WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Wrestling travels west for a pair of highly ranked Big Ten battles, first taking on No. 3 Iowa on Friday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena before heading to Lincoln for a showdown with No. 6 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon in the Devaney Center.
Friday's match up with the Hawkeyes will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network at 8:00 p.m. ET with Tim Johnson and Maliak Amine on the call. Sunday afternoon's dual with the Cornhuskers will stream on B1G+ at 2:00 p.m. ET. PURDUE POINTS • The weekend is full of history for head coach Tony Ersland, who was part of four Big Ten title winning teams for the Hawkeyes from 1994-97 and was an assistant under Mark Manning at Nebraska for eight seasons (2007-14).
• Ersland is in the midst of his 10th season at the helm of Purdue Wrestling and holds a 79-70 dual record. His 79 wins is the third most in program history.
• Joey Blaze (7) and Greyson Clark (6) have the most and second most dual wins of any true freshmen in the B1G.
• The duo are also 2-of-9 Big Ten true freshmen currently ranked by InterMat and have the most wins of anyone in that group.
• Ramos is outscoring opponents 77-10 in back points over the last two seasons, only giving up 2 this year (won that match).
NUMBERS TO KNOW • 30 - Matt Ramos holds a 30-13 career record against ranked opponents, including a 7-4 mark against the top-10 at 125.
• 6 - Ramos is tied for the sixth best career winning percentage in Purdue history with his 72-19 (0.800).
• 4 - True freshman Joey Blaze has already racked up a team high 4 tech falls on the year. The most by a Boiler since Devin Schroder had 9 in 2019-20.
• 7 - Stoney Buell leads the team with seven four-point nearfalls in this 16 matches this season.
LAST TIME IN LINCOLN Two years ago when the Boilers made the trip west to the Cornhusker state, Ersland and company brought their best stuff in an 18-15 upset of No. 9 Nebraska.
It was the first top-10 dual win for the program since 2004 and the first under Ersland. The Boilermakers won five matches, highlighted by bonus point wins from Devin Schroder and Parker Filius that proved to be the difference.
Matt Ramos made his Big Ten dual debut up at 133 and picked up a 3-1 decision over Alex Thomsen.
FRESHMEN PHENOMS True freshmen Joey Blaze and Greyson Clark earned spots in the lineup from day one of their college careers and have already shown the talent that made them both top-30 recruits.
Blaze (13-4) made the biggest splash early by knocking off No. 5 Ed Scott of N.C. State in sudden victory. He was the first unranked Boiler to beat a top-10 opponent since Thomas Penola pinned No. 9 Quinn Miller of Virginia.
Clark (13-3) has shown technique beyond his years. He leads the team with 38 back points on 11 near-fall attempts with five bonus point victories to his name.
Friday's match up with the Hawkeyes will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network at 8:00 p.m. ET with Tim Johnson and Maliak Amine on the call. Sunday afternoon's dual with the Cornhuskers will stream on B1G+ at 2:00 p.m. ET. PURDUE POINTS • The weekend is full of history for head coach Tony Ersland, who was part of four Big Ten title winning teams for the Hawkeyes from 1994-97 and was an assistant under Mark Manning at Nebraska for eight seasons (2007-14).
• Ersland is in the midst of his 10th season at the helm of Purdue Wrestling and holds a 79-70 dual record. His 79 wins is the third most in program history.
• Joey Blaze (7) and Greyson Clark (6) have the most and second most dual wins of any true freshmen in the B1G.
• The duo are also 2-of-9 Big Ten true freshmen currently ranked by InterMat and have the most wins of anyone in that group.
• Ramos is outscoring opponents 77-10 in back points over the last two seasons, only giving up 2 this year (won that match).
PROJECTED LINEUPS | ||
Purdue | ||
125 | #2 Matt Ramos or Ashton Jackson |
|
133 | Dustin Norris or Jacob Macatangay |
|
141 | #32 Greyson Clark | |
149 | Marcos Polanco | |
157 | #16 Joey Blaze or Ike Ruble |
|
165 | Stoney Buell | |
174 | Brody Baumann | |
184 | James Rowley or Hayden Filipovich |
|
197 | Ben Vanadia or Mitch Hutmacher |
|
285 | Tristan Ruhlman |
PROJECTED LINEUPS | |||
#3 Iowa | #6 Nebraska | ||
125 | #1 Drake Ayala | #7 Caleb Smith | |
133 | Cullan Schriever | #19 Jake Van Dee or Kyle Burwick |
|
141 | #1 Real Woods | #8 Brock Hardy | |
149 | #11 Caleb Rathjen | #1 Ridge Lovett | |
157 | #2 Jared Franek | #3 Peyton Robb | |
165 | #6 Michael Caliendo | #18 Antrell Taylor | |
174 | #9 Patrick Kennedy | #29 Bubba Wilson or Elise Brown Ton |
|
184 | Aiden Riggins | #3 Lenny Pinto | |
197 | #14 Zach Glazier | #15 Silas Allred | |
285 | Bradley Hill or Ben Kueter |
Nash Hutmacher or Harley Andrews |
NUMBERS TO KNOW • 30 - Matt Ramos holds a 30-13 career record against ranked opponents, including a 7-4 mark against the top-10 at 125.
• 6 - Ramos is tied for the sixth best career winning percentage in Purdue history with his 72-19 (0.800).
• 4 - True freshman Joey Blaze has already racked up a team high 4 tech falls on the year. The most by a Boiler since Devin Schroder had 9 in 2019-20.
• 7 - Stoney Buell leads the team with seven four-point nearfalls in this 16 matches this season.
LAST TIME IN LINCOLN Two years ago when the Boilers made the trip west to the Cornhusker state, Ersland and company brought their best stuff in an 18-15 upset of No. 9 Nebraska.
It was the first top-10 dual win for the program since 2004 and the first under Ersland. The Boilermakers won five matches, highlighted by bonus point wins from Devin Schroder and Parker Filius that proved to be the difference.
Matt Ramos made his Big Ten dual debut up at 133 and picked up a 3-1 decision over Alex Thomsen.
FRESHMEN PHENOMS True freshmen Joey Blaze and Greyson Clark earned spots in the lineup from day one of their college careers and have already shown the talent that made them both top-30 recruits.
Blaze (13-4) made the biggest splash early by knocking off No. 5 Ed Scott of N.C. State in sudden victory. He was the first unranked Boiler to beat a top-10 opponent since Thomas Penola pinned No. 9 Quinn Miller of Virginia.
Clark (13-3) has shown technique beyond his years. He leads the team with 38 back points on 11 near-fall attempts with five bonus point victories to his name.