WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue sophomore Thomas Penola officially joined the Boilermakers' NCAA Championship travel party Tuesday, receiving an at-large bid at 197 pounds for the national tournament, set for March 18-20 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. His addition gives the Boilermakers eight qualifiers for NCAA's, matching the program record for the third straight year and fourth time under head coach Tony Ersland.
The Boilermakers earned seven automatic bids to the national tournament at the Big Ten Championships this past weekend at Penn State. Senior Devin Schroder led the bunch with a runner-up finish at 125 pounds and will be joined by fellow seniors Max Lyon and Griffin Parriott, junior Parker Filius, sophomore Kendall Coleman and freshmen Gerrit Nijenhuis and Jacob Rundell.
Purdue has had eight national qualifiers six times in program history, first hitting the mark in 1993, doing it again in 2003, and now four times in seven seasons under Ersland.
Penola is 1-of-7 individuals nationally to earn an at-large bid at 197 pounds, and 1-of-2 from the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermaker sophomore posted a 10-4 overall record in 2021, and matched several of the NCAA committees qualifying criteria. His seventh-place finish at Big Ten's was one off the final qualifying spot and his season win percentage of .714 was above the threshold. He was also at 2020 NCAA qualifier at 285 pounds, was ranked No. 16 in the last NCAA Coaches Panel and had wins over several other members of the at-large pool.
The NCAA will announce seedings and brackets for the 2021 NCAA Championships tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET at NCAA.com.
The Boilermakers earned seven automatic bids to the national tournament at the Big Ten Championships this past weekend at Penn State. Senior Devin Schroder led the bunch with a runner-up finish at 125 pounds and will be joined by fellow seniors Max Lyon and Griffin Parriott, junior Parker Filius, sophomore Kendall Coleman and freshmen Gerrit Nijenhuis and Jacob Rundell.
Purdue has had eight national qualifiers six times in program history, first hitting the mark in 1993, doing it again in 2003, and now four times in seven seasons under Ersland.
Penola is 1-of-7 individuals nationally to earn an at-large bid at 197 pounds, and 1-of-2 from the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermaker sophomore posted a 10-4 overall record in 2021, and matched several of the NCAA committees qualifying criteria. His seventh-place finish at Big Ten's was one off the final qualifying spot and his season win percentage of .714 was above the threshold. He was also at 2020 NCAA qualifier at 285 pounds, was ranked No. 16 in the last NCAA Coaches Panel and had wins over several other members of the at-large pool.
The NCAA will announce seedings and brackets for the 2021 NCAA Championships tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET at NCAA.com.