EVANSTON, Ill. — Five Boilermakers will represent Purdue on the national stage after earning automatic qualifying bids at the 2025 Big Ten Wrestling Championships.
Brody Baumann, Joey Blaze, Greyson Clark, Hayden Filipovich and Matt Ramos all punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships.
Sophomore Blaze and redshirt-senior Ramos were the two Boilermakers left wrestling into the final session on Sunday night in the third-place matches of their respective weight classes.
They both capitalized with bronze medals, giving Purdue multiple top-three finishes for the first time since 2020.
Blaze became Purdue's first true sophomore to earn a top-three Big Ten finish since Doug Withstandley in 2004.
After falling to Nebraska's Antrell Taylor in the 157-pound quarterfinal, Blaze responded with four straight wins over Luke Mechler (Wisconsin), No. 16-ranked Chase Saldate (Michigan), No. 8 Tommy Askey (Minnesota), and won the rematch with No. 4 Taylor in the third-place match.
In a triple-overtime thriller that went to 30-second tiebreaker periods, Blaze escaped and went on the attack to force a stall call and penalty point which put him on top for good.
He rode out the final frame and knocked off Taylor in their third matchup of the last two weeks, good for the Boiler's highest ranked win of the season.
He also beat No. 30 Jason Kraisser (Illinois) in Saturday's quarterfinal, marking 10 ranked wins and a 20-5 sophomore campaign.
After suffering his first defeat of the season in Saturday's semifinal to the eventual 125 champion, Ramos bounced back to salvage his final B1G trip with two huge victories on Sunday to win bronze at 125 pounds.
His third-place finish matches his best career mark at the Big Ten Championships (third in 2023).
Ramos shut out Indiana's Jacob Moran in a 9-0 major decision before beating Wisconsin's Nicolar Rivera for the third time this season, 8-5, in the third-place match.
Ramos will make his fourth trip to the national tournament with his primary goal of winning an NCAA title still intact. He has the chance to be Purdue's first national champion since Charles Jones in 1992 and the fifth in school history.
Clark was one win away from a qualifying bid entering Session III and took care of business, upsetting No. 26 Henry Porter (IU) for the second time in two days, 7-1.
The sophomore returns to the national championships for his second time, with a seventh-place finish this year at the Big Ten tournament. He finished 10th as a true freshman a year ago.
Baumann earned an auto-bid once again with an eighth-place podium finish after making his NCAA debut in 2024. The Evansville native won two matches at this year's event, beating Lucas Condon (WIS) and No. 31 Derek Gilcher (IU).
His 4-3 decision win over Gilcher avenged his loss earlier this season to the Hoosier, and helped the Boilermakers finish 4-1 on the weekend against their in-state rivals.
Filipovich entered Day Two needing to win just one more match to clinch his first trip to the national event. He beat Harley Andrews (NEB) again in a rematch from Senior Night, which was his first ranked win of the season.
The redshirt-junior took 10th place after dropping a 5-2 decision to Jacob Bullock (IU) in the ninth-place match, but his spot was already safe since the 285-pound division awarded bids to the top 10 finishers.
Purdue finished in 10th place as a team with 44.5 points, an improvement from its 2024 total of 41.5 points. UP NEXT The remaining at-large NCAA Championships bids for each weight class will be announced in the coming week. Five Boilermakers are guaranteed to make the trip to Philadelphia with a chance for more.
The national tournament will be hosted inside Wells Fargo Center from March 20-22.
