No. 13 Wrestlers Set for 4 Duals in FloridaNo. 13 Wrestlers Set for 4 Duals in Florida
Richard Immel

No. 13 Wrestlers Set for 4 Duals in Florida

The 13th-ranked Boilermakers will wrestle in the Sunshine State for the first time since 2009 at the South Beach Duals in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday and Sunday.

SOUTH BEACH DUALS
Dec. 29-30 / Fort Lauderdale Convention Center / Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Saturday, Dec. 29
Dual 1 / 11 a.m. ET / No. 13 Purdue (2-1, 0-1 B1G) vs. No. 22 Utah Valley (5-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Dual 2 / 1 p.m. ET / No. 13 Purdue vs. No. 7 NC State (6-0, 0-0 ACC)*
*NC State will wrestle No. 18 Wyoming at 11 a.m.

Sunday, Dec. 30
Dual 3 / 11 a.m. ET / No. 13 Purdue vs. No. 6 Missouri (6-0, 3-0 MAC)*
* Missouri wrestles No. 21 Lehigh and Kent State on Saturday

Dual 4 / 1 p.m. ET / No. 13 Purdue vs. West Virginia (1-4, 1-1 Big 12)*
*West Virginia wrestles Virginia, Michigan State and No. 20 North Dakota State prior to Purdue

Purdue Notes / Live Video / Tournament Information

56TH KEN KRAFT MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dec. 29-30 / Sears Centre / Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Saturday, Dec. 29 / Session 1: 10:30 a.m. ET / Session 2: 8 p.m. ET
Sunday, Dec. 30 / Session 3: 1 p.m. ET / Session 4: 8 p.m. ET

Brackets, Results / Live Video Day 1 / Live Video Day 2

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - With a chaotic December schedule of finals and the holidays in the rear view mirror, Purdue's wrestlers are eager to return to competition. The 13th-ranked Boilermakers will wrestle in the Sunshine State for the first time since 2009 at the South Beach Duals in Fort Lauderdale. They'll wrestle a pair of duals at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET on both Saturday and Sunday at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.

Adding to the allure of wrestling in a warmer climate are the opponents. It will be a top-25 matchup in three of the four duals with extended droughts between meetings snapped and a new opponent added to the all-time list. Purdue's opening dual against Utah Valley marks the first time the two have met, with the Wolverines becoming the Boilermakers' 153rd all-time opponent.

It has been over a decade since Purdue last faced its second opponent on Saturday in NC State. The Boilermakers won for the second time in as many meetings on Nov. 17, 2007, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

On Sunday, the Boilermakers will square off against Missouri for the 28th time in a series they own 14-12-1. The two teams last met at the Journeymen Northeast Duals on Nov. 29, 2014. Purdue closes out the event against West Virginia, a foe that hasn't been seen since Jan. 27, 1954. The 64-year span is the longest among all active programs on the Boilermakers' all-time opponent list.

Purdue enters the South Beach Duals armed with its highest ranking since the Feb. 17, 1999, edition of the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll, where the Boilermakers checked in at No. 13. The Boilermakers jumped to No. 13 in the Dec. 4 edition of the Theraworx NWCA Division I Coaches Poll and have spent the last three weeks in that spot. Half of Purdue's lineup is nationally ranked, including a pair among the top 10 at their respective weight.

After an upset-filled run to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational 157-pound title match, Griffin Parriott catapulted into the No. 9 spot in the ensuing rankings (12/4). He has held his position on the rankings for four weeks. The 5-2 redshirt sophomore is projected to have a top-10 collision with NC State's fifth-ranked Hayden Hidlay in Fort Lauderdale.

Joining Parriott in the top 10 is 197-pounder Christian Brunner (8-4). The two-time NCAA qualifier owns his highest ranking of the season this week, checking in at No. 9. Projected lineups have Brunner lining up across from ranked foes in No. 13 Tanner Orndorff of Utah Valley, who he defeated 7-3 in the CKLV quarterfinals, and No. 16 Malik McDonald of NC State.

Rounding out Purdue's ranked wrestlers are Devin Schroder and Ben Thornton, who are ranked 18th at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively, and No. 13 Dylan Lydy at 174 pounds.

A small contingency of Boilermakers are also set to compete at the 56th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, on Saturday and Sunday.

PURDUE'S SOUTH BEACH DUALS LINEUP
WEIGHT NAME YEAR RECORD
125 No. 18 Devin Schroder RS So. 11-4
Marshall Craig V RS Fr. 0-0
133 No. 18 Ben Thornton RS Sr. 12-3
Bjorn Schroeder RS Fr. 5-2
141 Nate Limmex RS Jr.. 10-5
149 Parker Filius RS Fr. 8-5
Austin Nash RS Jr. 1-6
157 No. 9 Griffin Parriott RS So. 5-2
165 Cole Wysocki RS Jr. 7-7
Tanner Webster RS Fr. 5-3
174 No. 13 Dylan Lydy RS Jr. 14-3
184 Max Lyon So. 11-5
Jared Florell RS Fr. 5-3
197 No. 9 Christian Brunner Jr. 8-4
285 Jacob Aven RS Sr. 6-8

InterMat rankings as of Dec. 25

PURDUE'S MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS LINEUP
WEIGHT NAME YEAR
133 Jack Cheney RS Fr.
141 Alec White RS Fr.
157 Kendall Coleman** Fr.
Elijah Davis RS Fr.
Austin Singer RS So.
165 Emil Soehnlen** Fr.
184 Jon Morales Sr.
Thomas Penola** Fr.
197 David Eli RS Fr.

** denotes wrestling unattached