DUAL INFORMATION
No. 21 Purdue (8-5, 1-3 B1G) at No. 4 Ohio State (9-3, 5-1 B1G)
Friday, Jan. 30 // 7 p.m. ET // St. John Arena // Columbus, Ohio
DUAL LINKS
Purdue Dual Notes // Rankings, Results, #BoilerNotes and much more
Ohio State Notes
Live Results // TrackWrestling
Twitter // @PurdueWrestling
Watch // BTN2Go
DUAL INFORMATION
No. 21 Purdue (8-5, 1-3 B1G) vs. No. 14 Illinois (9-4, 3-3 B1G)*
Sunday, Feb. 1 // 2 p.m. ET // Holloway Gymnasium // West Lafayette, Ind.
*Illinois wrestles Maryland at home Friday
DUAL LINKS
Purdue Dual Notes // Rankings, Results, #BoilerNotes and much more
Illinois Notes
Live Results // TrackWrestling
Twitter // @PurdueWrestling
Watch // LIVE on BTN // Find BTN on your system
PROMOS
Join us for gameday snacks and prizes before the big game. Be sure and stay in your seats for intermission for a performance by the Purdue Featured Solo Twirlers - The Golden Girl, The Girl in Black and the Silver Twins.
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. | 9-11 | Brecksville, Ohio | |
| Luke Welch | R-Fr. | 9-9 | Newburgh, Ind. | ||
| 133 | 14 | Danny Sabatello | R-Jr. | 20-4 | Long Grove, Ill. |
| 141 | Nick Lawrence | R-Sr. | 17-10 | Westlake, Ohio | |
| 149 | Brandon Nelsen | R-Sr. | 16-9 | Indianapolis, Ind. | |
| Alex Griffin | R-So. | 13-5 | Lafayette, Ind. | ||
| 157 | 12 | Doug Welch | R-Jr. | 22-6 | Newburgh, Ind. |
| 165 | Pat Robinson | R-Sr. | 10-11 | Noblesville, Ind. | |
| 174 | Chad Welch | R-Jr. | 17-10 | Newburgh, Ind. | |
| 184 | Patrick Kissel | R-Sr. | 14-8 | Sheboygan, Wis. | |
| Tanner Lynde | R-So. | 6-7 | Delphi, Ind. | ||
| 197 | 11 | Braden Atwood | R-Sr. | 10-4 | Delphi, Ind. |
| 285 | Gelen Robinson | Fr. | 0-0 | Schererville, Ind. | |
| Tyler Kral | R-So. | 8-17 | Crown Point, Ind. | ||
Head Coach // Tony Ersland (Iowa, 1997)
Assistant Coaches // Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin, 2009) and Tyrel Todd (Michigan, 2009)
| OHIO STATE BUCKEYES // PROBABLE LINEUP | |||||
| Weight | Rank | Name | Year | Record | Hometown |
| 125 | 7 | Nathan Tomasello | R-Fr. | 19-4 | Parma, Ohio |
| 133 | 7 | Johnni DiJulius | R-Jr. | 20-2 | Aurora, Ohio |
| 141 | 1 | Logan Stieber | R Sr. | 17-0 | Monroeville, Ohio |
| 149 | Randy Languis | R-Sr. | 8-8 | Dublin, Ohio | |
| 6 | Hunter Stieber | R-Jr. | 1-2 | Monroeville, Ohio | |
| 157 | Kyle Visconti | R-Jr. | 0-2 | North Reading, Mass. | |
| 9 | Josh Demas | R-Sr. | 11-2 | Columbus, Ohio | |
| 165 | 5 | Bo Jordan | R-Fr. | 11-0 | St. Paris, Ohio |
| 174 | Dominic Prezzia | R-Fr. | 10-8 | St. Clairsville, Ohio | |
| 13 | Mark Martin | Jr. | 12-7 | Strongsville, Ohio | |
| 184 | 12 | Kenny Courts | R-Jr. | 16-4 | Harrisburg, Pa. |
| 197 | 4 | Kyle Snyder | Fr. | 19-2 | Woodbine, Md. |
| 285 | Ray Gordon | Sr. | 0-4 | Fairfield, Ohio | |
Head Coach // Tom Ryan (Iowa, 1993)
Associate Head Coach // Lou Rosselli (Edinboro, 1993)
Assistant Coach // J Jaggers (Ohio State, 2009)
Volunteer Assistant Coach // Ross Thatcher (Penn State, 2000)
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
- After losing back-to-back duals as the calendar flipped from 2014 to 2015, Ohio State has won its last five. The Buckeyes are 3-2 when wrestling inside St. John Arena.
