COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Purdue Wrestling bounced back from a lackluster opening to the 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships to secure five podium spots and four auto-bids with a shot at two more on Sunday.
Things didn't exactly go according to plan in the opening round, as all 10 Purdue entrants were bumped into wrestlebacks before session two began. Not to be deterred, the Boilermakers shook off the morning's rust and put on a good showing in the afternoon.
Matt Ramos, Joey Blaze, Stoney Buell and Brody Baumann all earned automatic qualification for the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City in two weeks' time while Dustin Norris and Greyson Clark sit just one win away from joining them. All but Clark have guaranteed themselves a Big Ten placewinners medal.
"I am happy with the character and resiliency the team showed this afternoon," head coach Tony Ersland said of his team's bounce back. "We came out and really got punched in the mouth in that first session. Didn't perform at all the way we wanted to, but the guys had a strong response and gained some real momentum going into tomorrow. Put us in a position to finish feeling positive about the weekend."
Ramos and Blaze lead the way for the Boilermakers going into day two, as both wrestlers went 2-0 in the afternoon session to find themselves in the consolation semifinals contending for a spot in their third-place matches. The redshirt-junior Ramos picked up decisions over No. 10 Tristan Lujan of Michigan State and No. 5 Caleb Smith of Nebraska. The 5-2 win over Smith avenged his loss to the Cornhusker earlier in the year at the Cliff Keen Invite.
After picking up a win via injury default over No. 2 Michel Blockhus from Minnesota, the true-freshman Blaze added an 8-6 upset of No. 6 Chase Saldate of Michigan State. An exciting match saw the pair swap takedowns and reversals in the first and second periods, but Blaze's good work on top proved to be the difference needed to get the win. By earning his place at the NCAA tournament, Blaze becomes just the fourth true freshman to qualify under Ersland and the 14th in program history.
Norris, Buell, and Baumann will wrestle in their respective seventh places matches on Sunday morning after splitting their second session matchups. Norris won impressively over Michigan State's Andre Hampton 8-3 in the bloodround to secure his spot on the podium, but he still has work to do. His match tomorrow against in-state rival Indiana's Cayden Rooks will be for an NCAA auto-bid with the loser left to hope for an at-large in a deep weight class.
Buell and Baumann booked their flights to Kansas City on Saturday, the first time both wrestlers will make the trip to the NCAA tournament. Buell escaped the bloodround by toughing out a tight 2-1 win over Indiana's Tyler Lillard, his second win over the Hoosier this season.
True-freshman Greyson Clark picked up two major decisions on the day, but still finds himself with work to do to keep his season going on to Kansas City. Sunday morning, he will wrestle in the 11th place bracket needing only one win in his next two matches to claim his spot.
Wrestling on Sunday kicks off at noon ET for the consolation semifinals, seventh place matches and extra brackets (Clark's matches). The finals, third and fifth place matches will take place at 4:30 p.m. ET. The morning's session will be streamed on BigTenPlus.com while the afternoon will appear on BTN.
Results
Big Ten Wrestling Championships
XFINITY Center
Purdue – 36.0 pts. / 9th
125: #1 Matt Ramos (R-Junior)
NCAA AUTO BID SECURED
First Round: Bye
Quarterfinals: #9 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) – L, D 7-1
Cons. Round 2: #10 Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) – W, D 2-1
Cons. Round 3: #5 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) – W, D 5-2
Cons. Semis: #7 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern)
133: #11 Dustin Norris (R-Sophomore)
First Round: #6 Anthony Madrigal (Illinois) – W, D 10-5
Quarterfinal: #14 Brody Teske (Iowa) – L, D 11-5
Cons. Round 2: #12 Andrew Hampton (Michigan State) – W, D 8-3
Cons. Round 3: #7 Braxton Brown (Maryland) – L, D 3-1
Seventh Place: Cayden Rooks (Indiana) FOR AN AUTO-BID
141: #12 Greyson Clark (Freshman)
First Round: #5 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) – L, MD 14-2
