When Nick Purdue said he needed more ink, he didn't mean more media coverage.
The redshirt freshman meant he needed to get another tattoo ... or two ... or three.
That's not an uncommon thought on the wrestling team. Of the team's 28 wrestlers, 16 have at least one tattoo and 10 have more than one.
Tattoos are a major part of the team's culture, even for the coaches. Assistant Coach Kyle Hansen has more than a dozen tattoos, but has managed to lose count of the actual number.
It's rare to walk into the locker room and not hear something about a tattoo. Last week after practice, wrestlers and coaches huddled around Purdue to see his newest tattoo on the top of his left foot.
Coach Joel Greenlee had told Purdue he didn't believe he'd get one on his foot. The Genoa, Ohio, native showed up to practice three days later with a tattoo of a stack of money.
It's an attitude
Purdue said. Take (Clay) Tucker for example he doesn't care. We just do whatever we want.
After a disappointing performance by Tucker on Ohio's last road trip, a coach pulled him aside. He told him he should wrestle how he lives.
Tucker has tattoos all over his body and doesn't care what anybody thinks. The coach told him he should wrestle like that.
That's the attitude I want our team to wrestle with Purdue said.
Tucker leads the team in tattoos with eight (and wins with 20). One of the more interesting ones features a baby jamming on a guitar with the words, Rock On
above it.
The Martins Ferry, Ohio, native got it when he, along with Purdue and Erik Schuth, spontaneously decided to get tattoos after practice because they were bored.
That day, Purdue got the stack of cash on his foot. Schuth got Hey dude
let's party
in Chinese tattooed on his chest below his right collarbone.
I wasn't even going to get one
Tucker said. They just kept talking me into one
and I looked at this magazine and saw this little baby
and I was like
'That little baby looks cool
it'd be cooler if he was rocking out on a guitar.'
Those impromptu body art additions lead Tucker to believe he is addicted.
Every time I'm getting a tattoo
