WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No. 21 Purdue is ready to compete in the 112th Big Ten Conference Wrestling Championships, held Saturday and Sunday at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.
Action in the winners’ bracket will be televised on Big Ten Network. Other matches including individual mat cams will be streamed on B1G+.
Brackets will be finalized and announced on Friday.
SCHEDULE/TELEVISION COVERAGE
All times in Eastern
Saturday, March 7
10 a.m. – Session I (First Round, Quarters, Wrestlebacks) – BTN/B1G+
5 p.m. – Session II (Consolation Matches, Wrestlebacks) – B1G+
7 p.m. – Session II (Semis) – BTN/B1G+
Sunday, March 8
12 p.m. – Session III (Consolation Semis, 7th-Place Matches) – B1G+
4:30 p.m. – Session IV (1st-, 3rd- and 5th-Place matches) – BTN/B1G+
LINEUP
125 | Ashton Jackson – R-So. – 13 pre-seed
133 | Blake Boarman – R-Sr. – 10 pre-seed
141 | Greyson Clark – Jr. – 6 pre-seed
149 | Gavin Brown – R-Jr. – 12 pre-seed
157 | Stoney Buell – R-Sr. – 9 pre-seed
165 | Joey Blaze – Jr. – 3 pre-seed
174 | Brody Baumann – R-Jr. – 8 pre-seed
184 | James Rowley – R-Jr. – 10 pre-seed
197 | Ben Vanadia – R-Sr. – 9 pre-seed
285 | Hayden Filipovich – R-Sr. – 11 pre-seed
Locked in. Purdue's 1⃣0⃣ for Big Tens!#AlwaysAggressive pic.twitter.com/QRWWkNxNtg
— Purdue Wrestling (@PurdueWrestling) March 4, 2026
PURDUE PREVIEW
The Boilermakers are sending their 10 regular starters, one from each weight class, to compete in the double-elimination tournament and vie for a spot on the conference podium.
The 2026 team is the most experienced Purdue lineup at a Big Ten tournament in a decade. Purdue’s starters average 4.1 years of college wrestling experience, the team’s most since averaging 4.4 in 2016.
Purdue has seven wrestlers pre-seeded in the top 10, the team’s most since 2021. Six Boilermakers are returning to the Big Ten Championships after starting a year ago, and five of them have the same or higher pre-seeds compared to 2025.
| RETURNEE | 2025 PRE-SEED | 2026 PRE-SEED |
| Greyson Clark | 9 (141) | 6 (141) |
| Stoney Buell | 11 (165) | 9 (157) |
| Joey Blaze | 6 (157) | 3 (165) |
| Brody Baumann | 8 (174) | 8 (174) |
| Ben Vanadia | 11 (197) | 9 (197) |
| Hayden Filipovich | 10 (285) | 11 (285) |
Select placewinners from each weight will be awarded automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA Championships, which take place March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Auto-bid allocations for each weight were announced last week for seven conference tournaments happening around the country. The Big Ten received the most auto-bids by far, accounting for 87 of 288 nationally.
Remaining wrestlers who do not earn an auto-bid can be eligible for an at-large selection in the days after the tournament. Click here to see the designated numbers of automatic qualifiers split up by weight class.
The Boilermakers will look to add to the 40 individual Big Ten titles in school history. Ryan Lange won Purdue’s most recent conference title in 2004 at 174 lbs. Purdue’s last Big Ten finalist was Devin Schroder at 125 lbs. in 2021. Purdue has won a total of six Big Ten team championships: 1942, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1954.
BLAZING THROUGH HISTORY
Purdue’s star junior Joey Blaze (consensus No. 2 at 165) has quietly put together one of the most prolific resumes in the country and best runs in school history, going a perfect 18-0 this season without surrendering a single takedown or back point.
It was just the fourth undefeated regular season in recorded school history. He joined Charles Jones (1991-92), Chris Fleeger (2002-03) and Matt Ramos (2024-25).
Free as a bird 🕊️
— Purdue Wrestling (@PurdueWrestling) February 21, 2026
Joey Blaze posts the 4th undefeated regular season by a Boilermaker since 1975!
Not satisfied yet… pic.twitter.com/wTk15wHjtN
Expanding the scope to last season, Blaze has won 26 of his last 27 with the lone loss coming in the national title match to Antrell Taylor at 157 lbs. In fact, Blaze has not lost a match to a wrestler other than Taylor since Dec. 6, 2024, at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite. He returned and won the prestigious tournament last December.
Blaze has become known as one of the most slippery, hardest-to-score-on wrestlers in the world. In 77 collegiate matches, he’s 30-0 in bonus point bouts and has given up multiple takedowns only one time, when he gave up just two to Ethen Miller (Maryland) on Nov. 9, 2024.
Blaze’s biggest statement this season came against Iowa in a 7-4 decision over No. 3 Mikey Caliendo, the 2025 NCAA runner-up and three-time All-American.
AMAZIN’ GREYSON
Two-time NCAA qualifier Greyson Clark (No. 30 at 141) has been Purdue’s second-most dominant starter through Big Ten dual season. An immensely talented grappler and four-time Wisconsin state champion, Clark’s biggest hurdle has been maintaining his health. Since the turn of the new year, he’s 5-0 including a 4-0 mark in Big Ten duals.
In those five bouts, Clark went unchallenged and combined for a total score of 54-8.
Most recently, he dominated No. 25 Henry Porter (Indiana) in an 8-0 major decision upset. The Boilermaker is 12-4 this year and 6-1 in bonus point matches.
With a career high No. 6 pre-seed, Clark is certainly a sleeper to watch at 141, coming in looking the best he ever has in three seasons.
#31 @GreysonClark48 with the 8-0 shutout for bonus points over #25 Henry Porter!
— Purdue Wrestling (@PurdueWrestling) February 21, 2026
Clark's won his last four by a combined 48-6 heading into the postseason. #AlwaysAggressive pic.twitter.com/J8CIh22cQD
IT’S PRONOUNCED “BO-MEN”!
A fellow two-time national qualifier, Brody Baumann (No. 17 at 174) has had a career year despite suffering an injury against Michigan State on Jan. 23 that kept him out almost a month.
He lost his return match to Derek Gilcher at Indiana, but it was evident he didn’t look like himself after a month away. Before that, he had won four of the last five with his only loss coming in a hard-fought 11-8 decision to No. 6 Chris Minto at Nebraska.
Baumann broke through with the biggest win of his career over Rutgers’ No. 10 Lenny Pinto, a clutch 5-4 decision for his first top-10 win.
Like Clark, when healthy, Baumann is one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the country and can hang with the best. Despite missing nearly a month of action, Baumann still leads Purdue with 59 takedowns.
DON’T COUNT THEM OUT
Seniors Stoney Buell (No. 9 at 157) and Ben Vanadia (No. 9 at 197) improved on their pre-seeds from a year ago and are set for one last run at the conference podium. Hayden Filipovich (No. 11 at 285) will also be making his fourth and final appearance as James Rowley (No. 10 at 184) returns for the first time since his redshirt freshman season in 2024.
Blake Boarman (No. 10 at 133), Gavin Brown (No. 12 at 149) and Ashton Jackson (No. 13 at 125) will all be making their first trek to the Big Ten tournament.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
For a short period of time, limited tickets remain for the upcoming NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 19-21 in Cleveland.
Call the Hayes Family Athletic Ticket Office to purchase: 765.494.3194