No. 17 Wrestling Downs Purdue

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 17 Rutgers wrestling (7-4, 1-2) defeated Purdue (8-3, 1-2), 24-9, on Sunday in front of 3,595 fans at Jersey Mike's Arena.

Four Scarlet Knights – No. 15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184), No. 18 Remy Cotton (197), No. 30 Andrew Clark (149) and No. 33 Anthony White (157) – delivered wins over ranked opponents to fuel the Scarlet Knights to a 7-3 match split with the Boilermakers.

Cotton, No. 20 Hunter Catka (HWT) and No. 21 Andrew Barbosa (165) all secured bonus points against Purdue, while White and No. 27 Ayden Smith (125) muscled wins in sudden victory.

Across its 10 matches, RU outscored the Boilermakers, 62-31, with three wins by major decision.

"That was a tough bounce back win for our program," said head coach Scott Goodale. "We had some huge wins from our veterans. We've got to get better in some spots, but I'm proud of our guys and happy to get the dual win."

Cotton started the match against No. 22 Ben Vanadia, keeping control throughout. Cotton landed takedowns in each period, riding out Vanadia for more than two minutes en route to a 11-3 major decision. Cotton's second consecutive ranked win gave Rutgers an early 4-0 lead.

Catka followed with a major of his own. Up 7-2 towards the end of the third period on 2025 NCAA qualifier Hayden Filipovich, Catka connected on a last-second takedown to lock up the 11-2 major decision for bonus points.

Smith continued the momentum against Ashton Jackson. Tied 2-2 in sudden victory, Smith countered a shot from Jackson with a takedown, wrapping around for a 5-2 overtime decision. Smith's second win of the weekend gave the Scarlet Knights an 11-0 advantage through three.

Loses from No. 26 Dylan Shawver (133) and Mason Gibson (141) made it 11-6 Rutgers at the midpoint.

Clark faced No. 21 Gavin Brown after intermission, using his skill on top for the ranked win. Up 1-0 in the third period, Clark rode out Brown for the final two minutes to lock up a 2-0 decision and put the Scarlet Knights up 14-6.

White used his experience to gut out a win over No. 22 Stoney Buell, coming from underneath in sudden victory for a 4-1 decision. Barbosa followed with a dominant 17-6 major decision over Isaac Ruble, as RU held a 21-6 lead with two bouts remaining.

No. 10 Lenny Pinto (174) lost a tough 5-4 decision to No. 17 Brody Baumann, but Cartagena-Walsh closed the dual with a gritty 2-1 win over No. 26 James Rowley to make it a 24-9 victory in favor of the Scarlet Knights.

Up Next

Rutgers hits the road for back-to-back Big Ten matches at Northwestern on Friday, Jan. 23 in Evanston, Illinois and at No. 11 Illinois on Sunday, Jan. 25 in Champaign, Illinois. Both matches will stream on Big Ten Plus.

Box Score

No. 17 Rutgers 24, Purdue 9

197: 18/16 Remy Cotton (RU) over 22/21 Ben Vanadia (PUR) by MD, 11-3; RU leads, 4-0

HWT: 20/19 Hunter Catka (RU) over Hayden Filipovich (PUR) by MD, 11-2; RU leads, 8-0

125: 27/32 Ayden Smith (RU) over Ashton Jackson (PUR) by SV1, 5-2; RU leads, 11-0

133: Blake Boarman (PUR) over 26/25 Dylan Shawver (RU) by SV1, 4-1; RU leads, 11-3

141: Vincent Paino (PUR) over Mason Gibson (RU) by dec., 7-5; RU leads, 11-6

149: 30/NR Andrew Clark (RU) over 21/33 Gavin Brown (PUR) by dec., 2-0; RU leads, 14-6

157: 33/NR Anthony White (RU) over 22/16 Stoney Buell (PUR) by SV1, 4-1; RU leads, 17-6

165: 21/26 Andrew Barbosa (RU) over Isaac Ruble (PUR) by MD, 17-6; RU leads, 21-6

174: 17/22 Brody Baumann (PUR) over 10/10 Lenny Pinto (RU) by dec., 5-4; RU leads, 21-9

184: 15/16 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU) over 26/28 James Rowley (PUR) by dec., 2-1; RU wins, 24-9