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Wrestling to Open Season at Home for First Time Since 1960Wrestling to Open Season at Home for First Time Since 1960

Wrestling to Open Season at Home for First Time Since 1960

The Boilermakers host Kent State on Sunday in a rare opening dual at home.

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by Brook Weber

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — For the first time since Dec. 3, 1960, the Purdue wrestling team is set to open its season at home on Sunday with a dual against Kent State.

The Boilermakers take on the Golden Flashes at 1 p.m. ET inside Holloway Gymnasium. As always, admission is free and doors open at noon. There is a Purdue Pete pin giveaway for early-arriving fans.

The broadcast will be on B1G+. Live updates and results will be posted on the X/Twitter account for @PurdueWrestling.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

99

Head coach Tony Ersland has 99 career wins entering Sunday’s season opener. A victory would tie him for second-most all time at Purdue with Claude Reeck (1938-69), and he would become the third Purdue wrestling coach to reach 100 wins. Jessie Reyes (1993-07) holds the program record with 178 career victories.

3

Joey Blaze enters his senior year ranked No. 3 nationally at 165 pounds as Purdue’s top star. After placing sixth at last season’s NCAA Championships on the heels of an undefeated regular season, he is looking to become just the fourth three-time All- American in school history this year.

20

Nineteen of Purdue’s 30 wrestlers are entering their first or second years of college wrestling. The roster is the program’s youngest in 20 years, since the 2006-07 season. Purdue also has the youngest team in the Big Ten Conference this season.

21

Purdue enters the season ranked No. 21 in the InterMat tournament rankings. It does not yet hold a spot in the national dual rankings.

PROJECTED MATCH CARD

All matchups subject to change | All rankings via InterMat

KENT STATE WEIGHT (POUNDS) PURDUE
Adan Benavidez / Nico Kapusta 125 Ashton Jackson / Isaiah Quintero
#33 Nick Molchak 133 Vincent Paino / Zach Stewart
Tyler Adams / Landen Duncan / Connor Peterson 141 #23 Isaiah Schaefer / Tylin Thrine
Nate Roth 149 Gavin Brown / Cole Solomey
Reese Stephen / JT Chance 157 Brody Saccoccia / Wyatt Krejsa
Ty Deericks / #26 Chris Earnest 165 #3 Joey Blaze / Jacob Weaver
Ethan Barr / Braxton Quaintance 174 #22 Brody Baumann / Xavier Smith
JR Reed / Mason Higley 184 James Rowley / Aidan Costello
Trent Thomas / Dylan Russo 197 Noah Weaver / Quinn Herbert
Brent Simmerman / Colin Whyte / Corey Boerio 285 Austin Richens / Dominic Burgett

MATCHUP POINTS

  • The Purdue wrestling team is set to open its 107th season and the 13th of the head coach Tony Ersland era.
  • The Boilermakers are 7-3 all-time against Kent State.
  • Purdue is hosting Kent State in West Lafayette for just the second time. The last time the Golden Flashes visited Purdue was on March 3, 1939, when they defeated the Boilers 28-0 inside the just over one-year-old Lambert Fieldhouse (opened Dec. 12, 1937).
  • The Boilers most recently faced the Flashes in a road dual at Kent State on Jan. 3, 2025, a 31-10 Purdue win.
  • Brody Baumann (No. 22 at 174) is the only returning Boilermaker who wrestled in that dual. He dominated current Kent State redshirt-junior Hunter Andel in a 21-5 technical fall. Joey Blaze was also on the team but was recovering from an injury he suffered at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite a few weeks prior.
  • Purdue has won five of its last six against Kent State. The two programs met five times between 1998-2011 at the annual Wendy’s Classic in Ashland, Ohio. After Purdue won the first four in dominant fashion, a No. 17-ranked Flashes squad edged out No. 21 Purdue, 17- 15, in 2011 for their most recent win over the Boilermakers.
  • Blaze (No. 3 at 165) is expected to wrestle 2026 MAC Champion and NCAA qualifier, No. 26 Chris Earnest, in the only ranked matchup of the dual.
  • Kent State coach Josh Moore was the head coach at Cleveland State for seven seasons before taking the KSU job. Purdue defeated Moore’s Vikings, 35-9, in the program’s final season on Dec. 18, 2024.

HOME SWEET HOME... 66 YEARS LATER

Below is a snapshot of articles from the Purdue Exponent detailing the last time Purdue Wrestling hosted a season opener.

Picture1.jpg

(Purdue Exponent, Dec. 3, 1960)

Picture2.jpg

(Purdue Exponent, Dec. 6, 1960)

WRESTLESTAT DUAL PROJECTION

WrestleStat is the leading wrestling statistics website with formulas that project match results. The software projects Purdue to win Sunday’s dual, 26-6, taking eight of 10 matches. Of course, none of these matchups are guaranteed since there are multiple possible starters listed at each weight.

Projections: 

125: Ashton Jackson 9-3 Dec. Adan Benavidez | PUR 3-0
133: Vincent Paino 9-7 Dec. #33 Nick Molchak | PUR 6-0
141: #23 Isaiah Schaefer 10-5 Dec. Tyler Adams | PUR 9-0
149: Gavin Brown 8-7 Dec. Nate Roth | PUR 12-0
157: JT Chance 9-4 Dec. Brody Saccoccia | PUR 12-3
165: #3 Joey Blaze 14-4 MD #26 Chris Earnest | PUR 16-3
174: #22 Brody Baumann 10-7 Dec. Ethan Barr | PUR 19-3
184: James Rowley 11-4 Dec. JR Reed | PUR 22-3
197: Noah Weaver 13-4 MD Trent Thomas | PUR 26-3
285: Brent Simmerman 10-5 Dec. Austin Richens | PUR 26-6