By: Brook Weber
PHILADELPHIA — Sophomore Joey Blaze and redshirt-senior Matt Ramos will continue their quests into Day 3 at the NCAA Championships after a dominant Session IV Friday night in Wells Fargo Center.
Wrestling in the national semifinal, Blaze grinded out a 4-2 decision to beat No. 20 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) and advance to Saturday night's national championship match.
"I just kind of accepted, the last couple weeks, just being grateful for everything that I get," Blaze said after the win. "Coach (Tony) Ersland talks about it a lot, the fun part is competing... Last year, I put a lot of pressure because I had a lot of expectations on myself. But lately I've just been free as a bird and just having fun. I'm grateful to be here and embrace every moment."
The 157-pounder from Perrysburg, Ohio, faced Chumbley for the first time this season after they split a pair of matches when Blaze was a freshman.
Blaze went on the attack early and scored the match's first points, winning a scramble late in the first period for what ended up being the only takedown.
Chumbley escaped early in the second frame, but Blaze fended off his desperate shots and ultimately won 4-2 after a third-period escape.
The underclassman is set for the NCAA Final with a familiar foe in Nebraska's No. 3 Antrell Taylor. It will be the fourth time the duo has thrown down this season.
All three previous matches came down to the end as close decisions. Taylor won the first two before Blaze got his revenge and beat his conference rival in the third-place match at the 2025 Big Ten Championships.
Blaze will have the chance to win Purdue's fifth national championship and would be the first Boilermaker to win it all since Charles Jones in 1992.
He is one of just two wrestlers seeded outside the top-four who made it to the national finals. After everything he has shown at Big Tens and in Philadelphia, sleeping on Blaze would be unwise.
After falling in heartbreaking fashion earlier in the day to end his final run at a national title, Ramos kept his collegiate career alive with two big wins on Friday night and will fight into day three.
The Lockport, Illinois, star responded with an 8-2 decision over Northern Iowa's No. 22 Trever Anderson in the Blood Round to clinch All-American status for the second time.
Ramos is Purdue's first two-time All-American since Ben Wissel in 2005-06, joining an elite list of Boilermakers to achieve the honor twice.
He followed that up with a hard-fought 5-4 decision over Nebraska's No. 9 Caleb Smith in the third-place quarterfinal, his 13th career victory in the national tournament.
Ramos is two wins away from an NCAA bronze medal and will first face Lehigh's No. 8 Sheldon Seymour on Saturday morning.
Session V is set to get underway at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, live on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Blaze's championship match will be nationally televised on ESPN midway through Session VI, which starts at 7 p.m. ET.
Round 1: vs. #31 Richard Castro-Sandoval (CSUB) – W, MD 11-3
Round 2: vs. #18 Jacob Moran (IU) – W, MD 8-0
Quarterfinal: vs. #7 Troy Spratley (OKST) – L, D 5-2
Blood Round: vs. #22 Trever Anderson (UNI) – W, D 8-2
3rd Place Quarterfinal: vs. #9 Caleb Smith (NEB) – W, D 5-4
3rd Place Semifinal: vs. #8 Sheldon Seymour (LEH)
141 | #27 Greyson Clark (So.) – 1-2
Round 1: vs. #6 Vance VomBaur (MINN) – L, D 2-0
Cons. Round 1: vs. #22 Jordan Soriano (DREXEL) – W, MD 13-3
Cons. Round 2: vs. #21 Dylan Chappell (BUCKNELL) – L, D 8-5
157 | #8 Joey Blaze (So.) – 4-0
Round 1: vs. #25 Sonny Santiago (UNC) – W, D 7-0
Round 2: vs. #9 Tommy Askey (MINN) – W, D 3-2 (OT)
Quarterfinal: vs. #1 Tyler Kasak (PSU) – W, D 5-4
Semifinal: vs. #20 Trevor Chumbley (NU) – W, D 4-2
Final: vs. #3 Antrell Taylor (NEB)
174 | #26 Brody Baumann (R-So.) – 1-2
Round 1: vs. #7 Danny Wask (NAVY) – L, TF 15-0 (6:41)
Cons. Round 1: vs. #10 Alex Cramer (CMU) – W, D 3-2
Cons. Round 2: vs. #25 Dalton Harkins (ARMY) – L, D 6-5
285 | #33 Hayden Filipovich (R-Jr.) – 1-2
Pigtail: vs. #32 Stephan Monchery (APP ST) – W, MD 9-0
Round 1: vs. #1 Gable Steveson (MINN) – L, Fall (1:25)
Cons. Round 1: vs. #17 Jake Andrews (CSUB) – L, D 4-2
PHILADELPHIA — Sophomore Joey Blaze and redshirt-senior Matt Ramos will continue their quests into Day 3 at the NCAA Championships after a dominant Session IV Friday night in Wells Fargo Center.
Wrestling in the national semifinal, Blaze grinded out a 4-2 decision to beat No. 20 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) and advance to Saturday night's national championship match.
"I just kind of accepted, the last couple weeks, just being grateful for everything that I get," Blaze said after the win. "Coach (Tony) Ersland talks about it a lot, the fun part is competing... Last year, I put a lot of pressure because I had a lot of expectations on myself. But lately I've just been free as a bird and just having fun. I'm grateful to be here and embrace every moment."
