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Purdue All-Quarter Century Wrestling Team: 184 lbsPurdue All-Quarter Century Wrestling Team: 184 lbs

Purdue All-Quarter Century Wrestling Team: 184 lbs

Coach Ersland and his staff unveil 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 are unveiling 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 is being revealed in 10 separate releases leading up to the 2025-26 season, one for each weight class, continuing on Monday with 184 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 will be 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 at the release schedule leading into the first week of the season.

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
Monday, Oct. 20 ... Heavyweight

Without further ado...

BEN WISSEL (2001-06)

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Two-time All-American Ben Wissel was arguably Purdue’s most dominant 184-pounder of the 21st century. A qualifier for the NCAA Championships in all four of his varsity seasons, Wissel broke through as a redshirt junior and made his first climb up the NCAA podium, taking eighth place in 2005.

Wissel is one of just 18 wrestlers to top the 100-career win mark, racking up 115 to match fellow All-Americans Tony Vaughn and Matt Ramos for fifth all-time at Purdue.

Wissel ranks second in Purdue history with 406 takedowns, including a single-season record 188 in his senior campaign. His 38 wins as a senior are tied for fifth-best in school history, while his 86% winning percentage that season is good for the No. 15 mark by a Boilermaker.

Wissel totaled 11 wins at the NCAA Championships, tied for fourth-most in school history. He later returned to coach at Purdue before going to work as an assistant coach at Duke.

MAX LYON (2017-22)

Another four-time NCAA qualifier, Max Lyon amassed an 87-68 career record for the Boilers. As a redshirt senior in 2022, he was the No. 30 seed at 184 and upset the No. 13 and No. 14 seeds in the national tournament.

Lyon ranks 20th in Purdue history with 237 career takedowns. He was the No. 25 seed at NCAAs as a sophomore (2019), No. 30 as a junior (2020), No. 16 as a senior (2021) and No. 30 as a redshirt senior (2022).

Lyon was also just the second four-time NWCA Scholar All-American in program history, earning his degree in Industrial Management – Operations & Supply Chain Management. He now serves as an operations supervisor for Southwire in Lafayette.

A.J. KISSEL (2007-12)

Four-time NCAA qualifier A.J. Kissel is a 6’2, former 184-pounder from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He earned the inaugural “Ultimate Hammer” award as Purdue’s most outstanding wrestler his senior season in 2011-12.

Kissel was a two-time placewinner in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite, taking fifth in 2008 and fourth in 2010. He totaled six wins in his four NCAA Championships appearances, including a career-best three wins in 2009.

Kissel was a four-time NWCA Academic All-American and four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree while majoring in landscape horticulture and design. He was a three-time Big Ten placewinner with a career high of sixth place in 2012.

BRADEN ATWOOD (2010-15)

Braden Atwood was a four-time Big Ten Championships placewinner and NCAA qualifier. He posted a 91-49 career record for the Boilers and a 50-22 dual record.

Atwood stuck 31 pins throughout his career, tied for the fourth-most in school history.

He was just the fourth Boilermaker to become a two-time placewinner at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, taking fourth in 2011 (184) and second in 2013 (197).

After working as an assistant coach for a few years at North Carolina, Army West Point and Sacred Heart, Atwood now works as a construction manager for Workforce Partners in Norwalk, Connecticut.