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120 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f W R E S T L I N G : S E A S O N P R E V I E W BY TRAVIS BAUGH TBaugh@Purdue.edu F irst-year wrestling coach Tony Ersland is no stranger to the Big Ten. After spending 18 seasons wrestling and coaching for three schools in the conference before accepting the Purdue job in May, Ersland believes he knows what it takes to be successful in the league and take Purdue to na- tional prominence. "I definitely have a good feel for the landscape of the Big Ten, the kind of kids who do well, and just what it takes from a men- tality standpoint and a training standpoint to do well and com- pete," Ersland said. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else (than the Big Ten). "Certainly, it's tough, it's brutal, but you want to be right there in the middle of the fur- nace battling the best kids so when you go to the national championships, you feel like your kids are prepared and seen who they have to beat." Ersland's Big Ten roots stretch back to his college days when he wrestled at Iowa under Dan Gable, an Olympic Gold medalist widely consid- ered the best collegiate wrest- ing coach of all time after win- ning 16 national titles at Iowa from 1976-1997. Ersland helped Iowa win three NCAA titles and four Big Ten cham- pionships before Gable's influence made him want to get into coaching. "He treated everyone as individu- als," Ersland said. "He really found out about the kid, what made him tick, what made him go, what but- tons you had to push. It's different for everybody. I appreciated him tak- ing the time to get to know you as an individual and what was going to motivate you and what was going to Knowing What It Takes Ersland has been around the block in Big Ten Tom Campbell Tony Ersland has quite the Big Ten ped- igree, wrestling for powerhouse Iowa, rebuilding the program as a coach at Northwestern and helping Nebraska to top-20 finishes at the NCAA Champion- ships. Now, he's hoping to lead Purdue to prominence. 2014-15 WRESTLING SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Nov. 14 Cal Poly 10 p.m. Nov. 16 Road Runner Open All Day Nov. 23 NORTHERN IOWA 1 p.m. Nov. 23 INDIANA TECH 2:30 p.m. Nov. 29 Journeymen/ASICS Northeast Duals ^ vs. Binghamton TBA vs. Missouri TBA vs. Old Dominion TBA Dec. 6 SIU-EDWARDSVILLE 1 p.m. Dec. 12 vs. North Carolina 5:30 p.m. Dec. 12 Chattanooga 7 p.m. Dec. 29-30 Midland Championships & All Day Jan. 9 Nebraska 8 p.m. Jan. 11 Wisconsin 2 p.m. Jan. 16 NORTHWESTERN 7 p.m. Jan. 18 Penn State 1 p.m. Jan. 30 Ohio State 7 p.m. Feb. 1 ILLINOIS 1 p.m. Feb. 8 MICHIGAN 1 p.m. Feb. 15 MICHIGAN STATE 1 p.m. Feb. 20 INDIANA 7 p.m. March 7-8 Big Ten Championships * All Day March 19-21 NCAA Championships # All Day ^ Troy, N.Y. & Evanston, Ill. * Columbus, Ohio # St. Louis