Greco-Roman Brackets / Freestyle Brackets / Live Video
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Eighteen Purdue wrestlers will wrestle under the Boilermaker RTC at the University Nationals hosted by the University of Akron. Greco-Roman competition will be contested Friday before freestyle takes over Saturday and Sunday. University Nationals serves as the qualifier for the University World Team, which will compete at the World University Championships Oct. 25 to 30 in Corum, Turkey.
One Boilermaker will take to the mat in Greco-Roman on Friday starting at 9 a.m. ET as James Ford will contend at 130 kg. Ford has had national success in Greco-Roman, capturing the ASICS/Vaughn Junior Greco-Roman 220-pound national championship last summer. He won two matches each by fall, technical fall and decision. Ford was also a two-time ASICS/Vaughn Cadet Greco-Roman 220-pound All-American, placing seventh in 2013 and fifth in 2014.
Ford will then turn hisattention to freestyle, wrestling at 125 kg on Saturday along with Purdue's 17 other competitors. Action is set for a 9 a.m. start.
Luke Welch looks to earn his second podium finish at the tournament in as many years, but this time at a different weight. In 2015, Welch posted a 5-2 mark on his way to a seventh-place finish at 57 kg. Welch will bump up to 61 kg for this year's tournament.
Six other grapplers are making their second trip to the event in as many years: Kyle Ayersman (65 kg), Alex Griffin (74 kg), Kirk Johnson (80 kg), Tyler Kral (125 kg), Tanner Lynde (86 kg) and Ben Thornton (57 kg).
Other wrestlers scheduled to compete include Peter Andreotti (80 kg), Jacob Aven (125 kg), Jeremy Golding (70 kg), Mario Leveille (74 kg), Dylan Lydy (74 kg), Gain Murray (74 kg), Austin Nash (65 kg), Cody Pae (65 kg), Kyle Todrank (65 kg) and Cole Wysocki (74 kg).
University Nationals participants are students who are currently officially registered as proceeding towards a degree or diploma at a university or similar institute whose status is recognized by the appropriate national academic authority of their country as well as former students of the institutions mentioned above who have obtained their academic degree or diploma in the year preceding the event.
All competitors must be U.S. citizens. They must be at least 17 and less than 28 years of age on Jan. 1, 2016. Athletes must have graduated from high school in 2015 or before.