Purdue Sports Update Sept. 18

McAleer Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week

For the second consecutive week, a Boilermaker was named to the Big Ten weekly awards as sophomore Ryan McAleer was selected Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.

McAleer earned her first career honor. It marked just the fifth time an underclassman defensive specialist has earned the Defensive Player of the Week nod under head coach Dave Shondell’s tutelage (23 seasons).

As libero, the sophomore led Purdue to a 3-0 week, picking up a sweep at Butler, a sweep vs. Houston and a four-set win vs. No. 10 SMU. She led the team averaging 4.10 digs per set with a total of 41 digs over the 10 sets of action.

Her performance was key in the top-10 win vs. SMU, posting 18 digs in the victory – the second-most in her career. Meanwhile, McAleer was on the brink of a double-double at Butler, totaling 15 digs and eight assists.

In all, the libero helped Purdue hold opponents to an average .163 attack %.

McAleer and the Boilermakers will close out the non-conference slate this weekend, beginning with a brawl at Ball State on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Then, No. 11 Purdue will host IU Indy in a Gold Out match at Holloway Gymnasium. The match is slated to start at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Then, Purdue rolls straight into Big Ten play, hosting Washington and Illinois in a pair of Mackey matches next week.

Soccer Hosts #11 Iowa, Travels to Maryland

Purdue hosts their Big Ten home opener against No. 11 Iowa at Folk Field this Thursday, September 18, at 7:00 p.m. Est before traveling to take on the Maryland Terrapins Sunday, September 21, at 12:00 p.m. Est.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

The Iowa Hawkeyes are currently 5-1-2 on the season while falling to Texas Christian University and drawing games with Loyola Chicago and Northwestern. They defeated the #6 Arkansas Razorbacks along with Western Michigan, Saint Louis, Iowa State, and Missouri State. The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 11 in the NCAA and United Soccer Coaches poll, while TopDrawerSoccer giving them the No.14 spot.

The Maryland Terrapins are 4-4 on the season defeating Lehigh, Saint Francis, UMBC, and the Navy while falling to Old Dominion, Florida, James Madison, and Penn State. The Terrapins are led by Kelsey Smith, who has three goals on the season, as well as two assists. Before taking on the Boilers, they will host the Indiana Hoosiers on September 18.

SERIES HISTORY

The Hawkeyes lead the series history over Purdue 11-8 while also drawing 5 games. Their first matchup in 1999 resulted in a Hawkeye win, 6-3. In their most recent matchup in 2023, the Boilers lost 4-0 and they did not face one another during the 2024 season. This will make for the 24th matchup of the two teams.

The Boilers lead the series history over Maryland 4-3-1 while only drawing in one match. The two teams first played in 2014 with a Purdue loss 2-1. Almost ten years later, during the most recent matchup in 2023, they finished in a scoreless draw. This will be the eighth overall meeting between the two teams.

Edwards, Yu Earn First-Career Big Ten Weekly Honors

For the first time since 2022, two Purdue student athletes have been named to Big Ten Weekly honors. Purdue’s Emily Edwards was named Co-Goalkeeper of the Week, while Cherry Yu was named Freshman of the Week.

These are the first-career honors for both Edwards and Yu, coming after the pair helped to defeat No. 23 Wisconsin for Purdue’s first ranked win since 2022. The victory was also the Boilers first ranked road win since 2021, where the Boilers defeated No. 18 Wisconsin, by the same score, 2-1 in 2021 also in Madison. 

Edwards was a wall in the net, using 7 saves, one off of her career-high, to help seal the Big Ten opening victory over Wisconsin. She played all 90 minutes in goal, with 7 saves, an .875 save percentage, while just conceding a loan goal.

Yu clinched the game winning goal that secured and sealed the victory over Wisconsin. The goal was Yu’s first-collegiate goal and it came at a pivotal moment, as this was her first-ever Big Ten match. 

Edwards is the first goalkeeper to earn a Big Ten weekly honor since 2022, while Yu is the first freshman since 2021. 

For the first time since 2016 and 2017, the Boilers have won back-to-back Big Ten openers after defeating Northwestern in Evanston a year ago. 

They will host No. 11 Iowa at home on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. est. before heading to Maryland to take on the Terrapins on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. est. 

Purdue All-Quarter Century Wrestling Team: 157 lbs

To commemorate the past 25 years, head coach Tony Ersland and his staff are unveiling Purdue’s All-Quarter Century Team featuring some of the greatest Boilermaker wrestlers since the turn of the 21st century.

Recognizing wrestlers who competed for Purdue between 2000-2025, the list is being revealed with 10 separate releases leading up to the 2025-26 season, one for each weight class, continuing today with 157 pounds.

The selection criteria for any All-Quarter Century Team is unavoidably subjective, but wrestlers who earned All-America honors, NCAA qualifiers, multiple-time Big Ten placewinners and others with outstanding career accomplishments were among the key points of consideration.

Some of the wrestlers on the All-Quarter Century Team excelled at multiple weights while donning the Old Gold & Black. Most of the honorees will be presented among the weight classes in which they finished their careers, though some liberties were taken for the sake of keeping the number of wrestlers relatively even at each weight.

