Feb. 10, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue wrestling team suffered a 32-8 defeat at the hands of the fourth-ranked defending national champion University of Minnesota on Sunday afternoon. The Boilermakers only managed to win a pair of matches as they fell to 10-5 overall and 2-3 in the conference standings, while Minnesota improved to 13-5 (4-1 Big Ten).
The Boilermakers emerged victorious in just two of the 10 bouts on the day as 15th-ranked 149-pound junior Jake Patacsil notched a 16-0 technical fall over Gopher freshman Luke Mellmer, and junior 174-pounder Nick Corpe upset No. 11 senior Gabe Dretsch by decision, 5-4. Patacsil made short work of the Minnesota rookie, piling up 14 nearfall points in the first period to earn his 11th technical fall of the season. The win allowed Patacsil to maintain his tie for the national lead in technical falls with Edinboro 157-pounder Gregor Gillespie, while Patacsil's season back-point total climbed to 160, just 30 shy of his single-season school record set last season, and his career total grew to 444.
Corpe improved to 23-8 with his decision over Dretsch and earned his first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent this season. Corpe took the Gopher senior down twice in the match, once in the first period and again in the second, and finished his fourth straight Big Ten victory without surrendering a takedown. Now 4-1 in Big Ten Duals, Corpe leads the Boilermakers with 70 takedowns on the season.
Minnesota wasted little time seizing control of the match, scoring two pins and a technical fall in the first three matches to build a 17-0 edge. Top-ranked sophomore Jayson Ness scored his national-leading 18th pin of the season at 125 pounds, sticking Purdue freshman Akif Eren in 2:44, and fifth-ranked Minnesota senior Mack Reiter followed with a 15-0 technical fall of Boilermaker freshman George Petrov. No. 3 Minnesota senior Manuel Rivera closed out the run with a 2:32 fall of Purdue sophomore Matt Redmond.
Patacsil put the Old Gold and Black on the board at 149 pounds, but Minnesota recovered with back-to-back decisions at 157 and 165 as seventh-ranked senior C.P. Schlatter topped sophomore Sam Patacsil, 10-4, and junior Tyler Safratowich edged sophomore Justin Fraga, 5-2. The Gophers hit another speed bump at 174, but closed out the match with a trio of close decisions. Tenth-ranked Roger Kish slipped past Purdue freshman A.J. Kissel at 184 pounds, 4-3, as he snared a pair of first period takedowns. Kissel had Kish in serious trouble in the second period, sinking in a deep armbar, but saw the chance disappear as the referee stopped the pinning combination and called a dangerous position.
At 197 pounds, Minnesota senior Justin Bronson edged out Purdue freshman Logan Brown, using an escape and the riding-time point to score the 2-0 win, and freshman Ben Berhow grabbed a takedown in the sudden-victory period to escape with a 3-1 win over Boilermaker sophomore Chris Kasten.
The Boilermakers return to action with their final home match of the year on Friday at 7 p.m. against 11th-ranked Northwestern University. The match will air live at www.purduesports.com on Boilermaker All-Access.