- Two of Ohio State's three losses have been on criteria, falling at then-No. 10 Virginia Tech, 19-18, on Nov. 23, and at home to then-No. 5 Missouri, 20-19, on Dec. 14, 2014. The third loss was by four points, 18-14, to top-ranked Iowa on its home mat on Jan. 4.
- Defending national champion Logan Stieber maintains his stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking at 141 pounds this week. The redshirt senior from Monroeville, Ohio, is 17-0 on the year with all of his wins coming via bonus points, including nine pins. His last five victories have been via fall. With a career record of 107-3, Stieber's winning percentage of .972 is the best in school history.
- A major part of the Buckeyes' success in 2014-15 has been the contributions of true freshman Kyle Snyder (197) and redshirt freshman Bo Jordan (165). Snyder is 19-2, ranked fourth and leads the team with 11 major decisions. Jordan, who missed most of November and December with an injury, is one of two unbeaten Buckeyes this year (11-0) and is ranked fifth.
- Two-time All-American Hunter Stieber (149) won his first match of the season while upsetting then-No. 17 Zack Beitz of Penn State, 7-2, in the Jan. 11 dual. Steiber, who is ranked sixth nationally with a 1-2 record, has not made a dual appearance since Penn State, a span of four duals.
- Redshirt junior Kyle Visconti made his dual debut at 157 pounds for the Buckeyes at home against Indiana on Jan. 23. Visconti was inserted into the lineup for an injured John Demas. Visconti lost both of his matches, losing a 13-7 decision to Indiana's Luke Blanton, followed by a 5-1 decision from Lou Mascola of Maryland. Demas' last dual appearance was on Jan. 18 at Michigan and the then-No. 6 Buckeye was stunned by unranked Brian Murphy, 5-2.
- Ohio State has also had to have a fill-in at 285. Senior Ray Gordon replaced Nick Tavanello in the lineup at Michigan State on Jan. 16. Gordon has dropped three decisions and was pinned in 1:22 by Michigan's Adam Coon.
LAST MEETING // OHIO STATE // FEB. 3, 2014
- WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Camden Eppert, Cashé Quiroga and Brandon Nelsen provided the firepower as No. 24 Purdue jumped out early, but 12th-ranked Ohio State rallied to win the final four weights for a come-from-behind 16-15 win in Holloway Gymnasium. Each team won five bouts with two-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber's major decision at 141 proving to be the difference maker. The loss evens the Boilermakers' overall record at 6-6, 1-6 Big Ten, while the Buckeyes move to 8-4, 3-4 Big Ten.
No. 12 Ohio State 16, No. 24 Purdue 15
125 // Camden Eppert (Purdue) dec. No. 15 Nick Roberts (Ohio State), 5-3
133 // No. 15 Cashé Quiroga (Purdue) dec. No. 5 Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State), 7-5
141 // No. 3 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) maj. dec. Danny Sabatello (Purdue), 13-3
149 // Brandon Nelsen (Purdue) dec. No. 18 Ian Paddock (Ohio State), 5-3 (SV1)
157 // Alex Griffin (Purdue) dec. Randy Langusi (Ohio State), 3-1
165 // Pat Robinson (Purude) dec. Joe Grandominico (Ohio State), 8-3
174 // No. 14 Mark Martin (Ohio State) dec. Patrick Kissel (Purdue), 5-4
184 // No. 10 Kenny Courts (Ohio State) dec. Tanner Lynde (Purdue), 9-4
197 // No. 8 Nick Heflin (Ohio State) dec. No. 14 Braden Atwood (Purdue), 8-6 (SV1)
285 // Nick Tavanello (Ohio State) dec. Alex White (Purdue), 2-0
SERIES HISTORY // OHIO STATE
- Friday's dual will be the 82nd meeting between Purdue and the Buckeyes, which ranks fourth in all-time meetings in Boilermaker history ... series dates back to Jan. 22, 1921.
