Collin Purinton joined the Purdue wrestling staff as an assistant coach in October 2026 after spending the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach at North Dakota State.
In his lone season with the Bison, Purinton helped guide five wrestlers to podium finishes at the Big 12 Championships, with all five earning berths to the NCAA Championships in Cleveland.
Prior to North Dakota State, Purinton spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Sioux Falls, where he helped launch the wrestling program ahead of its inaugural 2023-24 season. In the program's first season, Purinton helped coach Beau Klingensmith to the first NCAA Championships berth in program history. Klingensmith earned the No. 10 seed at 133 pounds. During Purinton's second season, Sioux Falls tripled its dual-win total from the previous year, finishing with six victories, while seven student-athletes earned NWCA Academic All-America honors.
Before entering the collegiate coaching ranks, Purinton spent three seasons coaching at the high school level while training at the Nebraska Wrestling Training Center in Lincoln. During his senior-level career, he placed third at the 2022 U.S. Open Championships and sixth in 2023.
A native of Banks, Oregon, Purinton wrestled at Nebraska from 2015-20, compiling a 52-35 career record. He was a 2020 NWCA Second Team All-American and NCAA Championships qualifier, while earning Nebraska Scholar-Athlete honors four times and Academic All-Big Ten recognition in 2020.
While serving as an assistant coach for the Huskers, Tony Ersland recruited Purinton to Nebraska before leaving to take over the Purdue program in 2014.
Purinton earned his bachelor's degree in nutrition, exercise and health science from the University of Nebraska in 2020.