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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 13 • 32 the match is going to go the other way. I've seen that in him, and we want to encourage more of that. We want to have him separate himself from other people. "He's won, but some of the matches have been close, so our goal for him, especially the sec- ond half of the year here, is to start separating himself from those people, scoring more points, be- ing more dominant even." Atwood's toughness was bred at small Delphi High School, where he was coached by his dad, Mike Atwood. There, the younger Atwood finished in the top-five of his weight class at state three times, topping out at second as a senior. "He was brought up as a hard- nosed kid," said Purdue teammate Tanner Lynde, a fellow Delphi High School graduate. "Earn what you get, like you don't deserve anything, you have to go out there and earn it. He was brought up that way and it just goes hand- in-hand with what he's doing now. "A lot of times, our Delphi teams weren't the best techni - cally, but they always had no quit, and that's what it was about. That takes you way beyond what even coaching can take you. His dad helped him out with that for sure." Helped him with leadership, too, which has been put to the test since the end of last season. It was then that Coach Scott Hin- kel decided to resign, as Purdue sought a new direction for the program, leaving Atwood to have a new coach in his final season. Adding to the challenge, At- wood had known Hinkel for years before becoming a Boilermaker, as the wrestler had been a mem- ber of the Boiler Elite Wrestling Club, which Hinkel directed, while growing up. Yet, Atwood, a captain, decid- ed early that he was going to be a leader in embracing change. "It was one of those where you feel sorry for yourself, you're down for a little bit, then you move on because there's nothing you can do about it," he said. "I owe Coach Hinkle and all the coaches a lot — I've known coach since middle school, coming over here to watch the Boilermakers wres- tle, wrestling with them — but it was one of those were I wanted to move on. Let's get a new coach, and once they named coach, I was finding any way I could to help make things easier for him in the transition. It's my last year and I wanted the full team to have a good transition. "… When it comes to practice or his theories, I wanted to get my mind on it, get in sync with him as fast as possible because that would be the easiest transition." Ersland, who came to Purdue after eight seasons as an assistant coach at Nebraska, appreciated the support. During the interim period, when Ersland was making the move from Nebraska to take over, Atwood took it upon himself to make sure teammates stayed up on offseason workouts. "You want to make sure the leaders of the team, and certainly Braden with the success he's had and being a senior, that those guys embrace the change or help fos - ter the change with the younger guys," Ersland said. "And he's been great at that, has really helped to contribute and lead that charge to get those guys on board." Now, though, it's about the results on the mat. Atwood has plenty of motivation following his solid, but not podium, finishes at the Big Tens the last three years. His goals this year are to get into that top three, maybe win a title, and be an All-American at the NCAA Championships. "He's one of those guys who is never satisfied, which is a great thing to have for this sport," Lynde said. "He's always looking to get better. If he does well, he thinks to himself that he could have done even better, didn't do well enough. That helps him tremen - dously. "In high school, if he did lose a match, he would come back stronger the next year, and that's how he's been through college. He started off strong and has kept building, and I think this is his year to get it done." j Purdue First-year coach Tony Ersland appreciates the way Atwood has led through the coaching change. For daily headlines on recruiting and other Purdue sports news, check out