The ongoing 2023 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational has asserted every possible element of thrill among the spectators. The major spectacle at the event is the revolving door at 125 pounds. Different wrestlers in the weight class have been ranked No. 1 one after the other in the past few days. Nowadays, Purdue Boilermakers are traveling west for a couple of highly ranked battles at the Big Ten.
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The team would first lock horns with the first-ranking opponent, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Will team Purdue be able to defeat the No.1 opponents, bringing back the last time when Matt Ramos competed with one of their top-ranking wrestlers?
Head-to-head: Matt Ramos vs. Drake Ayala
In the Big Ten Battles of this season, Iowa Wrestling will be coming up on the wrestling mat to compete against the highly ranked wrestlers of Purdue Boilermakers. Even though there are ten weight categories at the event, the major anticipation is for the 125 pounds. Purdue’s Matt Ramos will be competing at the 125 pounds against Iowa’s Drake Ayala.
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Currently, the top wrestler at the tournament is Drake Ayala. He cemented himself as the top wrestler after securing the highest-ranking win of the season against the No. 7 wrestler Caleb Smith from Nebraska Huskers. Besides this, Ayala increased his undefeated streak to nine with a victorious match against No.18 Patrick Mckee of Minnesota’s team. Now, Ayala holds 15-1 in this season.
On the other hand, Purdue Boilmaker’s junior wrestler finished last year as a national runner-up and preseason No.1 wrestling sensation. Matt Ramos is rated No.2 in the 125 weight class, right below Ayala. While Matt Ramos is aiming to defeat the second highly-ranking wrestler at Iowa, Ayala is seeking redemption.
Will Matt Ramos be able to give Iowa Hawkeyes a déjà vu moment?
Last year in March, Matt Ramos rewrote NCAA history. In the semi-final showdown of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Matt Ramos defeated the three-time NCAA Division I Champion and USA’s elite wrestler Spencer Lee. The moment is often described as “one of the most shocking upsets in collegiate sports history” as NO. 4 Ramos pinned the first-ranking Spencer Lee.
While Lee was attempting to make history by becoming the fifth four-time national champion in the wrestling sport by adding a win to his total of 58 matches, Ramos introduced the latter to a major upset. Now, the wrestling mat, team, and even the rank of the opponent are the same as it was in the semi-finals of the NCAA Tournament.
Therefore, the chances of the unexpected are high. Will Matt Ramos be able to give Iowa Hawkeyes a similar upset as he did by defeating their No.1 ranking wrestler? Catch every glimpse of the upcoming Friday showdown with the Hawkeyes on a live broadcast by Big Ten Network at 8:00 pm ET.
Watch this story: I Can Wrestle With Anybody Anytime: The Unranked Purdue Wrestler Proved His Boast
Written by
Edited by
Bhujaya Ray Chowdhury