TONY ERSLAND AT PURDUE
• In five years, Ersland has secured 10 top-100 recruits and three top-25 recruiting classes … the class of 2016 was ranked No. 6 by FloWrestling, No. 7 by InterMat and No. 8 by WIN Magazine ... the class of 2017 was ranked No. 13 by FloWrestling, No. 18 by InterMat and No. 22 by TheOpenMat.com … the InterMat ranking is the third highest for Purdue with records dating to 2004 … Ersland is credited with two of those top three recruiting classes: 2016 and 2017 ... the class of 2018 was ranked 18th by FloWrestling and 25th by TheOpenMat.com.
• Has sent 29 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships … has twice matched a program high with eight qualifiers in 2015 and 2019 … Purdue previously qualified eight in 1993 and 2003 … the eight qualifiers in 2015 were the most since 2010.
• Twenty-four Boilermakers have placed at the Big Ten Championships under Ersland, with six earning podium finishes in 2018 and 2019 … the six placewinners are the most since seven Boilermakers landed on the podium in 2012 … in 2018, Purdue turned in its best Big Ten Championships performance with 59.5 points, the most since 76 points were scored in 2010.
• Ersland’s squad has been included in the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll since the first regular season rankings of 2017-18, a span of 30 consecutive regular season polls … the 2017-18 season marked the first time since 2012-13 that the Boilermakers were included in each top-25 ranking released during the regular season … the final ranking of No. 21 marked the highest finish for an Ersland-coached squad ... it was also the highest final ranking since the 2012-13 Boilermakers closed out the season ranked 14th.
• The Boilermakers were tabbed 18
th in the 2018-19 preseason poll, the highest preseason ranking since 1991-92 … during the season, the Purdue wrestling team climbed as high as No. 13 in Theraworx NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll, the program's highest ranking in nearly 10 years … the last time Purdue was ranked 13th or higher was Feb. 17, 1999, where the Boilermakers checked in at No. 13.
• In 2018-19, Purdue had as many as five nationally ranked wrestlers at one time, a first since 2012 … six different Purdue wrestlers were nationally ranked throughout the season.
• Forty-eight Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors have been earned by 26 Boilermaker wrestlers … has twice broken program highs in number of honorees, first with 10 in 2015-16 and then 13 in 2018-19.
• The 2018-19 squad was ranked 18
th on the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s top-30 Scholar All-American Teams list … it was the first time since 2013 Purdue made the list and was the second highest ranked team among six Big Ten Conference programs among the top 30.
• Five Boilermakers were named NWCA Division I Scholar All-American Award winners in 2018-19, setting a new standard for Purdue wrestling … Ben Thornton earned his third NWCA Division I Scholar All-American Award, becoming the fifth three-time honoree in program history … during Ersland’s tenure, six Boilermakers have been named NWCA Division I Scholar All-American Award winners a combined nine times.
• Two of Ersland’s wrestlers have received the Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship, a $7,500 scholarship to be used towards graduate degree education: Andrew Hoselton (2016) and Ben Thornton (2019).
• Coached Kendric Maple to the 2017 U.S. Open Men's Freestyle National Championships title at 61 kg ... coached Griffin Parriott to the 2017 UWW Junior Freestyle National Championships title at 70 kg.
• Coached 2015 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships 165-pound title winner Chad Welch to give Purdue its first Midlands champ since 1963 … coached the first two-time Big Ten Wrestler of the Week in Purdue history in Danny Sabatello (2014-15).
• At the 2017 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships a program-record seven wrestlers placed, crushing the previous high of four from 2008, 2006 and 1990 ... as a team, the Boilermakers totaled 84 points to place seventh ... the 84 points are the most they have ever scored at Midlands, topping 2008’s performance of 82.5 points ... they combined to score 367 total match points, which was the fifth most among all teams.
• In 2015, Tony Ersland was one of nine head coaches that were in their first season as a Division I head coach and one of 13 coaches that were in their first year at the helm of their respective program ... his eight NCAA qualifiers were the most among both groups ... he was also the only coach among both groups to have his team in the final USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll.
|
OVERALL |
BIG TEN CONFERENCE |
| SEASON |
FINAL RANK |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
| 2014-15 |
23 |
10 |
8 |
.556 |
3 |
6 |
.333 |
| 2015-16 |
NR |
9 |
8 |
.529 |
3 |
6 |
.333 |
| 2016-17 |
25 |
9 |
7 |
.563 |
3 |
6 |
.333 |
| 2017-18 |
21 |
9 |
7 |
.563 |
3 |
6 |
.333 |
| 2018-19 |
25 |
7 |
10 |
.412 |
3 |
6 |
.333 |
| Totals |
|
44 |
40 |
.524 |
15 |
30 |
.333 |
During his 20 years as a Division I wrestling coach, Tony Ersland has played an integral role in developing student-athletes that are accomplished on the mat and nationally recognized. He has had nearly 100 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships, with 28 earning All-America honors and four finishing at the top of the podium. Two of his pupils, Jordan Burroughs and Jake Herbert, earned the highest honor a collegiate grappler can receive in the Dan Hodge Award. Ersland continued to develop Burroughs on the international stage as he claimed the 2011 and 2013 World titles at 74 kg. In 2012, Burroughs claimed Olympic gold in London.
Ersland came to Purdue after serving as an assistant coach at Nebraska for eight seasons. While on staff, the Huskers tallied a 102-41-2 dual record, recorded seven top-20 team finishes at the NCAA Championships and grapplers earned 17 All-America honors.
Prior to his post at Nebraska, Ersland coached the Cyclone Wrestling Club in Ames, Iowa. Ersland worked with Iowa State NCAA champions Trent Paulson (157) and David Zabriskie (285) among other multiple NCAA qualifiers and All-Americans.
His familiarity with the Big Ten extends beyond his time at Nebraska. From 2000-05, Ersland was the head assistant wrestling coach at Northwestern, and he also served as a coach and board member for the Wildcat Wrestling Club.
He was the head assistant wrestling coach at Northern Illinois in 1999 and 2000 after getting his start as a graduate assistant at Central Michigan from 1997 to 1999.
On the mat, Ersland wrestled for the University of Iowa under legendary coach Dan Gable and was a part of three-straight NCAA team championships (1995-97) and four Big Ten Championships (1994-97). During his senior season in 1997, Ersland finished one match shy of All-America honors at 177 pounds.
The Humboldt, Iowa, native excelled in the classroom as a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and Board of Control Athletics Award winner, and was bestowed with Iowa wrestling's J. Donald McPike Award, given to the senior on the team with the highest grade-point average.
Ersland earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Iowa (1997) and a Master of Arts in athletic administration from Central Michigan (1999).
Ersland and his wife, Carolyn, have twin sons, Mason and Jaxon.