RESULTS
125 | #1 Matt Ramos (R-Senior) – 3rd place (3-1)
Round 1: BYE
Quarterfinal: #8 Nicolar Rivera (WIS) – W, Fall SV-1
Semifinal: #4 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) – L, MD 12-4
3rd Place Semifinal: #6 Jacob Moran (IU) – W. MD 9-0
3rd Place Match: #8 Nicolar Rivera (WIS) – W, D 8-5
133 | #11 Dustin Norris (R-Junior) (1-3)
Round 1: #6 Jacob Van Dee (NEB) – L, MD 12-4
Cons. Round 1: #14 Nolan Wertanen (MICH) – W, D 8-1
Cons. Round 2: #4 Braeden Davis (PSU) – L, TF 17-2 (2:03)
11th Place Quarterfinal: #14 Nolan Wertanen (MICH) – L, MD 20-12
141 | #9 Greyson Clark (Sophomore) – 7th Place (3-2)
Round 1: #8 Henry Porter (IU) – W, TF 16-1 (6:05)
Quarterfinal: #1 Beau Bartlett (PSU) – L, MD 13-3
Cons. Round 2: #10 Chris Cannon (NU) – W, D 11-5
3rd Place Quarterfinal: #5 Sergio Lemley (MICH) – L, MD 12-2
7th Place Match: #8 Henry Porter (IU) – W, D 7-1
149 | #11 Isaac Ruble (R-Sophomore) (2-3)
Round 1: #6 Andrew Clark (RUT) – L, MD 13-2
Cons. Round 1: #14 Royce Nilo (WIS) – W, D 6-1
Cons. Round 2: #4 Dylan D'Emilio (OSU) – L, D 5-1
9th Place Quarterfinal: #14 Royce Nilo (WIS) – W, Fall 5:22
9th Place Semifinal: #10 Drew Roberts (MIN) – L, TF 19-4 (3:58)
157 | #6 Joey Blaze (Sophomore) – 3rd Place (5-1)
Round 1: #11 Jason Kraisser (ILL) – W, MD 13-0
Quarterfinal: #3 Antrell Taylor (NEB) – L, D 4-3
Cons. Round 2: #13 Luke Mechler (WIS) – W, D 5-1
3rd Place Quarterfinal: #9 Chase Saldate (MICH) – W, D 5-1
3rd Place Semifinal: #5 Tommy Askey (MIN) – W, D 4-1 (SV-1)
3rd Place Match: #3 Antrell Taylor (NEB) – W, D 3-2 (3OT)
165 | #11 Stoney Buell (R-Junior) (2-3)
Round 1: #6 Braeden Scoles (ILL) – L, Fall 4:59
Cons. Round 1: #14 Jay Nivison (MSU) – W, D 8-5 (SV-1)
Cons. Round 2: #5 Andrew Sparks (MIN) – L, D 12-5
9th Place Quarterfinal: #14 Jay Nivison (MSU) – W, D 4-1 (SV-1)
9th Place Semifinal: #10 Anthony White (RUT) – L, D 4-1
174 | #8 Brody Baumann (R-Sophomore) – 8th Place (2-3)
Round 1: #9 Lucas Condon (WIS) – W, D 14-7
Quarterfinal: #1 Levi Haines (PSU) – L, Fall 5:58
Cons. Round 2: #10 Derek Gilcher (IU) – W, D 4-3
3rd Place Quarterfinal: #12 Branson John (MD) – L D 9-4
7th Place Match: #5 Clayton Whiting (MIN) – L, Fall 6:52
184 | #13 Orlando Cruz (R-Freshman) (0-3)
Round 1: #4 Gabe Arnold (IOWA) – L, TF 19-4 (6:00)
Cons. Round 1: #12 Lucas Daly (MSU) – L, D 5-4
9th Place Quarterfinal: #12 Lucas Daly (MSU) – L, D 10-7 (SV-1)
197 | #11 Ben Vanadia (R-Junior) (3-3)
Round 1: #6 Evan Bates (NU) – L, MD 10-0
Cons. Round 1: #14 Niccolo Colucci (WIS) – W, Fall 4:07
Cons. Round 2: #4 Isaiah Salazar (MIN) – L, MD 12-0
11th Place Quarterfinal: #14 Niccolo Colucci (WIS) – W, TF 17-2 (5:32)
11th Place Semifinal: #10 Remy Cotton (MSU) – L, D 13-6
11th Place Cons. Match: #13 PJ Casale (RUT) – W, D 11-4
285 | #10 Hayden Filipovich (R-Junior) – 10th Place (1-3)
Round 1: #7 Ben Kueter (IOWA) – L, D 5-1
Cons. Round 1: BYE
Cons. Round 2: #9 Seth Nevills (MD) – L, D 5-0
11th Place Quarterfinal: BYE
11th Place Semifinal: #11 Harley Andrews (NEB) – W, MD 16-3
9th Place Match: #8 Jacob Bullock (IU) – L, D 5-2
TEAM RESULTS
1. Penn State - 181.5 pts
2. Nebraska - 137 pts
3. Iowa - 112 pts
4. Minnesota - 108.5 pts
5. Illinois - 105.5 pts
6. Ohio State - 95.5 pts
7. Michigan - 71 pts
8. Maryland - 54 pts
9. Rutgers - 46 pts
10. PURDUE - 44.5 pts
11. Indiana - 33 pts
12. Northwestern - 21.5 pts
13. Wisconsin - 19 pts
14. Michigan State - 11.5 pts