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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 24 • 27 BY TRAVIS BAUGH TBaugh@Purdue.edu P urdue's five seniors starters will get one last chance to wrestle together. Braden Atwood, Nick Lawrence, Bran- don Nelsen, Pat Robinson and Patrick Kissel all finished higher than their seeds at the Big Ten Championship in Columbus last week- end to qualify for the NCAA Championships. "To be able to send all five of our senior starters to the national tournament is really an accomplishment," Lawrence said. "Being with these guys through the years and then ending with all five of us going to the NCAAs is really awesome." The veteran bunch — all fifth-year se- niors — helped the Boilermakers tie a pro- gram record with eight national qualifiers, its most since it sent seven in 2010 and the third time it's sent eight in program history. "I feel good about the number of quali- fiers we had," Ersland said. "Eight qualifiers certainly is a great accomplishment for this team. They have more opportunities to reach even more goals. The Big Ten Tournament wasn't our end goal. There's still national champion and All-Ameri- ca honors to be had at the NCAA Tournament. We can still accomplish a lot of those goals with a lot of guys — eight guys." Ersland was quick to praise the senior class — his first after he was hired in May following longtime coach Scott Hinkel's resignation — for how they handled the coaching change and the changes that were implemented. "That senior group has been great," Ersland said. "They really embraced this staff very quickly and showed great lead - ership with the younger guys. Welcoming us aboard helped us move forward rather quickly. You're trying to make some changes in culture and work ethic and some things like that, you need your leadership to be there and they were. "I'm really happy to see them reaping the benefits of all that hard work they've put in this year." Atwood preached the significance of the final six pieces of an 12-man 2010 re- cruiting class all getting to go out together EIGHT BOILERMAKERS QUALIFY FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS Ersland's first squad ties record for NCAA qualifiers Purdue Nick Lawrence was one of five seniors in Purdue's lineup who earned a bid to the NCAA Championships. Lawrence finished sixth overall at 141 pounds at the Big Ten Championships, tying for a team best. Purdue Braden Atwood qualified for the NCAA Championships for a fourth time with a seventh-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. The Delphi , Ind., native holds a 3-6 record all-time at the national meet.