Tony Ersland
• Coached Kendric Maple to the 2017 U.S. Open Men's Freestyle National Championships title at 61 kg ... coached Griffin Parriott to the 2017 UWW Junior Freestyle National Championships title at 70 kg.

• Has put together three consecutive top-25 recruiting classes ... the class of 2016 was ranked No. 6 by FloWrestling, No. 7 by InterMat and No. 8 by WIN Magazine ... the class of 2017 was ranked No. 13 by FloWrestling, No. 18 by InterMat and No. 22 by TheOpenMat.com … the InterMat ranking is the third highest for Purdue with records dating to 2004 … Ersland is credited with two of those top three recruiting classes: 2016 and 2017 ... the class of 2018 was ranked 18th by FloWrestling and 25th by TheOpenMat.com.

• Ersland has inked nine top-100 recruits in his four years at Purdue.

• In four seasons, Purdue has had 21 NCAA Championships qualifiers and 18 Big Ten Championships placewinners.

• In 2018, the Boilermakers turned in their best Big Ten Championships performance in six years with 59.5 points to finish ninth in the team standings ... the 59.5 points are the most at Big Tens since 76 points were scored in 2010 ... the six placewinners are the most since seven Boilermakers landed on the podium in 2012.

• Eight Boilermakers qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2015 to match a program high ... it was only the third time in program history eight advanced (1993, 2003) and it was the most qualifiers since 2010.

• Ersland's 2018 squad finished the season ranked No. 21 in the final USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll ... the final ranking of No. 21 is the highest finish for an Ersland-coached squad ... Purdue was ranked throughout the regular season, a span of 14 polls, for the first time since 2012-13 ... it was also just the fourth time in the program’s history a team has been ranked throughout the regular season (2012-13, 1998-99, 1991-92) ... the final ranking of No. 21 is the highest final ranking since the 2012-13 Boilermakers closed out the season ranked 14th.

• At the 2017 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships a program-record seven wrestlers placed, crushing the previous high of four from 2008, 2006 and 1990 ... as a team, the Boilermakers totaled 84 points to place seventh ... the 84 points are the most they have ever scored at Midlands, topping 2008’s performance of 82.5 points ... they combined to score 367 total match points, which was the fifth most among all teams.

• In 2015, Tony Ersland was one of nine head coaches that were in their first season as a Division I head coach and one of 13 coaches that were in their first year at the helm of their respective program ... his eight NCAA qualifiers were the most among both groups ... he was also the only coach among both groups to have his team in the final USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll.

• Coached Purdue's first Midlands champion since 1963 in Chad Welch.

• Coached the first two-time Big Ten Wrestler of the Week in Purdue history in Danny Sabatello.

• Thirty-five Boilermaker wrestlers have earned Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors ... set a program high with 10 Academic All-Big Ten selections in 2016 ... the team also obtained the highest core GPA in program history.

• Four NWCA All-Academic honors have been obtained: Patrick Kissel (2015), Nate Limmex (2018) and Ben Thornton (2017, 2018).

• Andrew Hoselton was the Boilermakers’ male recipient of the 2016 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship, receiving $7,500 scholarship towards his graduate degree education.

During his 20 years as a Division I wrestling coach, Tony Ersland has played an integral role in developing student-athletes that are accomplished on the mat and nationally recognized. He has had nearly 100 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships, with 28 earning All-America honors and four finishing at the top of the podium. Two of his pupils, Jordan Burroughs and Jake Herbert, earned the highest honor a collegiate grappler can receive, winning the Dan Hodge Award. Ersland continued to develop Burroughs on the international stage as he claimed the 2011 and 2013 World titles at 74 kg. In 2012, Burroughs claimed Olympic gold in London.

Ersland came to Purdue after serving as an assistant coach at Nebraska for eight seasons. While on staff, the Huskers tallied a 102-41-2 dual record, recorded seven top-20 team finishes at the NCAA Championships and grapplers earned 17 All-America honors.

Prior to his post at Nebraska, Ersland coached the Cyclone Wrestling Club in Ames, Iowa. Ersland worked with Iowa State NCAA champions Trent Paulson (157) and David Zabriskie (285) among other multiple NCAA qualifiers and All-Americans.

His familiarity with the Big Ten extends beyond his time at Nebraska. From 2000-05, Ersland was the head assistant wrestling coach at Northwestern, and he also served as a coach and board member for the Wildcat Wrestling Club.

He was the head assistant wrestling coach at Northern Illinois in 1999 and 2000 after getting his start as a graduate assistant at Central Michigan from 1997 to 1999.

On the mat, Ersland wrestled for the University of Iowa under legendary coach Dan Gable and was a part of three-straight NCAA team championships (1995-97) and four Big Ten Championships (1994-97). During his senior season in 1997, Ersland finished one match shy of All-America honors at 177 pounds.

The Humboldt, Iowa, native excelled in the classroom as a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and Board of Control Athletics Award winner, and was bestowed with Iowa wrestling's J. Donald McPike Award, given to the senior on the team with the highest grade-point average.

Ersland earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Iowa (1997) and a Master of Arts in athletic administration from Central Michigan (1999).

Ersland and his wife, Carolyn, have twin sons, Mason and Jaxon.