Ground Report

PURDUE WRESTLING NOTES // No. 20 Chattanooga, North Carolina

Boilermakers (5-2) will face No. 20 Chattanooga on Friday, North Carolina on Saturday.

Dec. 10, 2014

DUAL INFORMATION
Purdue (5-2, 0-0 B1G) at No. 20 Chattanooga (3-0, 0-0 SoCon)
Friday, Dec. 12 // 7 p.m. ET // Maclellan Gym // Chattanooga, Tenn.

DUAL LINKS
Dual Notes
Live Stream // SoCon Digital Network
Live Results // TrackWrestling
Twitter // @PurdueWrestling

Purdue (5-2, 0-0 B1G) vs. North Carolina (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
Saturday, Dec. 13 // 7 p.m. ET // Kell High School // Marietta, Ga.

DUAL LINKS
Dual Notes
Live Results // TrackWrestling
Twitter // @PurdueWrestling

SOCIAL MEDIA
Always be in the know, go behind the scenes and travel with the Boilermakers all season long.

• Facebook // Purdue Wrestling

• Instagram // @PurdueWrestling

• Tumblr // purduewrestling.tumblr.com

• Twitter // @PurdueWrestling

• Hashtags // #BoilerUp #AlwaysAggressive

• Tony Ersland // Instagram @tonyersland // Twitter @tonyersland

• Zach Tanelli // Instagram @ztanelli // Twitter @ZachTanelli

• Tyrel Todd // Instagram @tyrel_todd // Twitter @Tyrel_Todd

Head Coach // Tony Ersland (Iowa, 1997)
Assistant Coaches // Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin, 2009) and Tyrel Todd (Michigan, 2009)

Head Coach // Heath Eslinger (Chattanooga, 2000)
Assistant Coaches // Jeff Bedard (Carson-Newman, 1993) and Niko Brown (Chattanooga, 2013)

SCOUTING THE MOCS
• Half of Chattanooga’s lineup from last year’s dual is back, with two weight class changes. Austin Sams bumped up to 157 after spending last year at 141/49. In last year’s dual, Purdue’s Danny Sabatello defeated Sams in sudden victory, 9-7, at 141 pounds. Also making a change is Jared Johnson. The Moc went 4-4 at 197 last year, including a 10-3 loss to Boilermaker Braden Atwood. Johnson is off to a 10-4 start with four major decisions at 285.

• Chattanooga has a pair of returning NCAA qualifiers in Nick Soto (133) and Levi Clemons (174). Soto went 2-2 last year in Oklahoma City, including an 8-7 loss to Purdue’s Cashé Quiroga. Clemons went 0-2.

• Familiar faces in Sean Boyle (125) and McCoy Newberg (165) are new to the Mocs’ lineup. Boyle, who received a sixth year of eligibility, transferred from Michigan where he was a two-time NCAA qualifier. Newberg spent two years at Nebraska while Purdue head coach Tony Ersland was in his post as an assistant coach.

• Friday’s dual in Maclellan Gym will be the first of the season for the Mocs. Their three dual victories came at the Eastern Michigan Duals (11/15). While there, Chattanooga defeated Michigan State (24-13), Northern Illinois (34-9) and Kent State (23-15).

• Chattanooga has been inactive for the past two weeks, last competing at the Navy Classic (11/22). Seven Mocs placed while the team took top honors at the 13-team event. They tallied 108.5 points to runner-up Princeton’s 106. Ohio (105.5), Wisconsin (105) and West Virginia (84.5) rounded out the top-five teams. Chattanooga had a pair of wrestlers take second, three third-place finishes and one fourth and fifth-place finish.

• Both of 14th-ranked Soto’s losses this season have been by major decision: Javier Gasca III of Michigan State, 11-3, and Ryan Taylor of Wisconsin, 15-2.

LAST MEETING // CHATTANOOGA // DEC. 15, 2013
• Patrick Kissel’s pin in the final bout lifted No. 21 Purdue past Chattanooga, 21-15, in Mountain View High School located in Lawrenceville, Ga. With the dual tied at 15-15 heading into the 174-pound match, Kissel asserted himself against Levi Clemons right off the whistle, and in doing so, he pushed the Boilermakers’ record to 3-1, 0-1 B1G. The two teams each claimed five weights, but it was pins by Kissel and Camden Eppert that proved to be the difference maker for Purdue.

No. 21 Purdue 21, Chattanooga 15
184: John Lampe (Chattanooga) dec. Tanner Lynde (Purdue), 6-4 (SV1)
197: No. 15/17 Braden Atwood (Purdue) dec. Jared Johnson (Chattanooga), 10-3
285: Kevin Malone (Chattanooga) dec. Alex White (Purdue), 3-0
125: Camden Eppert (Purdue) pin Byron Smith (Chattanooga), 4:00
133: Nick Soto (Chattanooga) dec. Cashé Quiroga (Purdue), 10-8
141: Danny Sabatello (Purdue) dec. Austin Sams (Chattanooga), 9-7 (SV1)
149: Brandon Nelsen (Purdue) dec. Michael Hooker (Chattanooga), 5-3 (SV1)
157: Alex Hudson (Chattanooga) dec. Doug Welch (Purdue), 8-1
165: No. 4/7 Corey Mock (Chattanooga) dec. Chad Welch (Purdue), 6-0
174: Patrick Kissel (Purdue) pin Levi Clemons (Chattanooga), 1:25

SERIES HISTORY // CHATTANOOGA
• Purdue has won all five previous meetings on a neutral mat dating back to 1996. The two teams have twice met in Ashland, Ohio (2002, 2003) and once in Atlanta, Ga. (1996), Jefferson City, Tenn. (2002), and Lawrenceville, Ga. (2013).

Head Coach // C.D. Mock (North Carolina, 1982)
Assistant Coaches // Neil Erisman (Oklahoma State, 2011), Kyle Kiss (North Carolina, 2012), Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State, 2008)

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS
• In its last outing on Nov. 30, North Carolina split weights with Appalachian State, but relied on bonus points for the 22-21 victory. Four of the five Tar Heel bouts resulted in bonus points, highlighted by Christian Barber pinning No. 8 Dylan Cottrell in the second sudden victory at 149 pounds. Appalachian State recorded two pins, sticking Cody Karns at 125 and Frank Abbondanza at 285.

• North Carolina won five of 10 bouts, but Stanford got a major decision at 285 pounds to pull out a 17-16 win in the Tar Heels’ dual opener on Nov. 15.

• Like Chattanooga, the Tar Heels wrestled in the Navy Classic (11/22), tallying 18 team points. Only four of their probables listed for Saturday competed in the event: Karns (125), Joey Moon (149), Abbondanza (285) and Josh Lehner (285). Moon led the way by going 3-2, while Abbondanza and Lehner were 2-2. Karns went two and out.

• Troy Heilmann last stepped on the mat as a 141-pounder at the Roadrunner Open (11/16) and is listed as a probable at 133 for Saturday’s dual. Moon is the second North Carolina probable that has not yet wrestled in a dual this season.

• Four Tar Heels are 2-0 in dual action this season: Joey Ward (141), Barber (149), John Michael Staudenmayer (174) and Alex Utley (184).

• Ethan Ramos (165) leads his team in bonus point victories with five (2 MD, 2 F, 1 TF), with all but one of the major decisions coming in tournaments. He majored Nick Kee of Appalachian State, 11-0.

• The North Carolina coaching staff was rejuvenated with three new assistant coaches during the offseason. Coleman Scott, 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, four-time All-American and 2008 NCAA champion for Oklahoma State at 133 pounds, headlines the trio of new assistants. He was joined by fellow Cowboy Neil Erisman and Tar Heel product Kyle Kiss. Head coach C.D. Mock is in his 11th season at the helm.

