Men's Wrestling Notes

  • Arnold Plaza (1947-50) is one of only nine wrestlers to win four Big Ten championships. Plaza won the 1947 and '50 titles at 121 pounds and also the 1948 and '49 titles at 114 1/2 pounds. The four-time All-American also captured the 1948 and '49 NCAA championships, as well as the '49 AAU title. One of Purdue's greatest wrestlers, Plaza was named Big Ten Wrestler-of-the-Year in 1949 and later selected into the Amateur Wrestling Hall-of-Fame.
  • Former Purdue athletic director Guy "Red" Mackey coached the wrestling team from 1932-33. The squad did not have any organized regular season meets and only competed in the season-ending Big Ten meet. Due to the economic struggles following the Great Depression, the Boilermaker wrestling team was discontinued from 1934-37.
  • The Old Gold and Black have won six Big Ten wrestling titles, in 1942, '45, '48, '49, '50 and '54. The six first-place conference finishes rank fourth among all present and discontinued varsity sports at Purdue behind men's basketball (21), men's golf (12) and football (7).
  • Joe Corso (1974-76) is the only Boilermaker to win a spot on the U.S. Olympic wrestling team. Corso competed at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. After a first-round victory over Allah Ditta of Pakistan, 20-8, Corso held the No. 1 ranking in his 125.5 weight class. The next two matches proved fatal for the former All-American's medal hopes as he fell to Zbigniew Zedzicki of Poland and Masao Arai of Japan.
  • Bob Marshall is the only Boilermaker to win three Big Ten crowns. Marshall won in 1960 and '62 at 157 pounds and in '61 at 167 pounds. He also earned All-America status in 1960 and was named team captain and MVP in '62.
  • Entering the Big Ten Championships with a 2-4-1 dual meet record, the 1950 Boilermakers successfully defended their conference title as Purdue won the meet for the third consecutive year. Five Boilermakers captured Big Ten titles: Arnold Plaza at 121 pounds, Joe Patacsil at 128 pounds, Charles Farina at 136 pounds, Charles Moreno at 145 pounds and Waldemar Van Cott at 165 pounds. Patacsil went on to win the NCAA 128-pound title leading the Boilermakers to a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
  • There have been four Purdue wrestlers to earn Big Ten Wrestler-of-the-Year honors: Arnold Plaza in 1949, Joe Patacsil in '50, Bob Marshall in '62 and most recently, Joe Corso in '75. Corso became a member of the 1976 United States' Olympic wrestling team, the only Boilermaker in history to become an Olympian. Corso was named All-American in 1975.
  • Casey Fredricks (1940-42) earned All-America honors in 1941 (AAU) at 121 pounds and again in '42 at 128 pounds. Fredricks was Purdue's first two-time All-American. From 1948-76, the 1941 AAU champion coached the Ohio State wrestling teams. His 1951 Buckeyes won their second and most recent Big Ten wrestling title.
  • Ben Mottelson (1945-47) helped Purdue capture its second Big Ten title by finishing second in the 136-pound class at the 1945 conference championships. Just two years after being named All-American in 1945, Mottelson won the Nobel Peace Prize as a physical scientist.
  • Charles Jones (1991-92) won the 1992 NCAA and Big Ten 167-pound championships. Jones finished his career with a school record winning percentage of .931 (67-5). The two-time All-American finished the '92 season with a 33-1 record, also a school record.
  • Current head coach Jessie Reyes was a two-time national champion while wrestling at NCAA Division II Cal State-Bakersfield. Reyes won the 1983 and '84 142-pound titles and the '84 Division I title. While at Bakersfield, the Roadrunners captured three Division II national titles as Reyes compiled a record of 151-22-1. Jessie Reyes also won the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award for the '84 NCAA Division II Championships.
  • Claude Reeck coached the Boilermakers from 1937 to 1969. After bringing Purdue wrestling back to life in '37, Reeck began to build one of the nation's top programs. Reeck's teams won six Big Ten titles including his 1950 NCAA runner-up squad. Along with one of his pupils, two-time national champion Arnold Plaza, Reeck is enshrined in the Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame.