Coming off a tough loss to Rider, Purdue will try to have a better response to the adversity they face in their matches at the Boilermaker Duals Sunday.
“Maybe the match didn’t go as you expected, or maybe you weren’t feeling great — there is always going to be adversity of some sort,” head coach Tony Ersland said. “We still need to accept that adversity as a challenge.”
The team will have the chance to bounce back at the Boilermaker Duals, where it will face three opponents: Cleveland State, Chattanooga and Northern Illinois.
Ersland wants to see his wrestlers continue to show more consistency as the season progresses, being more clean and stronger in their matches.
“They are giving me good effort here and I know they have talent; now it’s about putting it all together consistently in their performances in front of the crowd,” Ersland said.
Ersland says the wrestlers never know who they’ll face, so his team must be ready because there will be talented athletes at the Boilermaker Duals.
The three teams are all going to bring different styles and tactics to the mat.
“Each match is going to present a different challenge, you have to adapt and wrestle the way you know how to best,” Ersland said.
Rocky Jordan, of Chattanooga, is one athlete the Boilermakers will have to face on Sunday. Jordan is a familiar opponent to Purdue, having faced them multiple times during his time at Ohio State before transferring to Chattanooga. Jordan defeated Purdue senior Max Lyon in a 7-2 decision in their last matchup.
Jordan will likely face Purdue junior Macartney Parkinson, who is coming off a 6-2 decision victory against Rider.
Ersland believes his team broke off from its game plan when matches were not going their way in the home opener.
“My overriding message to the guys this week is we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to execute our game plan, I thought we got away from that against Rider,” Ersland said.
