March 8, 2010

From an NCAA Release

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The NCAA will announce the 330 student-athletes set participate in the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships via a web stream selection show on NCAA.com on Wednesday, March 10 at 6 p.m. ET. The Boilermakers have six automatic qualifiers in the field and a seventh individual awaiting word of a possible at-large bid.

NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee chair, Brad Traviolia, will provide the show's introduction while Pat Tocci, Director of Administration and Public Relations for the National Wrestling Coaches Association, will serve as the host as he unveils each of the 10 brackets in the championships field. Through the various national qualifying tournaments held across the country over the last two weeks, 282 of the 330 spots have been filled at the 10 weight classes, leaving 48 to be distributed by the NCAA committee.

Purdue junior Akif Eren is eligible for an at-large qualifier, meeting one of the six "Bronze Standard" criteria with his sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. He will be judged against the other possible at-large qualifiers based on the following in no particular order: head-to-head competition. qualifying event placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, win percentage, RPI, national coaches' panel ranking and the number of matches contested at 133 pounds this season.

In addition to Eren, the six Boilermakers already qualified for the tournament anxiously await their position in their respective 33-man brackets, and in some cases, hope to earn a possible top-12 seeding. Juniors Luke Manuel and Logan Brown appear the most likely Boilermakers to earn one, based on being Purdue's highest-ranked competitors through the majority of the season. Manuel has climbed as high as fourth in the country in some polls during the year at 174 pounds, while Brown was eighth in the final RPI poll at 197 pounds.

Fans wishing to view the show can find it Wednesday here. Complete printable brackets will be available on NCAA.com at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 10.

Purdue Boilermakers

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