JOEY BLAZE (2023-present)

Joey Blaze was one of the highest-rated recruits in program history, and so far, the hype has been more than warranted.

This past March, the Perrysburg, Ohio, native became Purdue’s youngest NCAA finalist in at least 75 years, and perhaps the youngest ever. The only other true sophomore Boilermaker who made it to a national title match was Charles Moreno in 1950, but records of his exact age at the time have been lost over the decades.

Blaze burst onto the scene as a true freshman, upsetting No. 5 Ed Scott (NC State) with a 4-1 decision in just his eighth college match.

The junior has qualified for the NCAA Championships in both 2024 and 2025 and won the Big Ten bronze medal this past season.

Blaze became Purdue’s 62nd All-American after shocking the wrestling world by defeating No. 1 seed Tyler Kasak (Penn State) in the NCAA quarterfinals. All in all, he earned four big wins in Philadelphia on his way to the national title match.

In the offseason, Blaze showed out on the national freestyle circuit by taking third as a No. 7 seed at Senior World Team Trials, and earned a match at Final X to wrestle for a spot on the U.S. senior national team at age 20. Now that he’s fourth on the Team USA ladder (74 kg), he has been able to rep the Red, White and Blue at prestigious events like the Ziolkowski Memorial in Poland, which he won in August.

Blaze enters his junior season as a leader of a talented squad that returns six former NCAA qualifiers. The world will be watching as he moves up to his more natural weight, 165 lbs, where he opens at No. 3 in the country (via InterMat).

KENDALL COLEMAN (2018-23)

A 2020 NWCA First Team All-American who was robbed of a chance to win big in the cancelled postseason due to Covid-19, Kendall Coleman is one of the most talented wrestlers from the Ersland era.

With a 84-30 (.737) record, he ranks 15th on Purdue’s career win percentage list. He was also the 15th Boilermaker to qualify for four NCAA tournaments.Play

Coleman’s remarkable redshirt freshman season in 2019-20, when he went 29-8 and 13-3 in duals, marked the fifth-most wins by a freshman in school history. He was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week before going on to earn the No. 6 seed at the cancelled NCAA Championships. His 6-seed was the best by a Boilermaker rookie since Chris Fleeger was No. 4 in 2002.

With 304 career takedowns, he has the eighth-most in Purdue history and is one of eight wrestlers to eclipse the 300 mark.

In July, Coleman was selected in the inaugural draft for the Champions League of American Wrestling (CLAW), where he’ll compete for the Mat Kings.

COLTON SALAZAR (2004-11)

Four-time NCAA qualifier Colton Salazar had a unique college wrestling career, as he missed the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons while serving a religious mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After an impressive true freshman season when he gained a spot in the 2005 NCAA Championships, Salazar picked up where he left off when he returned from the two-year hiatus.

He was the Big Ten runner-up as a redshirt-junior in 2010, and ultimately amassed four national tournament wins in his four years of NCAA qualification.

CLOVIS CRANE (1999-2003)

Clovis Crane was a two-time NCAA qualifier who worked his way back from a major back surgery in the midst of his college career.

“To come back from back surgery the way Clovis has is amazing,” former head coach Jesse Reyes said in a 2003 story from the Purdue Exponent. “The doctors said he’s the only one to ever do that; that shows you how mentally tough he is. The other guys see that and respect it.”

Crane has gone on to have a successful career as a professional bull rider, a passion he has had since even before his Purdue wrestling days.

He remains tied for 11th in school history with 23 pins.Play

BRAD HARPER (2000-04)

Brad Harper twice qualified for the NCAA Championships at 157 pounds, totaling two wins in the national tournament.

He also won the Big Ten bronze medal as a No. 5 seed in the 2004 Big Ten Championships.

Harper went on to serve as head wrestling coach at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana, a role that he has held since 2006.

In 2024, he coached his former student Sarah Hildebrandt to a gold medal in the Paris Summer Olympics.

Thanks to Harper’s tutelage, Hildebrandt is one of the biggest names in women’s wrestling. She is the current RAF Women’s Strawweight Champion after winning the title at RAF 01 in Cleveland, where Purdue assistant coach Matt Ramos also competed.

Charlton, Enekwechi Finish Top 6 at World Athletics Championships

Track & Field alums Devynne Charlton (100mH) and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi (shot put) both finished top six in their events at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Enekwechi, representing Nigeria, took fifth in the men’s shot put with a throw of 21.52m and Charlton, representing the Bahamas, took sixth in the in the women’s 100mH with a season-best 12.49.

The fifth-place finish is Enekwechi’s best at a world meet and he beat his seeding by two places. His previous top finish was in sixth at the 2024 Olympics.

Enekwechi capped off a strong season that was headlined by setting an African shot put record with a 22.10m throw at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore. on July 5.

Charlton produced her second-highest 100mH finished at a world meet and it marks the fifth time she has turned in a top eight finish. Her previous top finish was in fourth place at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Her 2025 season also featured winning the 60mH at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March for a second consecutive year.

Charlton and Enekwechi both competed in the first three days of competition at the World Athletics Championships. The meet will continue until Sept. 21.