WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Big Ten Conference announced its 2024 wrestling dual schedule on Monday, revealing the dates for Purdue's final eight matches of the upcoming season.
Today's announcement put the final pieces of the puzzle into place for the 2023-24 schedule, as the Boilermakers will face Rutgers along with their traditional seven opponents comprising of the Big Ten West schools and rival Indiana.
"We are excited for the opportunities ahead of us," said head coach Tony Ersland. "We work all offseason to face the best competition in the country in the Big Ten and we welcome the challenges that that brings us. We're very pleased with how the schedule played out and can't wait to get things going."
Ersland's team will come into the year with four individuals in the Intermat preseason rankings, led by 2023 NCAA Runner-Up and preseason No. 1 at 125 pounds Matt Ramos. The redshirt-junior is the first Boilermaker to sit atop a preseason list since Intermat debuted its rankings in 1998 and the first to be No. 1 since Chris Fleeger in March of 2003.
The Big Ten slate will be a gauntlet once again as the Boilermakers' eight conference opponents have a combined 55 wrestlers in the preseason ranks, 23 of which are in the top-10. Five of the eight teams appeared in the initial Intermat team dual rankings.
The conference slate begins at home on Sunday, January 14 when Rutgers makes the trip to West Lafayette for the first time since 2019. The Boilermakers have won the last two matchups with the Scarlet Knights, most recently taking an 18-15 win in Piscataway, N.J., in January of 2021.
Purdue will then travel for three straight road contests. A weekend headed west starts with a Friday night dual on January 19 against Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and finishes in Lincoln on Sunday, January 21 in a match with Nebraska. In the Boilermakers last trip to Lincoln, they came away with an 18-15 upset over the No. 10 ranked Cornhuskers. It was the first top-10 dual win of Ersland's head coaching career.
The final leg of the road trip will be a short drive down south to face intrastate rival Indiana. The Boilermakers have taken 12 of the last 13 against the Hoosiers and haven't lost in Bloomington since 2009.
Purdue kicks off February with a home dual against Wisconsin on Sunday the 4th. The following weekend is a home/away combo with the Boilermakers taking on Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Friday, February 9th before returning home to face Minnesota in Holloway Gymnasium on Sunday the 11th. Purdue battled for upset wins at four different weight classes to grab an 18-14 win over the Gophers on senior night the last time the two programs took the mat in West Lafayette.
The final dual of the season comes at home on Friday, February 16 against Illinois. It was a decisive 25-13 victory for the Boilermakers over the Fighting Illini in their most recent matchup in Holloway.
Purdue's schedule will give them a two week break before heading to College Park, Md., for the Big Ten Championships March 9-10. It will be the first time Maryland has hosted the event since joining the conference in 2014. The NCAA Championships return to Kansas City, Mo., for the first time since 2003 where Purdue took 14th, the program's best finish in the last 30 years.
Today's announcement put the final pieces of the puzzle into place for the 2023-24 schedule, as the Boilermakers will face Rutgers along with their traditional seven opponents comprising of the Big Ten West schools and rival Indiana.
"We are excited for the opportunities ahead of us," said head coach Tony Ersland. "We work all offseason to face the best competition in the country in the Big Ten and we welcome the challenges that that brings us. We're very pleased with how the schedule played out and can't wait to get things going."
Ersland's team will come into the year with four individuals in the Intermat preseason rankings, led by 2023 NCAA Runner-Up and preseason No. 1 at 125 pounds Matt Ramos. The redshirt-junior is the first Boilermaker to sit atop a preseason list since Intermat debuted its rankings in 1998 and the first to be No. 1 since Chris Fleeger in March of 2003.
The Big Ten slate will be a gauntlet once again as the Boilermakers' eight conference opponents have a combined 55 wrestlers in the preseason ranks, 23 of which are in the top-10. Five of the eight teams appeared in the initial Intermat team dual rankings.
The conference slate begins at home on Sunday, January 14 when Rutgers makes the trip to West Lafayette for the first time since 2019. The Boilermakers have won the last two matchups with the Scarlet Knights, most recently taking an 18-15 win in Piscataway, N.J., in January of 2021.
Purdue will then travel for three straight road contests. A weekend headed west starts with a Friday night dual on January 19 against Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and finishes in Lincoln on Sunday, January 21 in a match with Nebraska. In the Boilermakers last trip to Lincoln, they came away with an 18-15 upset over the No. 10 ranked Cornhuskers. It was the first top-10 dual win of Ersland's head coaching career.
The final leg of the road trip will be a short drive down south to face intrastate rival Indiana. The Boilermakers have taken 12 of the last 13 against the Hoosiers and haven't lost in Bloomington since 2009.
Purdue kicks off February with a home dual against Wisconsin on Sunday the 4th. The following weekend is a home/away combo with the Boilermakers taking on Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Friday, February 9th before returning home to face Minnesota in Holloway Gymnasium on Sunday the 11th. Purdue battled for upset wins at four different weight classes to grab an 18-14 win over the Gophers on senior night the last time the two programs took the mat in West Lafayette.
The final dual of the season comes at home on Friday, February 16 against Illinois. It was a decisive 25-13 victory for the Boilermakers over the Fighting Illini in their most recent matchup in Holloway.
Purdue's schedule will give them a two week break before heading to College Park, Md., for the Big Ten Championships March 9-10. It will be the first time Maryland has hosted the event since joining the conference in 2014. The NCAA Championships return to Kansas City, Mo., for the first time since 2003 where Purdue took 14th, the program's best finish in the last 30 years.