By: Brook Weber / Cover photo courtesy of Beth Krejsa
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue Wrestling team returns to Holloway Gymnasium for the first time since its Big Ten Conference opener to host Maryland on Friday night.
The free-admission Valentine's Day dual is set for 7 p.m. ET with doors opening at 6 p.m. ET. The live broadcast will be available on B1G+.
Fans will have the chance to win a special "Date Night" gift basket that includes a $100 gift card to the Purdue University Bookstore as well as two tickets to the Purdue Men's Basketball game vs. UCLA on Friday, Feb. 28.
The Boilermakers (9-5, 2-4 B1G) have not competed in West Lafayette since "Mackey Mania" on Jan. 17, when Purdue hosted rival Indiana in Mackey Arena.
The team is coming off a stiff four-match road stint that included trips to No. 4 Ohio State, No. 13 Illinois, Wisconsin and No. 7 Minnesota. The Boilers were victorious last Friday night at Wisconsin, beating the Badgers for the first time since 2018 in dominant fashion.
Purdue currently holds the No. 26 spot in the national InterMat dual rankings, which lists the Terrapins (8-9, 3-4 B1G) at No. 27. PURDUE POINTS • The Boilers will face the Terrapins for the eighth time time in program history and for the third time in West Lafayette.
• Purdue holds a 4-3 lead in the all-time series and has won four of the last five meetings against the Terps.
• Maryland won the most recent matchup in a close 19-18 decision in College Park, Md., on Feb. 10, 2023.
• Head coach Tony Ersland is in the midst of his 11th season at the helm of Purdue Wrestling and holds an 89-81 dual record. His 89 wins are the third-most in program history.
• The Boilermakers enter the bout with an individual record of 84-56 (60.0%) in duals this season (25-35 B1G).
• No. 1 Matt Ramos comes in undefeated at 22-0 as the consensus No.1 wrestler of the 125-pound division for 10 straight weeks.
• No. 7 Joey Blaze remains unbeaten in Big Ten dual action this season with a mark of 4-0. RANKINGS PREVIEW Though Purdue and Maryland each have five ranked wrestlers, there figures to be just one ranked contest between the two evenly-matched teams.
At 157 pounds, No. 7 Joey Blaze could potentially square off with No. 6 Ethen Miller in a top-10 showdown. They faced each other once already this season, back at the Tiger Style Invitational in Kansas City on Nov. 9.
Miller got the better of Blaze that day in the championship, inching past with an 11-9 decision. After Miller took an 8-2 lead into the third period, Blaze stormed back with a pair of takedowns and earned a penalty point for a stall call on Miller, who was content to ride out the clock and hang on.
But the sophomore from Ohio is now riding a hot streak after recent victories over No. 17 Sammy Sasso at Ohio State and No. 31 Jason Kraisser at Illinois. Blaze hasn't lost since climbing the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite on Dec. 7.
He will look for redemption against the sixth-ranked Terp in a match that could very well decide Friday's dual. LAST TIME OUT The Boilermakers are coming off a tough 35-6 defeat at No. 7 Minnesota on Sunday, when three of the team's five ranked starters were out of the lineup on the back half of a double dual weekend.
Ramos, Blaze and Greyson Clark did not wrestle against the Gophers.
No. 27 Ben Vanadia grappled to a decisive 7-1 win over Minnesota's Gabe Nagel before Dustin Norris beat Brandon Morvari 14-7 for Purdue's only team points of the afternoon. PROJECTED LINEUPS Purdue
125 | #1 Matt Ramos
133 | Dustin Norris
141 | #27 Greyson Clark
149 | Isaac Ruble
157 | #7 Joey Blaze
165 | Stoney Buell
174 | #25 Brody Baumann
184 | Orlando Cruz
197 | #27 Ben Vanadia
285 | Hayden Filipovich
Maryland
125 | Tyler Garvin / Presden Sanchez
133 | #6 Braxton Brown
141 | Dario Lemus
149 | #32 Kal Miller / Michael Pizzuto
157 | #6 Ethen Miller / Kevin Schork
165 | Alex Uryniak
174 | Branson John
184 | #11 Jaxon Smith
197 | Jack Darrah / Chase Mielnik
285 | #12 Seth Nevills / Oscar Williams
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue Wrestling team returns to Holloway Gymnasium for the first time since its Big Ten Conference opener to host Maryland on Friday night.
