March 18, 2005
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Junior 184-pounder Ben Wissel added his name to a growing list of Purdue wrestling All-Americans on Friday evening, clinching no worse that an eighth-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Wissel (Richmond, Ind.) defeated Oklahoma's Justin Dyer 5-1 in the consolation bracket's fourth round, securing a spot on the NCAA podium on Saturday night.
Avenging a 10-8 defeat on Jan. 8, Wissel scored the only takedown of the match and did so in the final 10 seconds of the bout to defeat Dyer. In our Dyer's leg, Wissel spun to the side of his opponent and gained control for the decisive two points with 0:08 showing on the clock. The move also put Dyer on his back for two back points, giving Wissel the four-point victor and a place in Saturday evening's "Parade of All-Americans."
Wissel is the 15th All-American to wrestle at Purdue under current head coach Jessie, and the 47th in the history of Boilermaker wrestling.
In a chance to move higher up the podium, Wissel was defeated by Iowa's Paul Bradley in two tie-breaker periods, 4-3. Bradley earned the win with an 18-second riding time advantage, the tie-breaker used if a match is knotted after 11 minutes.
The Wissel/Bradley match was a story of escapes and successful defense as the match was tied 1-1 after regulation. No scoring in the first sudden victory stanza sent the match to a tie-breaker period, one that saw each wrestler score another escape. One more minute of scoreless sudden victory led to the final tie-breaker period. Wissel scored the first escape, but Bradley countered with an escape on his own to tie the match at 3-3. With the Hawkeye holding a riding time advantage, Wissel needed a takedown to win but was unable to get in on a leg for the score.
Wissel will now face Missouri's Matt Pell on Saturday morning in the championships' Session V. Wissel and Pell met twice last November, with the Tiger winning both matches. In a dual on Nov. 19, Pell defeated Wissel by major decision 13-5. Two days later at the Missouri Open, Pell scored a 3-1 decision.
Session V of the NCAA Championships begins at 9:30 a.m. (CST).
PURDUE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS, SESSION IV
184 - Ben Wissel (P) dec. Justin Dyer (OU), 5-1
184 - Paul Bradley (IA) dec. Ben Wissel (P), 4-3 tb2