- Ohio State leads the series 50-25-6 ... Buckeyes are 25-13-4 in Columbus against Purdue, 21-12-2 when traveling to West Lafayette and have a 3-0 advantage on a neutral mat ... they have won the last six duals in the series dating back to Jan. 14, 2007.
- The Boilermakers last win in the series was a 19-15 dual in West Lafayette on Feb. 10, 2006 ... the last win on the Buckeyes' home mat came on Jan. 28, 2005, 21-12.
| ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI // PROBABLE LINEUP | |||||
| Weight | Rank | Name | Year | Record | Hometown |
| 125 | 1 | Jesse Delgado | R-Sr. | 2-0 | Gilroy, Calif. |
| Dominic Olivieri | R-Jr. | 9-10 | Orland Park, Ill. | ||
| 133 | 4 | Zane Richards | R-So. | 20-2 | Carbondale, Ill. |
| 141 | 12 | Steven Rodrigues | R-Jr. | 10-7 | Mount Kisco, N.Y. |
| Logan Arlis | R-Sr. | 8-6 | Batavia, Ill. | ||
| 149 | Kyle Langenderfer | R-Fr. | 14-9 | Mokena, Ill. | |
| 157 | 3 | Isaiah Martinez | R-Fr. | 22-0 | Lemoore, Calif. |
| 165 | 9 | Jackson Morse | R-Sr. | 21-3 | Alto, Mich. |
| 174 | 9 | Zac Brunson | R-So. | 19-4 | Eugene, Ore. |
| 184 | 20 | Nikko Reyes | R-So. | 18-8 | Fresno, Calif. |
| 197 | Jeff Koepke | R-Jr. | 14-10 | Prospect Heights, Ill. | |
| 285 | Brooks Black | R-Fr. | 12-9 | Dover, Pa. | |
| Christopher Lopez | R-Jr. | 11-5 | Chicago, Ill. | ||
Head Coach // Jim Heffernan (Iowa, 1987)
Associate Head Coach // Mark Perry (Iowa, 2008)
Assistant Coach // Jeremy Hunter (Penn State, 2000)
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI
- After over two months of being out of action due to injury, two-time defending national champion Jesse Delgado (2-0) will be back in the lineup. Delgado, who was injured at the Illini Quad on Nov. 9, is projected to be back on the mat Friday when Illinois hosts Maryland. Prior to suffering the injury, Delgado won his first two matches this season with a fall and tech fall.
- After suffering three consecutive losses against B1G competition, Illinois responded with a 31-9 win over Northwestern on Sunday. The Illini won seven weight classes against the Wildcats, with bonus points at 133 and 157 as well as receiving a forfeit at 285.
- Illinois' two other B1G dual wins came over Rutgers (24-9) and at Indiana (36-3) on Jan. 9 and 11, respectively. The three-straight losses were at Iowa (25-12), at Minnesota (20-19) and at Nebraska (22-9).
- Isaiah Martinez boasts a 6-0 mark in B1G duals, scoring bonus points in five of the matches. He has dominated his competition, registering three consecutive technical falls, outscoring opponents 67-21. Included in the streak was a 21-6 tech fall in 4:06 of then-No. 13 Mike Kelly from Iowa. The redshirt freshman leads all NCAA Division I wrestlers in tech falls this season with seven.
- Illinois wrestlers have posted 17 wins over ranked opponents this season, with four each from Steven Rodrigues (133) and Zac Brunson (174). Seven of those 17 wins have been an upset of a higher ranked foe.
LAST MEETING // ILLINOIS // FEB. 7, 2014
- WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Wrestling in their final home dual, Purdue seniors Cashé Quiroga and Alex White went out in grand fashion with victories at 133 and 285 pounds, respectively, but it was a pair of bonus point wins that lifted No. 18 Illinois past the 24th-ranked Boilermakers, 18-16, in Holloway Gymnasium. The difference makers for the Illini were a technical fall by third-ranked Jesse Delgado at 125 and a major decision by No. 13 Jackson Morse at 165. Purdue closes out its Big Ten dual schedule at 1-7 and moves to 6-7 overall with one dual remaining. The win pushes Illinois' record to 8-6, 2-5 Big Ten.
