Gallardo Guevara, Ramos Named Co-Recipients of Varsity Walk AwardGallardo Guevara, Ramos Named Co-Recipients of Varsity Walk Award

Gallardo Guevara, Ramos Named Co-Recipients of Varsity Walk Award

The Purdue Reamer Club presented its annual honor to the most outstanding seniors who brought national recognition to Purdue.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Carmen Gallardo Guevara of Purdue women’s tennis and Matt Ramos of Purdue wrestling were named co-recipients of the 2025 Varsity Walk Award, an annual honor presented by the Purdue Reamer Club.

Each spring since 1956, the award has been given to the most outstanding senior who has participated as a varsity athlete and brought national recognition to Purdue.

Gallardo Guevara is the first women’s tennis player in school history to receive the Varsity Walk Award, and the first tennis player since John Bartlett, who received the inaugural honor in 1956. Ramos is the fourth wrestler to win the award following Alan Housner (1976), Charles Jones (1992) and Ben Wissel (2006).

Gallardo Guevara closed out her collegiate career as one of the most accomplished women’s tennis players in Purdue history, amassing 80 career singles wins which ranks as No. 7 all-time, and 59 doubles wins, which ranks as 15th. The two-time First Team All-Big Ten and two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection wrapped up her senior season with a 6-3 Big Ten and 11-4 overall record in the spring.

Playing at the No. 1 position all year, Gallardo Guevara finished the spring with an 11-4 (6-3 Big Ten) record and 20-10 overall mark for the 2024-25 academic year. Meanwhile, over the last eight matches of the season, she went 5-1 in singles action.

During the fall, the Madrid, Spain, native was runner-up at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional and competed in the NCAA singles tournament, falling in the Round of 64. She was the first Boilermaker to reach the NCAA Singles Championship since 2019 and was the sixth overall appearance by a Boilermaker in the tournament.

Ramos finished his collegiate wrestling career with one of the most dominant seasons ever produced by a Boilermaker. Competing at 125 pounds, he went 31-3 (.912) for the fourth-best single-season winning percentage in school history.

Ramos spent 15 straight weeks as the consensus top-ranked wrestler in the nation at 125 pounds, the longest a Boilermaker had been ranked No. 1 since at least 2003. He did not surrender a single takedown the entire regular season, compiling 66 himself, and held the best record in the country among all weight classes entering the postseason (23-0).

Along with becoming the fifth Purdue wrestler to win the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational title, Ramos’ season was highlighted by winning bronze at the Big Ten Championships and placing fourth in the NCAA tournament to become Purdue’s first two-time All-American since Wissel in 2006.

In June, head coach Tony Ersland hired Ramos as a full-time assistant coach, keeping one of Purdue’s all-time greatest wrestlers in a long-term role with the program. Ramos owns the third-best career winning percentage in program history (.816) and is tied for the fifth-most wins (115).

Bob Verplank, a 1957 Purdue graduate, created the idea of Varsity Walk. It was the project of the Purdue Reamer Club’s spring pledge class of 1956. The walk was formerly located in the Purdue Mall with the Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering buildings to the south and the Physics and Chem-Met buildings to the north.

An awards tower listing all the recipients now stands at the northwest corner of the Materials and Electrical Engineering buildings on campus. Gallardo Guevara and Ramos will join the elite list that includes the likes of former Boilermaker greats David Boudia, Drew Brees, Katie Douglas, Zach Edey, Katie Gearlds, Bob Griese, Rick Mount and Stephanie White.

The Purdue Reamer Club, established in 1923, is a student-run organization dedicated to observing the traditions of Purdue, supporting major and Olympic sports, and developing school spirit.

VARSITY WALK AWARD WINNERS

YEAR ATHLETE SPORT
1956 John Bartlett Tennis
1957 Lamar Lundy Football
1958 Mary Croake Swimming
1959 Paul Coward Soccer
1960 John Konsek Golf
1961 Bernie Allen Football
1962 Terry Dischinger Basketball
1963 Roy Walker Football
1964 Nate Adams Track & Field
1965 Terry Winter Golf
1966 Dave Schellhase Basketball
1967 Bob Griese Football
1968 Jim Beirne Football
1969 Leroy Keyes Football
1970 Rick Mount Basketball
  Mike Phipps Football
1971 Terry Wedgewood Baseball
1972 Bob Ford Basketball
1973 Otis Armstrong Football
1974 Frank Kendrick Basketball
1975 Larry Burton Football, Track & Field
1976 Alan Housner Wrestling
  Ken Novak Football
1977 Bruce Parkinson Basketball
1978 Noel Rubel Track & Field
1979 Jerry Sichting Basketball
1980 Joe Barry Carroll Basketball
1981 Mark Herrmann Football
1982 Keith Edmonson Basketball
1983 Jane Neff Volleyball
1984 Jim Rowinski Basketball
1985 James Bullock Basketball
1986 Marianne Smith Volleyball
1987 Rod Woodson Football, Track & Field
1988 Troy Lewis Basketball
  Todd Mitchell Basketball
  Everette Stephens Basketball
1989 Anne Kvachkoff Basketball
1990 Stephen Scheffler Basketball
1991 Joy Holmes Basketball
1992 Charles Jones Wrestling
  MaChelle Joseph Basketball
1993 Jeff Zgonina Football
1994 Kim Fritsch Swimming
1995 Cuonzo Martin Basketball
1996 Mike Alstott Football
1997 Corissa Yasen Basketball, Track & Field
1998 Brian Alford Football
1999 Ukari Figgs Basketball
  Stephanie White Basketball
2000 Brian Cardinal Basketball
2001 Drew Brees Football
  Katie Douglas Basketball
2002 Kelly Komara Basketball
2003 Shaun Guice Track & Field
2004 Stuart Schweigert Football
2005 Kyle Orton Football
2006 Ben Wissel Wrestling
2007 Katie Gearlds Basketball
2008 Shauna Stapleton Soccer
2009 Kara Patterson Track & Field
2010 Chris Kramer Basketball
2011 JaJuan Johnson Basketball
  Ryan Kerrigan Football
2012 David Boudia Diving
  Robbie Hummel Basketball
2013 Ariel Turner Volleyball
2014 Courtney Moses Basketball
2015 Raheem Mostert Football, Track & Field
2016 A.J. Hammons Basketball
2017 Ashley Morrissette Basketball
2018 Anthony Mahoungou Football
2019 Steele Johnson Diving
2020 Tommy Luce Basketball
2021 Jena Otec Volleyball
2022 Trevion Williams Basketball
2023 Cassidy Hardin Basketball
2024 Zach Edey Basketball
2025 Carmen Gallardo Guevara Tennis
  Matt Ramos Wrestling