WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No. 20 Purdue Wrestling is set to close a long stretch of road competition with one more pair of duals on the East Coast this weekend.
The Boilermakers will wrestle at No. 18 Maryland on Friday at 7 p.m. ET, and at No. 21 Rutgers on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Both duals will be available to watch live on B1G+.
PROJECTED STARTERS
(all rankings via Intermat)
#20 PURDUE (7-2, 0-1 B1G)
125 | Ashton Jackson / Isaiah Quintero
133 | Blake Boarman / Isaiah Schaefer
141 | Greyson Clark / Vincent Paino
149 | #21 Gavin Brown
157 | #22 Stoney Buell / Kade Law
165 | #4 Joey Blaze / Isaac Ruble
174 | #17 Brody Baumann / Aidan Costello
184 | #26 James Rowley
197 | #22 Ben Vanadia
285 | Hayden Filipovich / Dominic Burgett
#18 MARYLAND (4-3, 0-2 B1G)
125 | Abram Cline / Presden Sanchez
133 | #16 Braxton Brown
141 | Dario Lemus / Ryan Kennedy
149 | Michael Pizzuto / #7 Carter Young
157 | Mekhi Neal / Nathan Perry
165 | Alex Uryniak / AJ Rodrigues
174 | Dom Solis / Seth Digby
184 | #5 Jaxon Smith / Sepanta Ahnj-Elias
197 | #15 Branson John / Anthony Bradley
285 | Oscar Williams / Jackson Schwab
#21 RUTGERS (6-3, 0-1 B1G)
125 | #27 Ayden Smith
133 | #26 Dylan Shawver
141 | Tahir Parkins / Mason Gibson
149 | #30 Andrew Clark / Devon Magro
157 | #33 Anthony White
165 | #21 Andrew Barbosa / Ryan Ford
174 | #10 Lenny Pinto / Jordan Chapman
184 | #15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh
197 | #18 Remy Cotton
285 | #20 Hunter Catka
MARYLAND PREVIEW
Purdue returns to College Park, Maryland, for the first time since Feb. 10, 2023. The Boilermakers won their most recent matchup with the Terrapins in a 23-14 victory last February in Holloway Gymnasium. Returning starters Greyson Clark, Joey Blaze, Stoney Buell, Brody Baumann and Ben Vanadia all won their individual matches that day, which featured three Purdue wins for bonus points.
Joey Blaze at 157 lbs wins by tech fall 💥#B1GWrestling x @PurdueWrestling pic.twitter.com/dy7bHNw3vp
— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) February 15, 2025
The 2025-26 edition of the Terps are off to a 4-3 start with an 0-2 mark in Big Ten dual action. Maryland lost 27-12 at Northwestern last Friday and 28-13 at Wisconsin on Sunday.
Purdue holds a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series against Maryland, which goes back to Jan. 17, 2010. The Boilers have taken five of the last six, amassing a total dual score of 167-59 in those past six meetings.
Maryland has four nationally ranked starters going into Friday: No. 16 Braxton Brown (133 lbs), No. 7 Carter Young (149), No. 5 Jaxon Smith (184) and No. 15 Branson John (197). The latter three mix into potential ranked-on-ranked matches against Purdue’s starters. No. 21 Gavin Brown (149), No. 26 James Rowley (184) and No. 22 Ben Vanadia (197) will look to pull upsets if all of Maryland’s stars do indeed start.
RUTGERS PREVIEW
The Scarlet Knights field a deep roster this year that includes a ranked starter at every weight except 141 lbs. All six ranked Boilermakers are projected to face stiff tests in Piscataway:
149 | #21 Brown vs. #30 Andrew Clark
157 | #22 Buell vs. #33 Anthony White
165 | #4 Blaze vs. #21 Andrew Barbosa
174 | #17 Baumann vs. #10 Lenny Pinto
184 | #26 Rowley vs. #15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh
197 | #22 Vanadia vs. #18 Remy Cotton
Rutgers leads the all-time series 5-2. However, Purdue has taken two of the last three, including the team’s last trip to Piscataway when the Boilers prevailed 18-15 on Jan. 31, 2021, at the tail end of a tri-dual during the COVID-impacted season.
Rutgers is 6-3 (0-1 B1G) after having lost their conference opener at No. 1 Penn State last Saturday. The defending national champions swept the Knights for a final score of 46-0.
LAST TIME OUT
The Boilermakers dropped their conference opener at No. 7 Nebraska last Friday, a 36-3 loss in Lincoln. Blaze took Purdue’s only match win of the night, a dominant 8-2 decision over No. 8 LJ Araujo for the junior All-American’s first top-10 win of the season.
UP NEXT
Purdue finally returns to the friendly confines of Holloway Gymnasium next Friday for its Big Ten home opener against Michigan State. Doors will open at 4 p.m. ET for a 5 p.m. ET start time.
As always, admission is free to all fans. There will be a nationally televised broadcast on Big Ten Network.