No. 18 Illinois 18, No. 24 Purdue 16
125 // No. 3 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) tech fall Luke Schroeder (Purdue), 19-4 (4:19)
133 // No. 13 Cashé Quiroga (Purdue) maj. dec. No. 11 Zane Richards (Illinois), 19-6
141 // Danny Sabatello (Purdue) dec. No. 8 Steven Rodrigues (Illinois), 10-6
149 // Brandon Nelsen (Purdue) dec. John Fahy (Illinois), 3-1
157 // No. 13 Zac Brunson (Illinois) dec. Alex Griffin (Purdue), 6-2
165 // No. 13 Jackson Morse (Illinois) maj. dec. Chad Welch (Purdue), 18-5
174 // Tony Dallago (Illinois) dec. Patrick Kissel (Purdue), 13-7
184 // Nikko Reyes (Illinois) dec. Tanner Lynde (Purdue), 9-5
197 // No. 14 Braden Atwood (Purdue) dec. Jeff Koepke (Illinois), 3-1
285 // Alex White (Purdue) dec. Chris Lopez (Illinois), 3-1 (SV1)
SERIES HISTORY // ILLINOIS
- Sunday's dual will be the 87th all-time meeting between the Boilermakers and Illini ... the series ranks third for all-time meetings, behind Indiana (100) and Northwestern (88) ... series dates back to March 11, 1916 ... the two teams have met at least once every season since 1962.
- Illinois leads the series 55-29-2 ... the Illini are 24-15-1 when wrestling in West Lafayette, 30-13-1 in Champaign and they are spilt at 1-1 on a neutral mat ... they have won the last four meetings in the series dating back to Dec. 19, 2010.
- Purdue last defeated Illinois, 25-11, on Feb. 18, 2010 ... No. 23 Boilermakers took seven bouts in the upset of the 21st-ranked Illini ... that win snapped an 11-dual winning streak for Illinois ... it has been 22 years since Purdue has beat Illinois in West Lafayette, dating back to a 26-10 win on Feb. 17, 1993.
- Last year's two-point dual victory was the smallest margin of victory in the series since Jan. 25, 1987, when the Boilermakers won by three, 21-18.
Individual rankings // InterMat (1/27)
A CLOSER LOOK AT PURDUE'S PROBABLE LINEUP
- Redshirt sophomore Alex Griffin has returned to the probable lineup as a second 149-pounder for the first time since Chattanooga/North Carolina in early December. Griffin made six dual appearances in the first half of the season, going 5-1.
- Gelen Robinson, who was added to the roster as a 285-pounder at the start of the spring semester, has been added to the probable lineup. The true freshman went 101-0 his last two seasons at Lake Central High School in St. John, Ind., while winning back-to-back state titles at 220 pounds. Robinson also plays linebacker on the Purdue football team.
- Danny Sabatello (133) and Doug Welch (157) each carry a 12-1 dual record. Sabatello leads the team in dual points scored with 47. D. Welch, who has tallied 36 dual points for the Boilermakers, has been victorious in his last eight dual matches and is off to a 4-0 start in the B1G.
- Sabatello is looking to battle his third and fourth top-10 opponents of the season this weekend in No. 7 Johnni DiJulius of Ohio State and fourth-ranked Zane Richards of Illinois. He owns a 1-1 mark against top-10 foes this season, all of which have hailed from the B1G.
- For a fourth and possibly fifth time this season, D. Welch could be going up against top-10 competition in Ohio State's No. 9 Josh Demas and No. 3 Isaiah Martinez of Illinois. D. Welch is 2-1 against top-10 foes. D. Welch and Martinez share a common victory in their wins over Nebraska's James Green.
- There have been six duals this season with all three Welch brothers in the lineup and in three of those duals, they were all victorious (North Carolina, Wisconsin, Northwestern).
