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104 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED W hen Tony Ersland was hired as the wrestling coach at Purdue two-and-a-half years ago, he made a list of exactly 26 things that needed to be done to create a cham- pionship structure. Not every goal on that list has been checked off as of November 2016, but there's no question Ersland has a solid foundation in place. The program that wants to be known as #AlwaysAggressive finally has a work ethic and culture to match the second half of the mantra Er- sland's staff put in place from Day 1, and now the head coach feels he can turn his attention to the first word in that hashtag. Always. "Compete at a high level at all times," Ersland says when asked about the next steps he wants his team to take. "We've done a good job in spots competing, but I think we can help ourselves consis- tency-wise. Compete through adversity, through sickness, through injury, in all places. They need to understand what it is to compete no matter what. I feel like with the talent we're recruiting, if that's the case, they're going to be very tough to beat against anyone. "You can not selectively compete and expect to be there at the end of the year. Our national championships are three days — five matches minimum to get there — and if you're one of those guys who tries to coast by in a certain match or only competes in certain spots, you're going to get beat. You may get by an op- ponent or two, but you're certainly not going to get by five quality opponents. So, that consistency is what we need to have Wrestling eager to build fan following By Tim Cary Special to Gold and Black Illustrated Channeling Aggression Charles Jischke/Purdue To increase exposure, Purdue held its wrestling practice on the patio in Ross- Ade Stadium the morning of the Home- coming game.