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106 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED this incoming freshman class right now is full of studs," Griffin says. "I'd love for them to say, 'Holy cow, this team has some serious potential!'" The Boilermakers aren't the first wrestling team ever to take over a football stadium (an Iowa-Oklahoma State dual meet at Kinnick Stadium drew 42,000 fans last year), but thinking outside the box — or in this case, outside the practice gym — is another way Ersland can show potential future Boilermakers that wrestling mat- ters at Purdue. Ersland believes he has the support in place from ad- ministration to take it to the next level. New athletic di- rector Mike Bobinski, Ersland believes, is behind what- ever Ersland needs to move the program forward. "One of the main reasons I committed here was I knew that the coaches were very motivated," says red- shirt freshman Nate Limmex. "They're always looking for new ways to promote the program and get us better, and that's certainly a way to get our team out in the pub- lic and get us some attention." Ersland and the athletes he coaches would love to see heightened interest translate to heightened attendance in 2016-2017, especially when it comes to the crown jewel event on the schedule: a dual meet inside Mackey Arena on Friday, Jan. 13 against rival Indiana. Mackey has only hosted two duals in the last 25 years, and the Boilers hope to attract supporters of Boilermaker athlet- ics in general to a wrestling meet, even if they've never seen one in person before. "Especially with the significance of the IU-Purdue rivalry, that's going to be awesome," Griffin says. "I've already heard from a ton of people that they're going to come. If they're going to come to any, that's the one they're going to come to." "As a kid, you always want to wrestle for that big crowd," Schroder says. "In front of a lot of people? Beat your rival? It's all right there in that one event – every- thing that you'd ever want to wrestle for." "There's a lot of excitement," Ersland says of a night the team is calling "Mackey Mayhem." "It's a different atmosphere. It can create a lasting memory and a lasting impression on our guys, which is what you want. You want our guys to have a great experience and have those kinds of memories that they can take with them for a lifetime. "One thing I don't ever want to stop is trying to find ways to be progressive in promoting our sport or pushing our sport, so we'll always continue to seek ways to grow it." It may sound like a line straight out of "Field of Dreams," but how does the old saying go? "If you build it, they will come." Ersland's rising program has attract- ed quality assistant coaches with championship-level wrestling experience (including new additions Kendric Maple and Jake Sueflohn to join returning Tyrell Todd), pulled in some of the best high school talent in the na- tion, and now anticipates an increased fan base to watch everything come together on the mat. "I think we've got all the right things in place," Lim- mex says. "We have the potential to be a top-10 team. Now it's just about believing in our potential and match- ing like we're a top-10 team, just taking that final step. (We have to) break through." Limmex and Schroder know what that looks like. The Grand Rapids, Mich., natives were high school team- mates before coming to Purdue, and they helped lead a team from the bottom half of the standings to a confer- ence title in their first season in high school. They're hoping for similar results in college. "I think it'd be kind of cool to come up the same way like we did in high school (at Purdue)," says Schroder. "Why not us? Why can't we win the Big Ten? That's pret- ty much what Coach Ersland and the coaching staff be- lieve in. I think we can do anything." With so many key building blocks in place, lofty aspi- rations start to make sense. It's all part of the national championship standard the Boilermakers — and their chief architect Ersland — want to be known for. "He does a very good job of promoting the value of Purdue wrestling, and of helping people understand what we're trying to accomplish," Griffin says of his coach. "We're about the right things, we're going to ac- complish good things, and we have great things to come … A champion's mindset: It's the culture we try to have. People who have nothing but the highest goals in mind." Nothing but the highest goals in mind? That sounds like a man with 26 of them. That sounds like Tony Er- sland. j