WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 19 Purdue Wrestling team is ready for their annual road trip west to the 41st Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 1-2, held this year in the Westgate Paradise Event Center. One of wrestling's premier regular season events, the tournament will play host to 15 of the top-25 programs in the country this weekend.
SCHEDULE AND INFO Friday
Round 1 – 12:00 PM ET – Round of 32 & 16
Round 2 – 9:00 PM ET – Quarterfinals
Saturday
Round 3 – 1:00 PM ET – Semifinals
Round 4 – 6:00 PM ET – Finals
Streaming for all matches will be on FloWrestling. PURDUE PREVIEW The Boilermakers will take 10 student-athletes, one for each weight class, into the competition in Vegas. Four of head coach Tony Ersland's men earned pre-seeds with Matt Ramos coming in at No. 1 in the 125-pound bracket followed by Joey Blaze (No. 9 at 157), Brody Baumann (No. 12 at 174) and Stoney Buell (No. 14 at 165).
Cole Solomey, Marcos Polanco, Baumann, and James Rowley will be making their first Cliff Keen appearances.
BOILERS IN THE CKLV • Purdue is making its 17th appearance in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
• The team has eight top-10 finishes, including three of the last four trips.
• 48 Boilermakers have placed in the tournament. Ramos is looking to become Purdue's seventh three-time placewinner after Kendall Coleman became the sixth last year.
• Last season the Boilers finished in 12th and put three on the podium, highlighted by runner-up runs from Ramos and Coleman.
SCOUTING THE FIELD • 15 of the top-25 teams in Intermat's Team Tournament rankings make up the field at the 2023 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, including seven of the top-10.
• Five weights have a wrestler ranked either number one or two nationally, including our own Matt Ramos at No. 2.
• 158 ranked wrestlers are projected to be in the pool.
LAST TIME OUT Purdue hosted its annual Boilermaker Duals on Sunday, Nov. 19 and came away undefeated with a 44-0 win over Indianapolis and a 22-13 win over Northern Illinois.
The Boilermakers (3-1, 0-0 B1G) got to 2-0 on the day on the back of nine bonus point wins across both matchups. Three pins, three tech falls and three major decisions helped head coach Tony Ersland's team to a pair of comfortable wins.
Ersland wrestled an almost exclusively underclassman lineup as one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten continues to rely heavily on their youth. Of the 13 different wrestlers who saw the mat today for Purdue, only two were upperclassmen. The young bucks combined to go 14-3 with seven bonus point wins.
MAJOR WIN FOR RAMOS Matt Ramos earned a 10-2 major decision over No. 1 Anthony Noto of Lock Haven at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 22, marking his second victory over a top-ranked wrestler in 2023.
After a scoreless first, Ramos finished off a double-leg through a strong Noto defense to put the first takedown on the board and lead 3-1 in the second. The advantage allowed him to choose his preferred neutral position to start the third period and he made the most of it. With 20 seconds left in the match, a desperate Noto shot in looking for points and Ramos punished him for it. He flipped the Lock Haven man onto his back for a six-point move as time expired to take his 10-2 major decision.
Ever the trailblazer, Ramos was the fourth Boilermaker to wrestle in the All-Star Classic, but the first to win his match. He was also head coach Tony Ersland's first representative in the competition.
NEWS & NOTES • Head coach Tony Ersland is entering his 10th season at the helm of Purdue Wrestling and holds a 77-67 dual record.
• In his 10 seasons, the Boilermakers have brought their best stuff at tournament time. He has seen 195 wrestlers climb a podium in 45 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 63-17 (0.788) already has him sitting in eighth for best career winning percentage.
• Joey Blaze's upset of No. 5 Ed Scott from N.C. State was the first win by an unranked Boilermaker over a top-10 opponent since December of 2019 when a young Thomas Penola pinned No. 9 Quinn Miller of Virginia.