SERIES HISTORY // NORTH CAROLINA
• The all-time series is split at 1-1 with both meetings have taken place during the ACC/Big Ten Clash hosted by the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 2006 and 2007. The Boilermakers won the first-ever meeting, 33-3, on Nov. 18, 2006, and North Carolina avenged the loss the next season, 22-16.

Individual rankings // InterMat (12/9)

A CLOSER LOOK AT PURDUE’S PROBABLE LINEUP
• The only change to the probable lineup this week has been the addition of Tanner Lynde as a second option at 184 pounds. Two grapplers continue to be listed at 125 and 149 pounds.

• For a second consecutive week, the Boilermakers sport a pair of nationally ranked grapplers in their lineup.

• Purdue’s wrestlers have combined for a dual record of 47-23. Through seven duals, the Boilermakers have posted 32 decisions, nine pins, three major decisions, two technical falls and have received one forfeit. Seventeen of their 23 losses are via decision, five have been by major decision and they have been pinned once in dual action.

• Between Alex Griffin and Brandon Nelsen at 149 pounds, the pair has accounted for four of the Boilermakers 14 dual bonus point victories, the most of any weight. Griffin, who is 4-1 in duals, has scored two technical falls. Griffin’s only blemish came to Missouri’s sixth-ranked Drake Houdashelt. Both of Nelsen’s dual appearances have ended with bonus points, a major decision and a pin.

• Danny Sabatello leads the way with a 7-0 mark in dual action and has scored 27 points for Purdue. Sabatello has claimed victory in 17 of his last 21 dual matches spanning the past two seasons. Not only is he riding a 12-match winning streak, he has won his last nine dual matches dating back to a 10-6 upset of then-No. 8 Steven Rodrigues of Illinois on Feb. 7, 2014.

• Chad Welch has won his last four dual matches at 174, which is a career best for the redshirt junior. He also won four straight dual matches during his redshirt freshman campaign.

• Through seven duals, Purdue has scored 178 points with four different lineups.

RANKINGS NOTES
• For a third straight week, Purdue is receiving votes in the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll. The Boilermakers have received 15, nine and one point, respectively, in the last three editions. They were last ranked in the Feb. 3, 2014, poll at No. 24.

• Eleven of Purdue’s 18 dual opponents, seven of which hail from the B1G, are currently ranked or receiving votes. The Boilermakers are 1-2 against ranked teams this season. Last year eight of the 14 teams faced were ranked.

• Braden Atwood has been ranked by InterMat for 46 consecutive weeks dating back to Oct. 28, 2012. The redshirt senior has spent the last four weeks at No. 8 on InterMat’s 197-pound list, marking the highest ranking of his career.

• Danny Sabatello made his season debut on InterMat’s 133-pound rankings on Tuesday, checking in at No. 19. He was ranked for three weeks (2/17 – 3/3) by InterMat last season at 141.

• Doug Welch and Pat Robinson appeared on a national list for the first time in their careers by landing among Gregg Henry’s top 33 at their respective weight class. Doug Welch, who sports an 11-3 record and a 6-1 mark in duals, is No. 30 at 157 pounds. At 8-4 overall and 4-3 in duals, Robinson is ranked 31st.

• Ten Boilermakers have appeared at least once in one of the six polls this season.

• Purdue wrestlers have seven wins over ranked opponents. Chad Welch has won three of the four matches he has had against a ranked opponent. Sabatello is 2-0 against ranked competition.

• Polls monitored, a complete list of recognized Boilermakers and their movement the past two weeks can be found in the sidebar on page 3 of the dual notes.

—

Amanda C. Dahl

Purdue University

Assistant Athletics Communications Director

@PurdueWrestling, @PurdueMT, @PurdueWT

O 765.494.6235 | C 712.251.9271