The free-admission Valentine's Day dual is set for 7 p.m. ET with doors opening at 6 p.m. ET. The live broadcast will be available on B1G+.
Fans will have the chance to win a special "Date Night" gift basket that includes a $100 gift card to the Purdue University Bookstore as well as two tickets to the Purdue Men's Basketball game vs. UCLA on Friday, Feb. 28.
The Boilermakers (9-5, 2-4 B1G) have not competed in West Lafayette since "Mackey Mania" on Jan. 17, when Purdue hosted rival Indiana in Mackey Arena.
The team is coming off a stiff four-match road stint that included trips to No. 4 Ohio State, No. 13 Illinois, Wisconsin and No. 7 Minnesota. The Boilers were victorious last Friday night at Wisconsin, beating the Badgers for the first time since 2018 in dominant fashion.
Purdue currently holds the No. 26 spot in the national InterMat dual rankings, which lists the Terrapins (8-9, 3-4 B1G) at No. 27. PURDUE POINTS • The Boilers will face the Terrapins for the eighth time time in program history and for the third time in West Lafayette.
• Purdue holds a 4-3 lead in the all-time series and has won four of the last five meetings against the Terps.
• Maryland won the most recent matchup in a close 19-18 decision in College Park, Md., on Feb. 10, 2023.
• Head coach Tony Ersland is in the midst of his 11th season at the helm of Purdue Wrestling and holds an 89-81 dual record. His 89 wins are the third-most in program history.
• The Boilermakers enter the bout with an individual record of 84-56 (60.0%) in duals this season (25-35 B1G).
• No. 1 Matt Ramos comes in undefeated at 22-0 as the consensus No.1 wrestler of the 125-pound division for 10 straight weeks.
• No. 7 Joey Blaze remains unbeaten in Big Ten dual action this season with a mark of 4-0. RANKINGS PREVIEW Though Purdue and Maryland each have five ranked wrestlers, there figures to be just one ranked contest between the two evenly-matched teams.
At 157 pounds, No. 7 Joey Blaze could potentially square off with No. 6 Ethen Miller in a top-10 showdown. They faced each other once already this season, back at the Tiger Style Invitational in Kansas City on Nov. 9.
Miller got the better of Blaze that day in the championship, inching past with an 11-9 decision. After Miller took an 8-2 lead into the third period, Blaze stormed back with a pair of takedowns and earned a penalty point for a stall call on Miller, who was content to ride out the clock and hang on.
But the sophomore from Ohio is now riding a hot streak after recent victories over No. 17 Sammy Sasso at Ohio State and No. 31 Jason Kraisser at Illinois. Blaze hasn't lost since climbing the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite on Dec. 7.
He will look for redemption against the sixth-ranked Terp in a match that could very well decide Friday's dual. LAST TIME OUT The Boilermakers are coming off a tough 35-6 defeat at No. 7 Minnesota on Sunday, when three of the team's five ranked starters were out of the lineup on the back half of a double dual weekend.
Ramos, Blaze and Greyson Clark did not wrestle against the Gophers.
No. 27 Ben Vanadia grappled to a decisive 7-1 win over Minnesota's Gabe Nagel before Dustin Norris beat Brandon Morvari 14-7 for Purdue's only team points of the afternoon. PROJECTED LINEUPS Purdue
125 | #1 Matt Ramos
133 | Dustin Norris
141 | #27 Greyson Clark
149 | Isaac Ruble
157 | #7 Joey Blaze
165 | Stoney Buell
174 | #25 Brody Baumann
184 | Orlando Cruz
197 | #27 Ben Vanadia
285 | Hayden Filipovich
Maryland
125 | Tyler Garvin / Presden Sanchez
133 | #6 Braxton Brown
141 | Dario Lemus
149 | #32 Kal Miller / Michael Pizzuto
157 | #6 Ethen Miller / Kevin Schork
165 | Alex Uryniak
174 | Branson John
184 | #11 Jaxon Smith
197 | Jack Darrah / Chase Mielnik
285 | #12 Seth Nevills / Oscar Williams