The ninth-ranked Illini wrestlers will make their final conference road trip this weekend when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face the Purdue Boilermakers Friday night, and then will travel to Madison, Wisc., Sunday to face the seventh-ranked Badgers.

Head coach Mark Johnson’s squad will be forced to wrestle short-handed for the second straight week. Sophomore Troy Tirapelle (149), who was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for the week of Jan. 24, will not wrestle this weekend because of an injured ankle. Junior Dan Zeman, who is 5-7 on the season, will replace Tirapelle in the lineup

Purdue is the lone Big Ten team not ranked in the Top 25. The Boilermakers entered Big Ten play undefeated at 10-0, but have failed to win a conference dual meet, and sit at 10-6 overall.

“We have to go out there and wrestle just like they’re number one, like Minnesota,” Cassio Pero (141) said. “We can’t take anyone for granted.”

Sophomore Jake Patascil (149) and senior Nathan Moore (197) are the only Purdue grapplers ranked in the top 20.

In the 197-pound match, No. 20 Patrick Bond will wrestle for Illinois against No. 13 Moore. Bond, who is 9-3 on the season, was just one of three Illini wrestlers to win last week against the Gophers. Moore is 30-7 on the season and 5-1 in conference duals.

After Friday’s dual with the Boilermakers, the Illini will battle a tough Badgers squad coming off victories at Purdue and No. 21 Michigan.

Wisconsin is 18-1 overall and is in a second-place tie with Illinois in the Big Ten. They feature six wrestlers ranked in the top 15, including the sixth-ranked 157-pound wrestler, Craig Henning.

Henning is 22-1 overall and 5-0 in conference. His lone loss was a 4-2 decision against Indiana’s Brandon Becker Dec. 1 at the Cliff Kleen Invitational in Las Vegas.

“Wisconsin will be a big test for us,” Johnson said. “We have focused on being tough this year, and as long as we wrestle tough, the results will follow.”