SCHEDULE AND INFO Friday
Round 1 – 12:00 PM ET – Round of 32 & 16
Round 2 – 9:00 PM ET – Quarterfinals
Saturday
Round 3 – 1:00 PM ET – Semifinals
Round 4 – 6:00 PM ET – Finals
Streaming for all matches will be on FloWrestling. PURDUE PREVIEW The Boilermakers will take 10 student-athletes, one for each weight class, into the competition in Vegas. Four of head coach Tony Ersland's men earned pre-seeds with Matt Ramos coming in at No. 1 in the 125-pound bracket followed by Joey Blaze (No. 9 at 157), Brody Baumann (No. 12 at 174) and Stoney Buell (No. 14 at 165).
Cole Solomey, Marcos Polanco, Baumann, and James Rowley will be making their first Cliff Keen appearances.
| PROJECTED LINEUP | ||
| 125 | #2 Matt Ramos (7-2) | |
| 133 | Dustin Norris (2-2) | |
| 141 | Cole Solomey (3-1) | |
| 149 | Marcos Polanco (5-5) | |
| 157 | #15 Joey Blaze (8-1) | |
| 165 | #30 Stoney Buell (5-1) | |
| 174 | #33 Brody Baumann (6-2) | |
| 184 | James Rowley (4-7) | |
| 197 | Ben Vanadia (6-5) | |
| 285 | Tristan Ruhlman (2-8) | |
BOILERS IN THE CKLV • Purdue is making its 17th appearance in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
• The team has eight top-10 finishes, including three of the last four trips.
• 48 Boilermakers have placed in the tournament. Ramos is looking to become Purdue's seventh three-time placewinner after Kendall Coleman became the sixth last year.
• Last season the Boilers finished in 12th and put three on the podium, highlighted by runner-up runs from Ramos and Coleman.
SCOUTING THE FIELD • 15 of the top-25 teams in Intermat's Team Tournament rankings make up the field at the 2023 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, including seven of the top-10.
• Five weights have a wrestler ranked either number one or two nationally, including our own Matt Ramos at No. 2.
• 158 ranked wrestlers are projected to be in the pool.
LAST TIME OUT Purdue hosted its annual Boilermaker Duals on Sunday, Nov. 19 and came away undefeated with a 44-0 win over Indianapolis and a 22-13 win over Northern Illinois.
The Boilermakers (3-1, 0-0 B1G) got to 2-0 on the day on the back of nine bonus point wins across both matchups. Three pins, three tech falls and three major decisions helped head coach Tony Ersland's team to a pair of comfortable wins.
Ersland wrestled an almost exclusively underclassman lineup as one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten continues to rely heavily on their youth. Of the 13 different wrestlers who saw the mat today for Purdue, only two were upperclassmen. The young bucks combined to go 14-3 with seven bonus point wins.
MAJOR WIN FOR RAMOS Matt Ramos earned a 10-2 major decision over No. 1 Anthony Noto of Lock Haven at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 22, marking his second victory over a top-ranked wrestler in 2023.
After a scoreless first, Ramos finished off a double-leg through a strong Noto defense to put the first takedown on the board and lead 3-1 in the second. The advantage allowed him to choose his preferred neutral position to start the third period and he made the most of it. With 20 seconds left in the match, a desperate Noto shot in looking for points and Ramos punished him for it. He flipped the Lock Haven man onto his back for a six-point move as time expired to take his 10-2 major decision.
Ever the trailblazer, Ramos was the fourth Boilermaker to wrestle in the All-Star Classic, but the first to win his match. He was also head coach Tony Ersland's first representative in the competition.
NEWS & NOTES • Head coach Tony Ersland is entering his 10th season at the helm of Purdue Wrestling and holds a 77-67 dual record.
• In his 10 seasons, the Boilermakers have brought their best stuff at tournament time. He has seen 195 wrestlers climb a podium in 45 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 63-17 (0.788) already has him sitting in eighth for best career winning percentage.
• Joey Blaze's upset of No. 5 Ed Scott from N.C. State was the first win by an unranked Boilermaker over a top-10 opponent since December of 2019 when a young Thomas Penola pinned No. 9 Quinn Miller of Virginia.