- Through 13 duals, Purdue has scored 266 points with eight different lineups. Changes in the lineup have been made at 125, 149, 174, 184 and 197. Sabatello, Nick Lawrence, D. Welch, Pat Robinson (165) and Tyler Kral (285) have wrestled in all 13 duals.
- The Wisconsin dual (1/11) was the first and is the only dual so far in which the starting weight has been drawn. That dual started at 141. All other duals have gone straight up starting at 125.
- Purdue's wrestlers have combined for an overall dual record of 73-57. Through 13 duals, the Boilermakers have posted 52 decisions, 10 falls, six major decisions, three technical falls and have received two forfeits. Of the 57 losses, 41 are by decision, 11 are by major decision, two are by technical fall and they have been pinned three times.
- Through four B1G duals, the Old Gold & Black own a combined record of 15-25. Purdue has held the lead after five weights in three of the four duals. The Boilermakers only trailed to Nebraska, 9-6. Four conference duals into the 2013-14 season, Purdue's lineup was 6-34.
- Coach Ersland's squad is 4-0 at home, 2-3 on the road and 2-2 at neutral sites. They are 3-5 against ranked teams.
RANKINGS NOTES
- Purdue jumped back into the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll at No. 22 after its 22-17 upset of then-No. 19 Northwestern on Jan. 16. The Boilermakers had been receiving votes the three previous polls after making their season debut on the poll at No. 25 on Dec. 16. They are ranked for a second consecutive week and improved one spot to No. 21 this week.
- The No. 21 ranking is the highest for Purdue since a No. 21 ranking in the Jan. 20, 2014, edition.
- Braden Atwood has been ranked by InterMat for 52 consecutive weeks dating back to Oct. 28, 2012. The redshirt senior is listed at No. 11 on InterMat's 197-pound list.
- Doug Welch owns a top-10 ranking by two different rankings outlets, ASICS Flowrestling (8) and Gregg Henry's (9). When it comes to InterMat, he has spent three weeks on the 157-pound list, improving position each week. His current ranking of No. 12 is a career high.
- For the past two weeks, Danny Sabatello has occupied InterMat's No. 14 spot at 133 pounds. Being listed 14th is a career high for the redshirt junior who has spent six weeks among InterMat's rankings this season.
- The last time three Boilermakers were ranked by InterMat was Feb. 17 - March 3 in Cashé Quiroga (133), Sabatello (141) and Atwood.
- Thirteen weeks of rankings have been issued and 10 Boilermakers have appeared at least once in one of the five polls. There have been two weeks in which a trio of grapplers, Sabatello, D. Welch and Atwood, are ranked on all five (1/19, 1/26).
- Purdue wrestlers have gone up against 71 ranked opponents and won 15 times (15-56; .211). Ten of the 15 wins were by an unranked Purdue grappler and five have been in head-to-head matchups.
- D. Welch's 5-4 (TB1) upset of Nebraska's then-No. 2 James Green (1/9) stands as the highest ranked opponent that a Boilermaker has beaten this season. Prior to that upset, D. Welch was 0-8 in his career against ranked competition. He proved it wasn't a fluke by beating a second top-10 opponent in two weeks, No. 7 Dylan Alton of Penn State, 3-2 (SV1) on Jan. 18.
- In shocking Green, D. Welch, who was unranked, provided the program's biggest upset since 165-pounder Luke Manuel upended top-ranked and top-seeded Mack Lewnes of Cornell in the first round of consolation wrestling at the 2009 NCAA Championships, 3-1. Although Manuel was unseeded at NCAAs, he was ranked 15th when he beat Lewnes.
- Sabatello leads the team with five wins over ranked opponents (5-2) and all have been upsets. He's beaten Nos. 7, 12, 14, 15 and 19. The upset of No. 7 marks the highest-ranked opponent he has beaten in his career and is the second top-10 opponent he has defeated.
- In 24 matches this season wrestled by Boilermakers that are ranked by InterMat, they are 18-6 (.750). Of those six losses, four have been at the hands of an unranked opponent, one was an upset to a lower-ranked opponent and the other was to a higher-ranked opponent.
- Polls monitored, a complete list of recognized Boilermakers and their movement the past two weeks can be found in the dual notes.