Cons. Round 1: #13 Kolby McClain (Northwestern) – W, MD 14-0
Cons. Round 2: #6 Danny Pucino (Illinois) – L, D 7-5
11th Place Quarters: #13 Kolby McClain (Northwestern) – W, MD 15-3
11th Place Semis: #8 Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) FOR AN AUTO-BID
149: #11 Marcos Polanco (R-Senior)
First Round: #6 Ethan Miller (Maryland) – L, D 5-0
Cons. Round 1: #14 Jake Harrier (Illinois) – W, MD 11-3
Cons. Round 2: #5 Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) – L, INJ 4:08
9th Place Quarters: #14 Jake Harrier (Illinois) – L, MFF
157: #8 Joey Blaze (Freshman)
NCAA AUTO BID SECURED
First Round: #9 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) – L, D 5-2
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: #2 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) – W, INJ 0:02
Cons. Round 3: #6 Chase Saldate (Michigan State) – W, D 8-6
Cons. Semis: #4 Jared Franek (Iowa)
165: #7 Stoney Buell (R-Sophomore)
NCAA AUTO BID SECURED
First Round: #10 Blaine Brenner (Minnesota) – L, Fall 3:43
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: #9 Tyler Lillard (Indiana) – W, D 2-1
Cons. Round 3: #11 Chris Moore (Illinois) – L, D 7-5
Seventh Place: #10 Blaine Brenner (Minnesota)
174: #10 Brody Baumann (R-Freshman)
NCAA AUTO BID SECURED
First Round: #7 Max Maylor (Wisconsin) – L, MD 18-5
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: #1 Carter Starocci – W, INJ 0:02
Cons. Round 3: #5 Rocco Welsh – L, MD 11-3
Seventh Place: #7 Max Maylor (Wisconsin)
184: #12 James Rowley (R-Freshman)
First Round: #5 Jaden Bullock (Michigan) – L, D 5-0
Cons. Round 1: #13 Aiden Riggins (Iowa) – L, D 2-1
9th Place Quarters: #13 Aiden Riggins (Iowa) – L, MD 10-2
197: #9 Ben Vanadia (R-Sophomore)
First Round: #8 Evan Bates (Northwestern) – L, Fall 1:51
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: #7 John Poznanski (Rutgers) – L, D 5-1
285: #14 Hayden Filipovich (R-Freshman)
First Round: #3 Lucas Davison (Michigan) – L, MD 17-3
Cons. Round 1: #11 Jack Jessen (Northwestern) – L, D 8-4
Things didn't exactly go according to plan in the opening round, as all 10 Purdue entrants were bumped into wrestlebacks before session two began. Not to be deterred, the Boilermakers shook off the morning's rust and put on a good showing in the afternoon.
Matt Ramos, Joey Blaze, Stoney Buell and Brody Baumann all earned automatic qualification for the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City in two weeks' time while Dustin Norris and Greyson Clark sit just one win away from joining them. All but Clark have guaranteed themselves a Big Ten placewinners medal.
"I am happy with the character and resiliency the team showed this afternoon," head coach Tony Ersland said of his team's bounce back. "We came out and really got punched in the mouth in that first session. Didn't perform at all the way we wanted to, but the guys had a strong response and gained some real momentum going into tomorrow. Put us in a position to finish feeling positive about the weekend."
Ramos and Blaze lead the way for the Boilermakers going into day two, as both wrestlers went 2-0 in the afternoon session to find themselves in the consolation semifinals contending for a spot in their third-place matches. The redshirt-junior Ramos picked up decisions over No. 10 Tristan Lujan of Michigan State and No. 5 Caleb Smith of Nebraska. The 5-2 win over Smith avenged his loss to the Cornhusker earlier in the year at the Cliff Keen Invite.
After picking up a win via injury default over No. 2 Michel Blockhus from Minnesota, the true-freshman Blaze added an 8-6 upset of No. 6 Chase Saldate of Michigan State. An exciting match saw the pair swap takedowns and reversals in the first and second periods, but Blaze's good work on top proved to be the difference needed to get the win. By earning his place at the NCAA tournament, Blaze becomes just the fourth true freshman to qualify under Ersland and the 14th in program history.
Norris, Buell, and Baumann will wrestle in their respective seventh places matches on Sunday morning after splitting their second session matchups. Norris won impressively over Michigan State's Andre Hampton 8-3 in the bloodround to secure his spot on the podium, but he still has work to do. His match tomorrow against in-state rival Indiana's Cayden Rooks will be for an NCAA auto-bid with the loser left to hope for an at-large in a deep weight class.
