Big Ten Preview: Purdue

Maybe we should just, you know, make boilers

Purdue used to be a significant player in the Big Ten but has since slid down into the more obscure area of the conference. The good part of the story is that the Purdue wrestling faithful are still just as supportive as ever. If you don't think the community still loves Purdue wrestling, just visit their athletic web site and go to wrestling. You will be met by a hype video for their 2011 dual against Missouri. This proud program will undoubtedly climb its way back up the ladder.

2011 Summary 

Purdue qualified 5 wrestlers for the NCAA tournament but produced no All Americans. Additionally stand out 149lb Ivan Lopouchanski transferred to Purdue at the end of the year from UNC Greensboro that eliminated its wrestling program. Ivan also qualified for the NCAA's and will be included in the breakdown.

Name: Camden Eppert (125)

Record: 13 - 17

Status: Red Shirt Sophomore

Big Ten place: 5th

NCAA place: Round of 33

Notable win(s): none

Season ended when: Back to back losses to Ryan Mango (Stanford, 9-11) and Alan Bartelli (Boise St, 0-4)

                                                                                  Vs. PSU: none

Name: Ivan Lopouchanski (149)

Record: 41 - 10

Status: Red Shirt Sophomore

Big Ten place: N/A (Transfer)

NCAA place: Round of 12

Notable win(s): none

Season ended when: Drew Darrion Caldwell (NC State, 7-18) and was eventually eliminated by Jamal Parks (OSU, SV 6-8)

Vs. PSU: Beat English 4-2

Name: Colton Salazar (157)

Record: 17 - 11

Status: Graduated

Big Ten place: 5th

NCAA place: Round of 24

Notable win(s): none

Season ended when: Lost to Adam Hall (Boise St, 2-6), Frank Hickman (Bloom, 4-6)

                                                                                  Vs. PSU: none

Name: Luke Manuel (174)

Record: 22 - 10

Status: Graduated

Big Ten place: 4th

NCAA place: Round of 12

Notable win(s): none

Season ended when: Blanked by Jon Reader (ISU, 0-13), won two then got eliminated by Ed Ruth (PSU, 6-7)

Vs. PSU: Lost to Ruth 6-7

Name: AJ Kissel (184)

Record: 22 - 10

Status: Graduated

Big Ten place: 7th

NCAA place: Round of 32

Notable win(s): Chris Perry (OSU, 1-0)

Season ended when: Back to back losses to Joe LeBlanc (Wy, Fall), Austin Trotman                                                                                             (Ap. St, 4-7)

                                                                                 Vs. PSU: none

 Name: Logan Brown (197)

Record: 22 - 9

Status: Graduated

Big Ten place: 6th

NCAA place: Round of 24

Notable win(s): none

Season ended when: Lost to Zac Thomusseit (Pitt, 2-3) and Brent Haynes (Missouri, 6-9)

Vs. PSU: Beat Ruggear 12-3


None of the NCAA qualifiers had very good showings, except for the transfer Lopouchinski who made it to the Round of 12 in his first year of collegiate action. Eppert got in basically becasue the Big Ten is good enough to have that many slots available, and an injured Brad Pataky (PSU) bumped a lot of 125lb wrestlers up a spot. Eppert will most likely finish his career in mediocrity, but Lopouchinski will be an All American at some point after toughening up from the Big Ten conference gauntlet.

2011 Team Stats

Dual Record: 8 - 8 - 1 (3 - 5 in Big Ten)

Big Ten Championship: 9th

NCAA Championship: Tied for 39th

Cliff Keen Invitational: Tied for 8th

Midlands: 27th

Individual Record: 264 - 221

Pins: 37

Tech. Falls: 11

Major Decisions: 49

Vs. PSU: none

Recruiting 

Purdue's 2011 recruiting class needed to be a big one since 6 of their starters graduated, and instead they had an okay one. The class included three d1 wrestling top 150 recruits with #77 Danny Sabatello, #107 Drake Stein and #111 Chad Welch. If Purdue hopes to improve the program, it needs to start with better recruiting classes.

2012 Outlook 

Purdue is going to take it on the chin this year...hard. Four of their NCAA qualifiers graduated this season. Their only hope is that the wrestlers waiting in the wings can have a big impact. There isn't much else to say here. Lopouchinski will be the stand out wrestler for the team but they will still be lucky to get more than one win in the Big Ten, if even that.

Despite having a depleted roster, the Boilermakers still have a pretty aggressive schedule. They will once again travel to the Midlands and take part in the National Duals. Their non-conference dual schedule includes challenges in Missouri, American, Lehigh, Rutgers and Central Michigan. The challenging schedule should help mold the young wrestlers on the team, which could give them an edge over other weak Big Ten teams that took an easier schedule.