Purdue All-Quarter Century Wrestling Team: 285 lbsPurdue All-Quarter Century Wrestling Team: 285 lbs

Purdue All-Quarter Century Wrestling Team: 285 lbs

Coach Ersland and his staff finish unveiling Purdue's top wrestlers of the 21st century.

by Brook Weber

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — To commemorate the past 25 years, head coach Tony Ersland and his staff have unveiled Purdue’s All-Quarter Century Team featuring some of the greatest Boilermaker wrestlers since the turn of the 21st century.

Recognizing wrestlers who competed for Purdue between 2000-2025, the list has been revealed in 10 separate releases leading up to the 2025-26 season, one for each weight class, concluding on Tuesday with 285 pounds.

The selection criteria for any All-Quarter Century Team is unavoidably subjective, but former All-Americans, multiple-time NCAA qualifiers, Big Ten placewinners and others with outstanding career accomplishments were among the key points of consideration.

Some of the wrestlers on the All-Quarter Century Team excelled at multiple weights while donning the Old Gold & Black. Most of the honorees have been presented among the weight classes in which they finished their careers, though some liberties were taken for the sake of keeping the number of wrestlers relatively even at each weight.

Below is a look back at all the releases.

Monday, Aug. 18 ... 125 lbs
Monday, Aug. 25 ... 133 lbs
Monday, Sept. 1 ... 141 lbs
Monday, Sept. 8 ... 149 lbs
Monday, Sept. 15 ... 157 lbs
Monday, Sept. 22 ... 165 lbs
Monday, Sept. 29 ... 174 lbs
Monday, Oct. 6 ... 184 lbs
Monday, Oct. 13 ... 197 lbs
Tuesday, Oct. 21 ... Heavyweight

Without further ado...

JAKE VERCELLI (1999-2002)

One of the most dominant big men of the head coach Jessie Reyes era, Jake Vercelli was the first Purdue All-American of the 21st century.

He totaled 91 wins in his four years at Purdue, earning two All-America honors and capping it all off with a fourth-place finish at the 2002 NCAA Championships.

"It feels good to do what I've done," Vercelli once told the Purdue Exponent. "It was one of my goals when I came here to be an All-American at least once. Last year, I had to kind of adjust my goals to try for the national championship, but I'm real happy to have been there twice."

Vercelli earned an eighth-place finish as a junior in 2001, doing so as an unseeded wrestler. He placed three times at the Big Ten Championships, taking seventh in 2000, sixth in 2001 and fifth his senior year.

Vercelli still ranks tied for eighth on Purdue’s all-time pins list; he totaled 27 in his career.

Israel_Blevins

ISRAEL BLEVINS (2000-04)

Israel Blevins took the baton from Vercelli and ran with it, assuming the starting heavyweight role through the early 2000s. You could say he was born to be a wrestler, since the name ‘Israel’ in Hebrew roughly translates to ‘wrestles with God.’

“I know that wrestling (Vercelli) has only helped me get ready for next year when I get to take over,” Blevins said in 2002. “I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, as well as smarter. I feel like I'm ready to take over."

He was indeed ready to take over. Blevins was a two-time NCAA qualifier from 2003-04 and a two-time conference placewinner.

Blevins placed seventh at Big Tens in 2003 and fifth in 2004. He ranks 17th on Purdue’s pin record chart with 18 total.

HAYDEN FILIPOVICH (2021-present)

Only the third current Boilermaker to make the list, redshirt senior Hayden Filipovich, aka “Big Fil," has proven to be one of the most versatile competitors to ever wrestle for Coach Ersland.

He started his career as a 197-pounder his first two years, went down to 184 in 2023-24 and back up to 285 last season. He bulked up roughly 50 pounds in the offseason to make the remarkable transformation happen.

Anyone who knows anything about wrestling would have expected Filipovich to struggle mightily to adapt to grappling with opponents who are naturally much bigger. Filipovich faced one of the most grueling slate of opponents as anyone, facing a team-high 13 ranked wrestlers in the regular season, almost always looking like the smaller guy on the mat.

But Filipovich came into his own late in the season, and the fruits of his labor started to show when he upset No. 21 Harley Andrews 9-4 in the Nebraska dual on Senior Day. He beat Andrews again in a dominant 16-3 major decision at the Big Ten Championships to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships, just 13 months after competing under 184.

Filipovich was the only Indianapolis native to qualify for NCAAs this past season, and he won his first match in the national tournament. He’s also a three-time NWCA Scholar All-American and Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

Filipovich returns for his last ride in 2025-26 ranked No. 32 in the nation, anchoring the heavy end of a promising Boilermaker team.