information.
- Nine of Morrissey's 13 wins this season have resulted in bonus points, which is a career high (2 MD, 4 TF, 3 F) ... he is averaging a career high 7.5 points per match and he has earned back points in 11 of his 20 matches ... five of Morrissey's seven Big Ten bouts have seen him score back points.
- Morrissey ranks 11th on Purdue's career back points record with 174 and his 80 back points this season are tied for 13th.
- Both Thornton and Welch have gone up against a top-six opponent in two of their last three matches ... the two lower weights for Purdue have each wrestled five opponents ranked in the top 10, which is the most for the Boilermakers ... Lynde and Brunner each have had four matches against opposition ranked in the top 10.