WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Wrestling takes on its final double dual weekend of the regular season with a road battle against Northwestern on Friday night before returning home to face Minnesota on Super Bowl Sunday.
Streaming for both matches will be on BigTenPlus.com with live stats to come on TrackWrestling.com. Friday night's dual against the Wildcats in Welsh-Ryan Arena will start at 8:00 p.m. ET before the team returns to Holloway Gymnasium on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
PURDUE POINTS
• Matt Ramos is the unanimous No. 1 at 125 for the second time this season. He is only the second Boiler to be unanimous since Intermat began ranking in 1998.
• Four times under Ersland has a Boiler beat a No. 1 ranked opponent. Ramos is responsible for three of them and the fourth was an injury default.
• Ramos is 4-0 against Minnesota wrestlers in his career, all four finished as a one or two point win.
• Christian White and Ike Ruble stepped in for the regular starters and stepped up big for Ersland's team last Sunday. Both picked up their first B1G dual win in dramatic decisions.
• The Boilermakers are outscoring their opponents by 227 points in the first period and are +162 in back points on the year.
HISTORY IN THESE HALLS
Both duals hold happy memories for this Purdue coaching staff. For the Friday matchup with Northwestern, coach Ersland returns to Evanston where he was an assistant for five years.
In his 10 years on the job at Purdue, his teams have wrestled the Wildcats seven times and hold a 4-3 record in those contests.
Against Minnesota, Purdue assistant Leroy Vega faces his alma mater for whom he earned three All-America honors, helping the Gophers to three Big Ten and two NCAA team titles. Additionally, Matt Ramos spent his first two years in college in Minneapolis before coming to Purdue.
The last time the Gophers came to West Lafayette, Purdue came away with an 18-14 victory in the dual. Up at 133 lbs., Ramos upset No. 27 Jake Gliva 3-2 to help secure the win.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• 3 - Ramos is 3-0 on the season against top-2 ranked opposition. Most recently, he earned a 5-1 win over Wisconsin's No. 2 Eric Barnett.
• 6 - Ben Vanadia picked up the sixth pin of his career when he beat Lucas Condon last weekend. It was his first in a B1G dual.
• 25 - True freshman Orlando Cruz now leads the team in matches wrestled after going 5-0 at the Greyhound Open over the weekend to take his first tournament title.
• 84 - Brody Baumann leads the team in first period points with 84 across his 19 matches. He is also second on the team with 15 times scoring first.
FRESHMEN PHENOMS
True freshmen Joey Blaze and Greyson Clark earned spots in the lineup from day one of their college careers and have already shown the talent that made them both top-30 recruits.
Blaze (14-6) made the biggest splash early by knocking off No. 5 Ed Scott of N.C. State in sudden victory. He was the first unranked Boiler to beat a top-5 opponent since Griffin Parriott in 2018. He is one of just five under Ersland to defeat top-5 opposition while unranked themselves.
Clark (13-5) has shown technique beyond his years. He leads the team with 38 back points on 11 near-fall attempts with five bonus point victories to his name.
The duo are also 2-of-9 Big Ten true freshmen currently ranked by InterMat. Blaze is the only B1G true freshman ranked at 157.
HAMMERED DOWN CANCER
Last weekend's dual against Wisconsin was the annual Hammer Down Cancer match for the Boilermakers. The team auctioned off special singlets and took donations to the tune of a record-high $5,571 to support the Tyler Trent Cancer Research Endowment.
This marks the seventh year the team has auctioned off the custom singlets. During last year's event in a dual against Iowa, Boilermaker nation raised a then-record $4,070 toward cancer research.
Streaming for both matches will be on BigTenPlus.com with live stats to come on TrackWrestling.com. Friday night's dual against the Wildcats in Welsh-Ryan Arena will start at 8:00 p.m. ET before the team returns to Holloway Gymnasium on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
PURDUE POINTS
• Matt Ramos is the unanimous No. 1 at 125 for the second time this season. He is only the second Boiler to be unanimous since Intermat began ranking in 1998.
• Four times under Ersland has a Boiler beat a No. 1 ranked opponent. Ramos is responsible for three of them and the fourth was an injury default.
• Ramos is 4-0 against Minnesota wrestlers in his career, all four finished as a one or two point win.
