Dec. 1, 2007
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - An opening day full of ups and downs leaves the Purdue wrestling team tied for 13th place with 36.5 points after the first day at the 26th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday. The Boilermakers have just two competitors left in the tournament, who will continue competition in the consolation brackets tomorrow.
The two survivors for the Old Gold and Black were junior 174-pounder Nick Corpe and 184-pound true freshman A.J. Kissel. Corpe was 4-1 on the day winning a pair of matches in the championship bracket before falling to No. 1-ranked, top-seeded Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh in the second round. He rebounded to topple the 11th-seeded Alex Picazo of Ohio State and ninth-seeded James Williamson of Missouri to close out the day and move on to tomorrow's session.
Kissel pushed his team-leading pin total to eight this year, sticking his opponents in all three of his wins, and only a narrow loss to seventh-ranked and second-seeded Tyrel Todd of Michigan. He wrapped up the evening with a third-period pin of 12th-ranked and 10th-seeded Kurt Brenner of West Virginia. His eight pins in his first 14 collegiate matches move him into a tie for 20th on the Purdue single-season record board.
Nearly making the first day's cut were seventh-seeded sophomore Justin Fraga and freshman Logan Brown. Fraga went 2-2 on the day, while Brown suffered tough losses to 16th-ranked Jared Villers of West Virginia and No. 12 Daren Bruns of UNC Greensboro.
Sophomore 157-pounder Nick Bertucci had a solid outing for the Boilermakers pinning a trio of opponents as he advanced to the third round of the consolation bracket before being ousted. His losses came to a pair of outstanding opponents as he fell to top-ranked defending national champion Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro and 12th-ranked Mike Chandler of Missouri. He now ranks second on the team with four falls on the season.
No. 12 junior captain Jake Patacsil notched a pair of falls at 149 pounds before exiting the tournament due to injury default. His pins were the 17th and 18th of his career, moving him into a tie for 11th in Purdue history with Israel Blevins.
Also scoring wins on the day for the Boilermakers were sophomore 141-pounder Matt Redmond and freshman 125-pounder Akif Eren. Redmond notched bonus points with a major decision victory, while Eren tallied his first career pin.
Tomorrow's action resumes at 8 a.m. (PST) as Corpe faces 18th-ranked and seventh-seeded Eric Decker of Virginia Tech, while Kissel takes on 17th-ranked and ninth-seeded Doug Umbehauer. Live results can be found on the Boilermakers' schedule at www.purduesports.com.