West Lafayette, Ind. – Purdue Wrestling is ready to kick-off its season on Sunday with a trip to the Clarion Open, making it back-to-back years opening up at the annual tournament hosted by the Golden Eagles.
It was a successful trip for head coach Tony Ersland's crew last year, as Purdue came home with a first-place team finish, six titles and 12 placewinners. The team will send 25 wrestlers to defend their title this year with nine sets to make their varsity debut.
Matches are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET in the Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium with FloWrestling handling the streaming and live stats services. Purdue Points 17 division one wrestling programs will have representatives in the tournament on Sunday, including fellow Big Ten programs Michigan State and Ohio State. The open tournament will also have division two and high school competitors.
25 Boilermakers will make the trip to Clarion, with at least two representatives in each weight class. Ersland will enter five into the 141-pound bracket.
Conquered Clarion
The Boilermakers came into last year's tournament having not been to Clarion, Pa., in nearly 30 years, but they needed little time to make their mark. No. 1 Matt Ramos and No. 28 Dustin Norris return to defend their titles while Brody Baumann, Hayden Filipovich, Cooper Noehre, Tristan Ruhlman and Ben Vanadia will look to climb the podium once again.
Ramos ran wild on his way to a 5-0 tournament in 2022. Two pins and two tech falls were complimented by 14 takedowns and five near-falls on the day. Norris picked up a pin in his first match, going 3-0 before splitting the spoils in the final with teammate Jacob Macatangay.
Boilermaker Breakdown Ersland returns two of the four qualifiers from last year's team that finished T-20 at the NCAA tournament, tied for the program's best team finish since 2003. Purdue comes into the season at No. 21 in Intermat's team tournament rankings.
One of the youngest teams in the Big Ten last season somehow found a way to get even younger. Purdue wrestled 10 freshmen in duals in the 2022-23 campaign, the most of any Big Ten team, and they now add a very talented recruiting class to the mix. Two top-35 recruits in Joey Blaze and Greyson Clark look set to slot straight into the lineup alongside redshirt-freshman transfer James Rowley.
Four Boilermakers start the year inside the Intermat rankings. Ramos leads the line at No. 1 on the 125-pound list while No. 28 Dustin Norris, No. 27 Marcos Polanco and No. 27 Hayden Copass round out the group.
If you haven't already, be sure to check out the Purdue wrestling season previews for a breakdown of what we expect to see this season from each weight class.
Season Preview: 125-157 | 165-285
Return of the Matt Redshirt-junior Matt Ramos comes into the season with high expectations after an incredible NCAA tournament run has vaulted him into being the consensus preseason No. 1, the first wrestler in program history to do so.
Three straight wins by one point, including a last-second comeback win in overtime, put him into the national semifinal where he would face the No. 1 seed and three-time reigning champion Spencer Lee of Iowa. In the upset heard around the world, Ramos pinned Lee in the closing moments of their match to book his spot in the final and announce himself as a force in the sport.
His time in Tulsa made him the ninth NCAA runner-up and the 60th All-American in the program's history, the team's first NCAA finalist since 2006 and only the 13th all time. An amazing accomplishment, but he has his sights set on much more this year.
News and Notes • Head coach Tony Ersland is entering his 10th season at the helm of Purdue Wrestling and holds a 74-66 dual record.
• In his 10 seasons, the Boilermakers have brought their best stuff at tournament time. He has seen 188 wrestlers climb a podium in 44 different tournaments for an average of 4.3 per competition.
• In 2023 Matt Ramos finished with a 35-5 record which put him in a tie for 12th for wins and a tie for 10th for win percentage in a single season in program history.
• His career record of 56-15 (0.789) already has him sitting in seventh for best career winning percentage.
It was a successful trip for head coach Tony Ersland's crew last year, as Purdue came home with a first-place team finish, six titles and 12 placewinners. The team will send 25 wrestlers to defend their title this year with nine sets to make their varsity debut.
Matches are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET in the Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium with FloWrestling handling the streaming and live stats services. Purdue Points 17 division one wrestling programs will have representatives in the tournament on Sunday, including fellow Big Ten programs Michigan State and Ohio State. The open tournament will also have division two and high school competitors.
25 Boilermakers will make the trip to Clarion, with at least two representatives in each weight class. Ersland will enter five into the 141-pound bracket.
| PROJECTED LINEUP | ||
| 125 | Matt Ramos, Cooper Rider | |
| 133 | Dustin Norris | |
| 141 | Greyson Clark, Brac Hooper, Michael Leveille, Cole Solomey, Christian White | |
| 149 | Trey Kruse, Marcos Polanco, Jaden Reynolds | |
| 157 | Joey Blaze, Kade Law, Isaac Ruble |
|
| 165 | Stoney Buell, Cooper Noehre | |
| 174 | Brody Baumann, Orlando Cruz | |
| 184 | Hayden Filipovich, Macartney Parkinson, James Rowley | |
| 197 | Mitch Hutmacher, Ben Vanadia | |
| 285 | Dominic Burgett, Tristan Ruhlman |
|
Ramos ran wild on his way to a 5-0 tournament in 2022. Two pins and two tech falls were complimented by 14 takedowns and five near-falls on the day. Norris picked up a pin in his first match, going 3-0 before splitting the spoils in the final with teammate Jacob Macatangay.
Boilermaker Breakdown Ersland returns two of the four qualifiers from last year's team that finished T-20 at the NCAA tournament, tied for the program's best team finish since 2003. Purdue comes into the season at No. 21 in Intermat's team tournament rankings.
One of the youngest teams in the Big Ten last season somehow found a way to get even younger. Purdue wrestled 10 freshmen in duals in the 2022-23 campaign, the most of any Big Ten team, and they now add a very talented recruiting class to the mix. Two top-35 recruits in Joey Blaze and Greyson Clark look set to slot straight into the lineup alongside redshirt-freshman transfer James Rowley.
Four Boilermakers start the year inside the Intermat rankings. Ramos leads the line at No. 1 on the 125-pound list while No. 28 Dustin Norris, No. 27 Marcos Polanco and No. 27 Hayden Copass round out the group.
If you haven't already, be sure to check out the Purdue wrestling season previews for a breakdown of what we expect to see this season from each weight class.
Season Preview: 125-157 | 165-285
Return of the Matt Redshirt-junior Matt Ramos comes into the season with high expectations after an incredible NCAA tournament run has vaulted him into being the consensus preseason No. 1, the first wrestler in program history to do so.
Three straight wins by one point, including a last-second comeback win in overtime, put him into the national semifinal where he would face the No. 1 seed and three-time reigning champion Spencer Lee of Iowa. In the upset heard around the world, Ramos pinned Lee in the closing moments of their match to book his spot in the final and announce himself as a force in the sport.
His time in Tulsa made him the ninth NCAA runner-up and the 60th All-American in the program's history, the team's first NCAA finalist since 2006 and only the 13th all time. An amazing accomplishment, but he has his sights set on much more this year.
News and Notes • Head coach Tony Ersland is entering his 10th season at the helm of Purdue Wrestling and holds a 74-66 dual record.
• In his 10 seasons, the Boilermakers have brought their best stuff at tournament time. He has seen 188 wrestlers climb a podium in 44 different tournaments for an average of 4.3 per competition.
• In 2023 Matt Ramos finished with a 35-5 record which put him in a tie for 12th for wins and a tie for 10th for win percentage in a single season in program history.
• His career record of 56-15 (0.789) already has him sitting in seventh for best career winning percentage.