By: Brook Weber
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Wrestling returns to dual competition with a mid-week road trip to Cleveland State, taking on the Vikings in their home Woodling Gymnasium at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
The matches will be available to stream live on FloWrestling.
The Boilermakers are fresh off a successful annual trip to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, where they placed 10th out of 30 as a team and saw redshirt senior Matt Ramos become the fifth CKLV champion in school history.
As a result, Ramos was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for the second time in less than a month.
Wednesday night's showdown in the Rock and Roll Capital marks Purdue's first dual since its doubleheader sweep over Princeton and Chattanooga on Nov. 23. Head coach Tony Ersland's squad is 4-1, its best start to a season since 2021-22.
The Boilermakers have faced Cleveland State 12 times before in the non-conference, but just twice since 2007. Purdue holds a 9-2-1 record in the series dating back to the first meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 6, 1971.
Led by head coach Josh Moore, the Vikings are 0-1 on the season after dropping their Nov. 15 dual to Columbia, 27-15. Cleveland State went 8-8 in 2023-24, including a 6-3 conference record competing in the MAC. NUMBERS TO KNOW 1 – Matt Ramos rose to the top spot in the rankings after his CKLV title, becoming the consensus No. 1 125-pounder in the nation. In the midst of one of the hottest starts in school history, Purdue's lone senior is 14-0 with two tournament crowns.
5 – Stoney Buell has five major decisions this season, tied for third-most of any wrestler in the country. His most recent came in Las Vegas, when he beat Navy's Tyler Sagi 14-3 in the consolation round of 16.
9 – Ramos leads the nation with nine technical falls in just 14 matches this season. The senior from Lockport, Ill., has a career win percentage of .810, third highest in program history.
6 & 5 – In 2003, Purdue senior Ryan Lange won the Cliff Keen title and sophomore Ben Wissel took 6th place, beating the No. 5-ranked wrestler. In 2024, redshirt senior Ramos won the CKLV title. Sophomore Joey Blaze took 6th place and beat No. 5 Peyten Kellar on his way to the podium.
Wissel went on to win a Cliff Keen title two years later. SIX RANKED BOILERMAKERS After numerous strong performances in Las Vegas, four Purdue wrestlers moved up in the weekly InterMat individual rankings.
In addition to Ramos regaining the No. 1 spot (125 lbs) for the first time since last season, Blaze jumped to No. 9 (157 lbs), James Rowley propelled to 20th (184 lbs) and Brody Baumann rose to No. 26 (174 lbs).
The new rankings are career highs for each of Baumann, Blaze and Rowley. Blaze earned a top 10 spot for the first time after his sixth-place finish at CKLV, and Rowley made his first career appearance in the top 20.
Stoney Buell (No. 28, 165 lbs) and Greyson Clark (No. 31, 141 lbs / FloWrestling) also earned spots in at least one of the two national outlets' polls. PROJECTED LINEUPS Purdue
125 | #1 Matt Ramos / Ashton Jackson
133 | Dustin Norris
141 | Greyson Clark
149 | Isaac Ruble / Jaden Reynolds
157 | #9 Joey Blaze / Kade Law
165 | #28 Stoney Buell
174 | #26 Brody Baumann / Orlando Cruz
184 | #20 James Rowley
197 | Ben Vanadia
285 | Hayden Filipovich / Keagan Martin
Cleveland State
125 | Ben Aranda
133| Jake Manley / Nick Molchak
141| Landen Duncan/ Ethan Mitchell
149 | Connor Saylor
157 | Douglas Terry / Nick Abounader / Reese Stephen
165 | Tate Geiser
174 | Gavin Ricketts
184 | JR Reed
197 | Joey Lyons
285 | #19 Daniel Bucknavich
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Wrestling returns to dual competition with a mid-week road trip to Cleveland State, taking on the Vikings in their home Woodling Gymnasium at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
The matches will be available to stream live on FloWrestling.
The Boilermakers are fresh off a successful annual trip to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, where they placed 10th out of 30 as a team and saw redshirt senior Matt Ramos become the fifth CKLV champion in school history.
As a result, Ramos was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for the second time in less than a month.
Wednesday night's showdown in the Rock and Roll Capital marks Purdue's first dual since its doubleheader sweep over Princeton and Chattanooga on Nov. 23. Head coach Tony Ersland's squad is 4-1, its best start to a season since 2021-22.
The Boilermakers have faced Cleveland State 12 times before in the non-conference, but just twice since 2007. Purdue holds a 9-2-1 record in the series dating back to the first meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 6, 1971.
Led by head coach Josh Moore, the Vikings are 0-1 on the season after dropping their Nov. 15 dual to Columbia, 27-15. Cleveland State went 8-8 in 2023-24, including a 6-3 conference record competing in the MAC. NUMBERS TO KNOW 1 – Matt Ramos rose to the top spot in the rankings after his CKLV title, becoming the consensus No. 1 125-pounder in the nation. In the midst of one of the hottest starts in school history, Purdue's lone senior is 14-0 with two tournament crowns.
5 – Stoney Buell has five major decisions this season, tied for third-most of any wrestler in the country. His most recent came in Las Vegas, when he beat Navy's Tyler Sagi 14-3 in the consolation round of 16.
9 – Ramos leads the nation with nine technical falls in just 14 matches this season. The senior from Lockport, Ill., has a career win percentage of .810, third highest in program history.
6 & 5 – In 2003, Purdue senior Ryan Lange won the Cliff Keen title and sophomore Ben Wissel took 6th place, beating the No. 5-ranked wrestler. In 2024, redshirt senior Ramos won the CKLV title. Sophomore Joey Blaze took 6th place and beat No. 5 Peyten Kellar on his way to the podium.
Wissel went on to win a Cliff Keen title two years later. SIX RANKED BOILERMAKERS After numerous strong performances in Las Vegas, four Purdue wrestlers moved up in the weekly InterMat individual rankings.
In addition to Ramos regaining the No. 1 spot (125 lbs) for the first time since last season, Blaze jumped to No. 9 (157 lbs), James Rowley propelled to 20th (184 lbs) and Brody Baumann rose to No. 26 (174 lbs).
The new rankings are career highs for each of Baumann, Blaze and Rowley. Blaze earned a top 10 spot for the first time after his sixth-place finish at CKLV, and Rowley made his first career appearance in the top 20.
Stoney Buell (No. 28, 165 lbs) and Greyson Clark (No. 31, 141 lbs / FloWrestling) also earned spots in at least one of the two national outlets' polls. PROJECTED LINEUPS Purdue
125 | #1 Matt Ramos / Ashton Jackson
133 | Dustin Norris
141 | Greyson Clark
149 | Isaac Ruble / Jaden Reynolds
157 | #9 Joey Blaze / Kade Law
165 | #28 Stoney Buell
174 | #26 Brody Baumann / Orlando Cruz
184 | #20 James Rowley
197 | Ben Vanadia
285 | Hayden Filipovich / Keagan Martin
Cleveland State
125 | Ben Aranda
133| Jake Manley / Nick Molchak
141| Landen Duncan/ Ethan Mitchell
149 | Connor Saylor
157 | Douglas Terry / Nick Abounader / Reese Stephen
165 | Tate Geiser
174 | Gavin Ricketts
184 | JR Reed
197 | Joey Lyons
285 | #19 Daniel Bucknavich