TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
52nd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
Monday, Dec. 29 - Tuesday, Dec. 30 // Welsh-Ryan Arena // Evanston, Ill.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Monday, Dec. 29
Session 1 // 10:30 a.m. ET
Session 2 // 8 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Session 3 // 1 p.m. ET
Finals // 9 p.m. ET
TOURNAMENT LINKS
Seeds
Brackets
Live Results // TrackWrestling
Twitter // @PurdueWrestling
Hashtag // #Midlands52
WATCH
Trackcast
Sessions 1-3 // BTN2Go
Finals // BTN // Find the BTN on your system
SOCIAL MEDIA
Always be in the know, go behind the scenes and travel with the Boilermakers all season long.
- Facebook // Purdue Wrestling
- Instagram // @PurdueWrestling
- Tumblr // purduewrestling.tumblr.com
- Twitter // @PurdueWrestling
- Hashtags // #BoilerUp #AlwaysAggressive
- Tony Ersland // Instagram @tonyersland // Twitter @tonyersland
- Zach Tanelli // Instagram @ztanelli // Twitter @ZachTanelli
- Tyrel Todd // Instagram @tyrel_todd // Twitter @Tyrel_Todd
| PURDUE BOILERMAKERS // PROBABLE LINEUP | |||||
| Weight | Rank | Name | Year | Record | Hometown |
| 125 | Aaron Assad | R-Fr. | 7-8 | Brecksville, Ohio | |
| Luke Welch | R-Fr. | 5-6 | Newburgh, Ind. | ||
| 133 | 17 | Danny Sabatello | R-Jr. | 15-1 | Long Grove, Ill. |
| Kyle Ayersman | R-So. | 9-3 | Newburgh, Ind. | ||
| 141 | Nick Lawrence | R-Sr. | 13-6 | Westlake, Ohio | |
| 149 | Alex Griffin | R-So. | 13-5 | Lafayette, Ind. | |
| Brandon Nelsen | R-Sr. | 11-3 | Indianapolis, Ind. | ||
| 157 | Doug Welch | R-Jr. | 13-4 | Newburgh, Ind. | |
| Dustin Schultz | R-Sr. | 8-6 | Demotte, Ind. | ||
| 165 | Pat Robinson | R-Sr. | 9-5 | Noblesville, Ind. | |
| Andy Hoselton | R-Jr. | 7-5 | Chenoa, Ill. | ||
| 174 | Chad Welch | R-Jr. | 13-6 | Newburgh, Ind. | |
| 184 | Tanner Lynde | R-So. | 5-5 | Delphi, Ind. | |
| 197 | Drake Stein | R-Jr. | 4-6 | Francisco, Ind. | |
| 285 | Tyler Kral | R-So. | 7-11 | Crown Point, Ind. | |
Head Coach // Tony Ersland (Iowa, 1997)
Assistant Coaches // Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin, 2009) and Tyrel Todd (Michigan, 2009)
Individual rankings // InterMat (12/23)
A CLOSER LOOK AT PURDUE AND THE 52nd KEN KRAFT MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- The 15 Boilermakers slated to compete at Midlands sport a 92-52 combined record in tournament action this season and have placed 18 times.
- Danny Sabatello (15-1) enters the event riding a 14-match winning streak and Chad Welch (13-6) has won a career-best six straight matches.
- Nearly 60 teams spanning all three NCAA divisions and the NAIA will be represented at Midlands, including wrestling clubs and unattached grapplers. Official brackets for the 52nd edition of the tournament will be released Monday morning.
- At last year's event, the Boilermakers had one placewinner and finished with 45.5 points to take 13th as a team.
- Purdue has had 33 placewinners in the Midland's 51-year history, sending four into medal matches on three occasions: 2008, 2006 and 1990. In 1990, the Boilermakers recorded their highest team finish, placing fourth with 49.25 points. The highest point total they have amassed is 82.5 when they finished seventh in 2008. Dave Gibson is the only Purdue wrestler to have won a title, doing so at 157 pounds in 1963, the first edition of the tournament.
- Braden Atwood was the last Purdue grappler to earn a spot on the podium, taking runner-up honors at 197 pounds last season. In doing so he became the fourth two-time Midlands placewinner for the Old Gold & Black. As a redshirt freshman he placed fourth at 184 pounds. Nathan Moore (197) took eighth in 2006 and sixth in 2005; Ryan Lange (174) placed fifth in 2001 and seventh in 2000; and Tim McClellan (142) finished sixth in 1991 and fourth in 1990.
- Only two Boilermakers have landed on the podium three times. Luke Manuel was third at 174 in 2009 and twice placed eighth at 165 (2008, 2007). At 149, Jake Patascil took third in 2008 and was a runner-up in 2007 and 2006.
RANKINGS NOTES
- After upsetting then-No. 20 Chattanooga and a victory over North Carolina, Purdue pushed into the top 25 of the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll released on Dec. 19 at No. 25. The Boilermakers, who are off to a 7-2 start with a pair of wins over ranked teams, had been receiving votes in the last three editions of the weekly poll. However, the following week they dropped out of the ranks and are once again receiving votes.
- Danny Sabatello is spending his third week among InterMat's top 20 133 pounders. For the past two editions he has been listed at No. 17, earning the highest ranking of his career.
- Ten Boilermakers have appeared at least once in one of the eight polls this season.
- Purdue wrestlers have eight wins over ranked opponents. Chad Welch has won three of the four matches he has had against a ranked opponent and Sabatello is 3-0 against ranked competition.