WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University wrestling head coach Scott Hinkel was selected to be a part of the inaugural National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Coaching Leadership Academy on Friday, as announced by the NWCA. Hinkel is one of 27 coaches from across the country picked to be a part of this event, to be held in conjunction with the annual NWCA Convention in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in early August.

The 2009 Leadership Academy consists of the following coaches: John Mark Bentley, Ben Berogen, Jason Borrelli, Mark Branch, Brandon Brissette, Shawn Charles, Dax Charles, Heath Eslinger, John Garriques, Trent Goodale, Scott Hawes, Scott Hinkel, Tim Homan, Greg Ilaria, Tony Islas, RC LaHaye, Tom Layte, Clint Manny, Risto Marttinen, Joe Pollard, Tom Prarie, Todd Roberts, Ryan Smith, Ben Stehura, Casey Stouffer, Beau Vest and Jason York.

The purpose of the academy is to utilize discussion among collegiate coaches, athletic administrators, and CEOs to develop strategy for protecting and strengthening intercollegiate wrestling programs through this challenging economy. Nationally renowned coaching development expert, Dr. Dan Gould from Michigan State University, will be facilitating these discussions. In addition, he will be collaborating with some of our nation’s top athletic administrators, coaches, and CEOs (with wrestling backgrounds) to begin the develop of faculty who will serve as facilitators at regional “Coaching Leadership” workshops around the nation once the training program is fully functional.

The NWCA was able to raise a $30,000 scholarship grant to fund the academy, due in large part to benefactors John Harmon, Irv Naylor and Greg Hatcher, while Dave Bunning and Mark Mesemacher were acknowledged for their roles in underwriting the development of the academy.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Twenty-seven Purdue student-athletes were honored as Distinguished Scholar Award recipients by the Big Ten Conference on Wednesday.

The award was established by the Big Ten Faculty Representatives in February in order to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. In order to be eligible for the Distinguished Scholar Award, recipients must be in at least their second academic year at the institution and have a minimum GPA of 3.7 for the previous academic year, excluding summer school.

Of Purdue’s 27 recipients, six posted a perfect 4.0 GPA this year. Those individuals are bolded on the complete list below.

The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for their academic career. A total of 150 Boilermaker student athletes garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors during the 2008-09 school year. Purdue’s Distingushed Scholar Award recipients follow.

• Katie Beck, Women’s Swimming & Diving
• David Colturi, Men’s Swimming & Diving
• Scott Dean, Men’s Swimming & Diving
• Matthew DeSilva, Men’s Track & Field
• Danielle Eagan, Women’s Cross Country
• Laura Garriga, Women’s Basketball
• Nan Hammel, Women’s Track & Field
• Joe Holland, Football
• Liane Horiuchi, Softball
• Christine Inman, Women’s Swimming & Diving
• Alex Jaffee, Baseball
• Morgan Lebsack, Women’s Swimming & Diving
• Ashlee Lengacher, Women’s Track & Field
• Luke Manuel, Wrestling
• Danita Merlau, Women’s Volleyball
• Lauren Mioton, Women’s Basketball
• Katie Morrical, Women’s Track & Field
• Tom Oliver, Men’s Golf
• Mallory Peck, Women’s Track & Field
• Loredana Riverso, Soccer
• Kaitlin Seeger, Soccer
• Connor Sestak, Baseball
• Allie Smith, Women’s Swimming & Diving
• Eric Sparks, Men’s Track & Field
• Rachel Stalzer, Women’s Track & Field
• Matt Stewart, Men’s Swimming & Diving
• Mark Wohlford, Men’s Basketball

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue assistant wrestling coach Tom Erikson was inducted to the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association (IHSWCA) Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Erikson was named an Honorary Member after his contributions to Indiana wrestling over his 10 seasons as a member of the Boilermaker wrestling staff.