Joey Blaze of @PurdueWrestling has wrestled free as a bird to advance himself to the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships finals #ncaawrestling
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) March 22, 2025
Presented by @CKAwrestling pic.twitter.com/D1dRxQuuiN
The 157-pounder from Perrysburg, Ohio, faced Chumbley for the first time this season after they split a pair of matches when Blaze was a freshman.
Blaze went on the attack early and scored the match's first points, winning a scramble late in the first period for what ended up being the only takedown.
Chumbley escaped early in the second frame, but Blaze fended off his desperate shots and ultimately won 4-2 after a third-period escape.
BIG-TIME BOILERMAKER 🔥
— NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) March 22, 2025
(8) Joey Blaze of @PurdueWrestling defeats (20) Trevor Chumbley with a 4-2 decision, advancing to the finals at 157. #NCAAWrestling pic.twitter.com/Sg2r3s19Kc
The underclassman is set for the NCAA Final with a familiar foe in Nebraska's No. 3 Antrell Taylor. It will be the fourth time the duo has thrown down this season.
All three previous matches came down to the end as close decisions. Taylor won the first two before Blaze got his revenge and beat his conference rival in the third-place match at the 2025 Big Ten Championships.
Blaze will have the chance to win Purdue's fifth national championship and would be the first Boilermaker to win it all since Charles Jones in 1992.
He is one of just two wrestlers seeded outside the top-four who made it to the national finals. After everything he has shown at Big Tens and in Philadelphia, sleeping on Blaze would be unwise.
After falling in heartbreaking fashion earlier in the day to end his final run at a national title, Ramos kept his collegiate career alive with two big wins on Friday night and will fight into day three.
The Lockport, Illinois, star responded with an 8-2 decision over Northern Iowa's No. 22 Trever Anderson in the Blood Round to clinch All-American status for the second time.
Ramos is Purdue's first two-time All-American since Ben Wissel in 2005-06, joining an elite list of Boilermakers to achieve the honor twice.
| Waldemar VanCott | 1947, '48, '49 |
| Arnold Plaza | 1948, '49, '50 |
| Bob Marshall | 1960, '61 |
| Dave Lilovich | 1985, '86 |
| Dave Walter | 1990, '91 |
| Charles Jones | 1991, '92 |
| Frank Laccone | 1995, '96 |
| Jake Vercelli | 2001, '02 |
| Chris Fleeger | 2002, '03, '06 |
| Ryan Lange | 2003, '04 |
| Ben Wissel | 2005, '06 |
| MATT RAMOS | 2023, '25 |
He followed that up with a hard-fought 5-4 decision over Nebraska's No. 9 Caleb Smith in the third-place quarterfinal, his 13th career victory in the national tournament.
Ramos is two wins away from an NCAA bronze medal and will first face Lehigh's No. 8 Sheldon Seymour on Saturday morning.
Session V is set to get underway at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, live on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Blaze's championship match will be nationally televised on ESPN midway through Session VI, which starts at 7 p.m. ET.
RESULTS / UP NEXT
125 | #2 Matt Ramos (R-Sr.) – 4-1Round 1: vs. #31 Richard Castro-Sandoval (CSUB) – W, MD 11-3
Round 2: vs. #18 Jacob Moran (IU) – W, MD 8-0
Quarterfinal: vs. #7 Troy Spratley (OKST) – L, D 5-2
Blood Round: vs. #22 Trever Anderson (UNI) – W, D 8-2
3rd Place Quarterfinal: vs. #9 Caleb Smith (NEB) – W, D 5-4
3rd Place Semifinal: vs. #8 Sheldon Seymour (LEH)
141 | #27 Greyson Clark (So.) – 1-2
Round 1: vs. #6 Vance VomBaur (MINN) – L, D 2-0
Cons. Round 1: vs. #22 Jordan Soriano (DREXEL) – W, MD 13-3
Cons. Round 2: vs. #21 Dylan Chappell (BUCKNELL) – L, D 8-5
157 | #8 Joey Blaze (So.) – 4-0
Round 1: vs. #25 Sonny Santiago (UNC) – W, D 7-0
Round 2: vs. #9 Tommy Askey (MINN) – W, D 3-2 (OT)
Quarterfinal: vs. #1 Tyler Kasak (PSU) – W, D 5-4
Semifinal: vs. #20 Trevor Chumbley (NU) – W, D 4-2
Final: vs. #3 Antrell Taylor (NEB)
174 | #26 Brody Baumann (R-So.) – 1-2
Round 1: vs. #7 Danny Wask (NAVY) – L, TF 15-0 (6:41)
Cons. Round 1: vs. #10 Alex Cramer (CMU) – W, D 3-2
Cons. Round 2: vs. #25 Dalton Harkins (ARMY) – L, D 6-5
285 | #33 Hayden Filipovich (R-Jr.) – 1-2
Pigtail: vs. #32 Stephan Monchery (APP ST) – W, MD 9-0
Round 1: vs. #1 Gable Steveson (MINN) – L, Fall (1:25)
Cons. Round 1: vs. #17 Jake Andrews (CSUB) – L, D 4-2