Feb. 4, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue wrestling team faced the third-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility and didn't have enough firepower to get the better of the Illini's stacked lineup, as the Boilermakers fell 32-6.
Purdue is now 7-9 overall this season and 1-3 in Big Ten action. Illinois is 12-1 on the year, 3-0 in conference competition.
The Fighting Illini sent eight wrestlers to the mat that are among the top 20 in the nation in their respective weight classes, five that are ranked in the top five. Purdue currently has two wrestlers ranked among the nation's top 20, one in the top 10.
Illinois jumped on top early and built a 17-0 team lead through the first four matches before Purdue got on the scoreboard with a win at 149.
Junior Doug Withstandley (Jackson, N.J.) continued to prove his mettle among the Big Ten 149-pounders as he defeated Anton Dietzen 5-4 in overtime. With the score knotted at 0-0 after the first period, Withstandley started the second stanza in the top position, but was reversed by Dietzen 43 seconds into the period. Withstandley got the escape with 20 second remaming in the second to pull to within one, 2-1.
A Withstandley escape in the third period tied the match at 2-2 and sent it into extra time. A scoreless one-minute sudden victory period sent the match into tiebreaker. Again, Dietzen, ranked 13th in the nation, was on bottom to begin the time and scored two points with a reversal. Trailing by two with just 30 seconds to wrestle, Withstandley, ranked No. 10, pulled an escape and then hit Dietzen with a takedown with 16 second left to grab a 5-4 lead. The Boilermaker junior was able to ride Dietzen for the final 16 seconds to get the win, improving his season record to 22-7.
Illinois returned to a winning form, posting victories in the next four matches.
Although the dual result was not in doubt, pride was still on the line when the final match began.
197-pounder Nathan Moore (So., Indianapolis, Ind.) had defeated several of the top-ranked wrestlers in his weight class this season, but still was unranked in the polls. Continuing his trend of chopping down the giants, Moore defeated ninth-ranked Tyrone Byrd by a 6-4 decision.
Byrd opened the action with the first score, posting a takedown at the 1:19 mark of the first period. Moore fought through for a reversal and recorded a two-point nearfall with under 30 seconds remaining in the frame, taking a 4-2 lead into the second. Byrd's escape was the lone score in the two-minute period, sending the match to the final stanza with Moore leading 4-3.
Moore began the period on bottom and again scored a reversal, puching his lead to 6-3. Byrd was able to escape with three seconds left in the match, but it wasn't enough as Moore won the decision.
The Boilermakers return to the mat on Saturday evening in the IAF to take on another highly-ranked Big Ten team. Purdue and seventh-ranked Minnesota begin their dual at 7 p.m.