Tony Ersland

TONY ERSLAND AT PURDUE • Tony Ersland enters his 12th season as head coach of the Purdue Wrestling team in 2025-26. • In 2024-25, Purdue Wrestling had a major breakthrough in Coach Ersland’s 11th season with its best team finish at the NCAA Championships (13th) since 1992. Its team score of 34.5 was the highest since 2003 (38). Purdue added two more All-Americans in Joey Blaze and Matt Ramos, the third and fourth of Ersland’s tenure and the 62nd and 63rd all-time at Purdue. Sophomore Blaze finished as the NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds in Philadelphia, the program’s youngest national finalist since at least 1950. Redshirt-senior Ramos finished fourth (125 lbs.) to become Purdue’s first two-time All-American since Ben Wissel (2005-06) and the 12th multiple-time All-American in school history. He also tied Arnold Plaza’s program record with 14 career NCAA tournament wins. • 2025 was the first time two Boilermakers finished in the top four nationally since Chris Fleeger (3) and Jake Vercelli (4) in 2002. Brody Baumann (174 lbs.), Greyson Clark (141 lbs.) and Hayden Filipovich (285 lbs.) also earned spots in the NCAA tournament and contributed to the best team placement in 33 years. Purdue finished 10-6 (3-5 B1G) in duals, winning 10 for the first time since the 2021-22 season. Every starting wrestler except for Matt Ramos is expected to return in 2025-26. • The 2024-25 season also featured a program record 15 Academic All-Big Ten Boilermakers, over half the team represented on the honor list. Four Purdue wrestlers earned NWCA Scholar All-American recognition. • The 2023-24 season was a focus on the youth movement for the Boilermakers. Ersland and his staff qualified five for the NCAA Championships, two of which were true freshmen Joey Blaze and Greyson Clark. It was only the third time in program history the team sent two first year wrestlers to the big dance (2021 and 1947). Purdue had the second youngest average starting lineup in the Big Ten. One of two upperclassmen to make multiple dual appearances for the Boilermakers, Matt Ramos went 8-0 in Big Ten duals without missing a single match. He was the first Boiler to do that in 21 years.  • 2022-23 was another banner year for the Ersland era of Purdue Wrestling. After coming close on numerous occasions, the Boilermakers finally broke through the All-American barrier and put two on the podium at the NCAA Championships in Tulsa. Matt Ramos and Parker Filius became the 60th and 61st All-Americans in program history after wrestling to second and seventh place finishes on the national stage. Their efforts helped the Boilermakers to a t-20 finish, which was tied for the best team finish since 2003. Matt Ramos was Purdue's ninth NCAA runner-up and the first Boiler to make a final since 2006.  • Has sent 66 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships … has averaged six national qualifiers per season, the highest mark by a coach in Purdue history … has sent an average of 6.5 wrestlers to NCAAs in the past eight seasons, which ranks in the upper half of the Big Ten (7th/14), perennially considered the greatest conference in college wrestling … has matched a program high with eight qualifiers four times in the last 10 years … Purdue previously qualified eight in 1993 and 2003 … the eight qualifiers in 2015 were the most since 2010 ... has taken at least seven wrestlers in six of his 11 seasons.    • 62 Boilermakers have placed at the Big Ten Championships under Ersland, with eight earning podium finishes in 2020 and 2021 … the eight placewinners matched the program record and were the most since 2004 … Purdue placed fifth at the Big Ten Championships in 2020 (83.0 points), marking the Boilermakers’ best conference finish since 1992, and their most points since points 89 in 2004 … the Boilermakers finished sixth in 2021 (76.0 points), marking the first time Purdue finished in the top-six in back-to-back seasons since placing fifth in 1991 and 1992. • In 11 years, Ersland has secured 21 top-100 recruits and six top-25 recruiting classes … the class of 2016 was ranked No. 6 by FloWrestling, No. 7 by InterMat and No. 8 by WIN Magazine ... the class of 2017 was ranked No. 13 by FloWrestling, No. 18 by InterMat and No. 22 by TheOpenMat.com … the InterMat ranking is the third highest for Purdue with records dating to 2004 … Ersland is credited with two of those top three recruiting classes: 2016 and 2017 ... the class of 2018 was ranked 18th by FloWrestling and 25th by TheOpenMat.com … the class of 2020 was ranked No. 13 by FloWrestling, No. 20 by InterMat and No. 22 by MatScouts … the class of 2021 was ranked 17th by WIN Magazine, No. 20 by InterMat and No. 22 by MatScouts... the 2023 class was one of the best of the lot, earning a No. 13 ranking from Intermat, FloWrestling and MatScouts.    • Ersland’s squad had ranked in 38 straight NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll’s, dating from Nov. 12, 2019 to October 28, 2022, and had received votes in 73 consecutive polls, every week since the final poll of the 2016-17 season until the 2022 season … the Boilermakers climbed as high as No. 12 in the nation during the streak, the program's highest ranking in 23 years (1/27/1999) … Purdue finished the 2019-20 season ranked 15th in the country, the best final ranking for an Ersland-coached team and the top end-of-season mark for the Boilermakers since 2012-13 (No. 14) ... The Boilermakers were tabbed 18th in the 2018-19 preseason poll, the highest preseason ranking since 1991-92 ... the team has been ranked in the NWCA Coaches' Poll in nine of 11 years under Ersland … Purdue finished No. 13 in the InterMat tournament rankings in 2024-25.   • For three straight years (2019-22), Purdue had as many as eight nationally ranked wrestlers at one time ... it was the first time on record in program history the feat had been accomplished when the team did it during the 2019-20 season ... all three of those seasons, nine wrestlers earned a national ranking at some point during the season ... the Boilermakers have had at least seven wrestlers appear in the rankings in 10 of 11 years during the Ersland era.   • 120 Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors have been earned by 49 Boilermaker wrestlers … has broken program highs in number of honorees three times, first with 10 in 2015-16, then 13 in 2018-19 and 2019-20, then 15 in 2024-25.   • The 2018-19 squad was ranked 18th on the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s Top-30 Scholar All-American Teams list … it was the first time since 2013 Purdue made the list and was the second highest ranked team among six Big Ten Conference programs among the top 30 … the team repeated its top-30 showing in 2019-20, ranking 28th, and was again 1-of-2 Big Ten teams.   • Six Boilermakers were named NWCA Division I Scholar All-American Award winners after the 2023-24 season, setting a new standard for Purdue wrestling … Max Lyon became the second wrestler in Purdue history to be a four-time Scholar All-American and the first under Ersland … during Ersland’s tenure, 15 Boilermakers have been named NWCA Division I Scholar All-American Award winners a combined 30 times … Ramos became the program’s third four-time NWCA Scholar All-American in 2025.   • Four of Ersland’s wrestlers have received the Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship, a $7,500 scholarship to be used towards graduate degree education: Andrew Hoselton (2016), Ben Thornton (2019), Dylan Lydy (2020), and Thomas Penola (2023).    • Coached Matt Ramos to the 2023 U.S. Open Senior Freestyle Championship at 57 kg ... coached Kendric Maple to the 2017 U.S. Open Men's Freestyle National Championships title at 61 kg ... coached Griffin Parriott to the 2017 UWW Junior Freestyle National Championships title at 70 kg.   • Put two Boilermakers on the top of the podium at the 2019 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, marking the first time in program history as Dylan Lydy won the 174-pound championship and Christian Brunner earned the 197-pound crown … coached 2015 Midlands 165-pound title winner Chad Welch to give Purdue its first Midlands champ since 1963 … coached the first two-time Big Ten Wrestler of the Week in Purdue history in Danny Sabatello (2014-15) … Ramos joined Sabatello as the only two-time B1G WOTW in school history with two selections in 2024.   • At the 2017 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships a program-record seven wrestlers placed, crushing the previous high of four from 2008, 2006 and 1990 ... as a team, the Boilermakers totaled 84 points to place seventh ... the 84 points are the most they have ever scored at Midlands, topping 2008’s performance of 82.5 points ... they combined to score 367 total match points, which was the fifth most among all teams.   • Matched the program’s best team finish at the 2019 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, placing fifth with 92.5 points, the most ever for the Boilermakers since they began attending the tournament in 2002 … had three individuals advance to the finals as Dylan Lydy won the 174-pound championship, while Devin Schroder and Christian Brunner were runner-up at 125 and 197, respectively … had five individuals place, matching the program’s best mark set in 2004 … saw Matt Ramos and Joey Blaze climb the podium in 2024, with Ramos taking the 125-pound title … Ramos became the fifth CKLV champion in school history and first since Lydy in 2019.   • In 2015, Tony Ersland was one of nine head coaches that were in their first season as a Division I head coach and one of 13 coaches that were in their first year at the helm of their respective program ... his eight NCAA qualifiers were the most among both groups ... he was also the only coach among both groups to have his team in the final USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll.   OVERALL BIG TEN CONFERENCE SEASON FINAL RANK WINS LOSSES PCT. WINS LOSSES PCT. 2014-15 23 10 8 .556 3 6 .333 2015-16 NR 9 8 .529 3 6 .333 2016-17 25 9 7 .563 3 6 .333 2017-18 21 9 7 .563 3 6 .333 2018-19 25 7 10 .412 3 6 .333 2019-20 15 12 5 .706 5 4 .556 2020-21 18 4 5 .444 4 5 .444 2021-22 16 10 5 .667 4 4 .500 2022-23 NR 4 11 .267 0 8 .000 2023-24 NR 6 10 .375 1 7 .125 2024-25 NR 10 6 .625 3 5 .375 Totals 90 82 .523 32 63 .337   During his 20+ years as a Division I wrestling coach, Tony Ersland has played an integral role in developing student-athletes that are accomplished on the mat and nationally recognized. He has had over 100 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships, with 30 earning All-America honors and four finishing at the top of the podium. Two of his pupils, Jordan Burroughs and Jake Herbert, earned the highest honor a collegiate grappler can receive in the Dan Hodge Award. Ersland continued to develop Burroughs on the international stage as he claimed the 2011 and 2013 World titles at 74 kg. In 2012, Burroughs claimed Olympic gold in London. Ersland came to Purdue after serving as an assistant coach at Nebraska for eight seasons. While on staff, the Huskers tallied a 102-41-2 dual record, recorded seven top-20 team finishes at the NCAA Championships and grapplers earned 17 All-America honors. Prior to his post at Nebraska, Ersland coached the Cyclone Wrestling Club in Ames, Iowa. Ersland worked with Iowa State NCAA champions Trent Paulson (157) and David Zabriskie (285) among other multiple NCAA qualifiers and All-Americans. His familiarity with the Big Ten extends beyond his time at Nebraska. From 2000-05, Ersland was the head assistant wrestling coach at Northwestern, and he also served as a coach and board member for the Wildcat Wrestling Club. He was the head assistant wrestling coach at Northern Illinois in 1999 and 2000 after getting his start as a graduate assistant at Central Michigan from 1997 to 1999. On the mat, Ersland wrestled for the University of Iowa under legendary coach Dan Gable and was a part of three-straight NCAA team championships (1995-97) and four Big Ten Championships (1994-97). During his senior season in 1997, Ersland finished one match shy of All-America honors at 177 pounds. The Humboldt, Iowa, native excelled in the classroom as a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and Board of Control Athletics Award winner, and was bestowed with Iowa wrestling's J. Donald McPike Award, given to the senior on the team with the highest grade-point average. Ersland earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Iowa (1997) and a Master of Arts in athletic administration from Central Michigan (1999). Ersland and his wife, Carolyn, have twin sons, Mason and Jaxon.