• Christian White and Ike Ruble stepped in for the regular starters and stepped up big for Ersland's team last Sunday. Both picked up their first B1G dual win in dramatic decisions.
• The Boilermakers are outscoring their opponents by 227 points in the first period and are +162 in back points on the year.
| PROJECTED LINEUPS | ||
| Purdue | ||
| 125 | #1 Matt Ramos | |
| 133 | Dustin Norris | |
| 141 | #32 Greyson Clark or Christian White |
|
| 149 | Marcos Polanco | |
| 157 | #20 Joey Blaze or Ike Ruble |
|
| 165 | #32 Stoney Buell | |
| 174 | #32 Brody Baumann | |
| 184 | James Rowley or Hayden Filipovich |
|
| 197 | Ben Vanadia | |
| 285 | Tristan Ruhlman | |
| PROJECTED LINEUPS | |||
| Northwestern | #11 Minnesota | ||
| 125 | Massey Odiotti | #12 Patrick McKee or Brandon Morvari |
|
| 133 | Patrick Adams | #18 Tyler Wells or Jager Eisch |
|
| 141 | Kolby McClain | #20 Vance VomBaur | |
| 149 | Aiden Vandenbush | #17 Drew Roberts or Teho Cha |
|
| 157 | #18 Trevor Chumbley | #4 Michael Blockhus | |
| 165 | #20 Maxx Mayfield | #27 Blaine Brenner | |
| 174 | David Ferrante or Joseph Martin |
Andrew Sparks or Sam Skillings |
|
| 184 | Troy Fisher | #5 Isaiah Salazar or Max McEnelly |
|
| 197 | Evan Bates | #20 Garrett Joles | |
| 285 | Jack Jessen | #30 Bennett Tabor | |
HISTORY IN THESE HALLS
Both duals hold happy memories for this Purdue coaching staff. For the Friday matchup with Northwestern, coach Ersland returns to Evanston where he was an assistant for five years.
In his 10 years on the job at Purdue, his teams have wrestled the Wildcats seven times and hold a 4-3 record in those contests.
Against Minnesota, Purdue assistant Leroy Vega faces his alma mater for whom he earned three All-America honors, helping the Gophers to three Big Ten and two NCAA team titles. Additionally, Matt Ramos spent his first two years in college in Minneapolis before coming to Purdue.
The last time the Gophers came to West Lafayette, Purdue came away with an 18-14 victory in the dual. Up at 133 lbs., Ramos upset No. 27 Jake Gliva 3-2 to help secure the win.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• 3 - Ramos is 3-0 on the season against top-2 ranked opposition. Most recently, he earned a 5-1 win over Wisconsin's No. 2 Eric Barnett.
• 6 - Ben Vanadia picked up the sixth pin of his career when he beat Lucas Condon last weekend. It was his first in a B1G dual.
• 25 - True freshman Orlando Cruz now leads the team in matches wrestled after going 5-0 at the Greyhound Open over the weekend to take his first tournament title.
• 84 - Brody Baumann leads the team in first period points with 84 across his 19 matches. He is also second on the team with 15 times scoring first.
FRESHMEN PHENOMS
True freshmen Joey Blaze and Greyson Clark earned spots in the lineup from day one of their college careers and have already shown the talent that made them both top-30 recruits.
Blaze (14-6) made the biggest splash early by knocking off No. 5 Ed Scott of N.C. State in sudden victory. He was the first unranked Boiler to beat a top-5 opponent since Griffin Parriott in 2018. He is one of just five under Ersland to defeat top-5 opposition while unranked themselves.
Clark (13-5) has shown technique beyond his years. He leads the team with 38 back points on 11 near-fall attempts with five bonus point victories to his name.
The duo are also 2-of-9 Big Ten true freshmen currently ranked by InterMat. Blaze is the only B1G true freshman ranked at 157.
HAMMERED DOWN CANCER
Last weekend's dual against Wisconsin was the annual Hammer Down Cancer match for the Boilermakers. The team auctioned off special singlets and took donations to the tune of a record-high $5,571 to support the Tyler Trent Cancer Research Endowment.
This marks the seventh year the team has auctioned off the custom singlets. During last year's event in a dual against Iowa, Boilermaker nation raised a then-record $4,070 toward cancer research.