“This is a great honor for Tom (Erikson) and the Purdue wrestling program,” said Boilermaker head wrestling coach Scott Hinkel. “We’ve seen our sport grow and improve in the state of Indiana in our tenure at Purdue, and Tom has been a big part of that through camps and recruiting. We’re proud to see him join this elite group.”

The IHSWCA has inducted wrestlers, coaches and contributors each year since 1972, and Erikson joins an elite group of Boilermakers in this company that includes Joe Patacsil, Frank Patacsil, Ted Patacsil and Joe Corso.

“It’s a great honor,” said Erikson. “It’s always something special to be inducted into any type of hall of fame, but it’s extra special to me to be recognized by the state I’ve been coaching in for the last decade.”

Erikson came to Purdue in 1997 as a volunteer assistant coach, and joined the staff full time in 1999. He’s led the Boilermakers’ upper weight classes to several conference and national honors in his tenure, including two-time All-American Jake Vercelli and three-time NCAA qualifier Nathan Moore. Erikson was an elite competitor on the international level for several years, and a two-time All-America honoree at Oklahoma State.

For more information on the IHSWCA Hall of Fame visit their website.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue wrestling squad held its first team wrestle-off of the season on Saturday, deciding the starting jobs before next weekend’s first dual matches of the year. Eight of the 10 spots on the team were up for grabs and the first depth chart of the season was set when the dust settled.

Sophomore Akif Eren snagged the starting 125-pound job, topping freshman Matt Fields by decision, and coming back later to edge out rookie Bill Putman 1-0. The biggest shock of the day came at 133 pounds where freshman Carson Beebe scored a late takedown to slip past reigning Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Jake Fleckenstein, 4-3. Fleckenstein scored the first takedown of the match and after a pair of escapes by Beebe took a 3-2 advantage with an escape at the start of the third. However, Beebe picked up a late two-point maneuver to earn the starting nod in next Saturday’s duals.

Junior Juan Archuleta came out on top at 141 pounds, posting a 13-7 decision over sophomore Matt Hemry, while senior Jake Patacsil was dominant at 149 pounds, pinning junior Jordan Nettuno in 1:14 and scoring an 18-2 technical fall over sophomore Dave Ingram. Ingram earned a shot at the starting job with a 10-4 decision over junior Matt Redmond, and Redmond secured the No. 3 spot on the depth chart with a one-point victory over Nettuno.

The four-man bracket at 157 pounds was trimmed to three grapplers due to an injury to junior Sam Patacsil, but still didn’t lack for action in a three-man round robin between senior Jake Murphy, junior Nick Bertucci and sophomore Colton Salazar. Salazar topped Murphy to start the action, scoring a 7-4 decision, and Bertucci made the final 157-pound match of the day a crucial one as he flipped a late reversal against Murphy to eke out a 12-8 decision. Salazar was solid in the deciding bout, leading the whole way en route to a 13-8 victory over Bertucci.

The 165-pound bracket was competitive as well, as sophomore Luke Manuel knocked off freshman John Doyle, 4-2, while junior Jason Martin slid past classmate Justin Fraga, 4-3. Manuel defended his No. 7 national ranking in the deciding match, posting a 6-0 decision over Martin in the team final.

Sophomore A.J. Kissel locked up the starting job at 184 pounds with a 6-0 win over classmate Dave Pisarcik and the top spot at 285 pounds was decided in intense fashion as junior Chris Kasten needed two sudden-victory periods and a pair of tie-breaks to edge out sophomore Roger Vukobratovich, 3-2.

“It was an incredibly competitive day all around,” said head coach Scott Hinkel. “The people who came out to watch today got a good look at our depth, and saw how hard our guys have been working from top to bottom.”

The Boilermaker fan base will get to see their team in action again next weekend at Purdue hosts the inaugural Boilermaker Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 15. Action is scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m., while the Old Gold and Black will wrestle a trio of duals starting at noon. Purdue is slotted to face Eastern Michigan at noon, Campbellsville at 2 p.m. and Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. Also in action will be 11th-ranked Big Ten foe Northwestern, Kent State and UT-Chattanooga.