Buell and Baumann booked their flights to Kansas City on Saturday, the first time both wrestlers will make the trip to the NCAA tournament. Buell escaped the bloodround by toughing out a tight 2-1 win over Indiana's Tyler Lillard, his second win over the Hoosier this season.
True-freshman Greyson Clark picked up two major decisions on the day, but still finds himself with work to do to keep his season going on to Kansas City. Sunday morning, he will wrestle in the 11th place bracket needing only one win in his next two matches to claim his spot.
Wrestling on Sunday kicks off at noon ET for the consolation semifinals, seventh place matches and extra brackets (Clark's matches). The finals, third and fifth place matches will take place at 4:30 p.m. ET. The morning's session will be streamed on BigTenPlus.com while the afternoon will appear on BTN.
Results
Big Ten Wrestling Championships
XFINITY Center
Purdue – 36.0 pts. / 9th
125: #1 Matt Ramos (R-Junior)
NCAA AUTO BID SECURED
First Round: Bye
Quarterfinals: #9 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) – L, D 7-1
Cons. Round 2: #10 Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) – W, D 2-1
Cons. Round 3: #5 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) – W, D 5-2
Cons. Semis: #7 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern)
133: #11 Dustin Norris (R-Sophomore)
First Round: #6 Anthony Madrigal (Illinois) – W, D 10-5
Quarterfinal: #14 Brody Teske (Iowa) – L, D 11-5
Cons. Round 2: #12 Andrew Hampton (Michigan State) – W, D 8-3
Cons. Round 3: #7 Braxton Brown (Maryland) – L, D 3-1
Seventh Place: Cayden Rooks (Indiana) FOR AN AUTO-BID
141: #12 Greyson Clark (Freshman)
First Round: #5 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) – L, MD 14-2
Cons. Round 1: #13 Kolby McClain (Northwestern) – W, MD 14-0
Cons. Round 2: #6 Danny Pucino (Illinois) – L, D 7-5
11th Place Quarters: #13 Kolby McClain (Northwestern) – W, MD 15-3
11th Place Semis: #8 Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) FOR AN AUTO-BID
149: #11 Marcos Polanco (R-Senior)
First Round: #6 Ethan Miller (Maryland) – L, D 5-0
Cons. Round 1: #14 Jake Harrier (Illinois) – W, MD 11-3
Cons. Round 2: #5 Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) – L, INJ 4:08
9th Place Quarters: #14 Jake Harrier (Illinois) – L, MFF
157: #8 Joey Blaze (Freshman)
NCAA AUTO BID SECURED
First Round: #9 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) – L, D 5-2
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: #2 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) – W, INJ 0:02
Cons. Round 3: #6 Chase Saldate (Michigan State) – W, D 8-6
Cons. Semis: #4 Jared Franek (Iowa)
165: #7 Stoney Buell (R-Sophomore)
NCAA AUTO BID SECURED
First Round: #10 Blaine Brenner (Minnesota) – L, Fall 3:43
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: #9 Tyler Lillard (Indiana) – W, D 2-1
Cons. Round 3: #11 Chris Moore (Illinois) – L, D 7-5
Seventh Place: #10 Blaine Brenner (Minnesota)
174: #10 Brody Baumann (R-Freshman)
NCAA AUTO BID SECURED
First Round: #7 Max Maylor (Wisconsin) – L, MD 18-5
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: #1 Carter Starocci – W, INJ 0:02
Cons. Round 3: #5 Rocco Welsh – L, MD 11-3
Seventh Place: #7 Max Maylor (Wisconsin)
184: #12 James Rowley (R-Freshman)
First Round: #5 Jaden Bullock (Michigan) – L, D 5-0
Cons. Round 1: #13 Aiden Riggins (Iowa) – L, D 2-1
9th Place Quarters: #13 Aiden Riggins (Iowa) – L, MD 10-2
197: #9 Ben Vanadia (R-Sophomore)
First Round: #8 Evan Bates (Northwestern) – L, Fall 1:51
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: #7 John Poznanski (Rutgers) – L, D 5-1
285: #14 Hayden Filipovich (R-Freshman)
First Round: #3 Lucas Davison (Michigan) – L, MD 17-3
Cons. Round 1: #11 Jack Jessen (Northwestern) – L, D 8-4