March 20, 2008
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Purdue wrestling team advanced all four of its national qualifiers to the second day of the NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Missouri and the St. Louis Sports Commission at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. All four Boilermakers are in the consolation brackets of the tournament after an up-and-down first day of competition.
Junior Jake Patacsil and freshmen A.J. Kissel and Logan Brown moved through the first round with wins, but all fell in the Round of 16, while rookie Luke Manuel dropped his opener, but rebounded in the wrestlebacks. The Boilermakers finished the first day with 10 team points, already amassing two more points than their final score from 2007.
At 149 pounds, Patacsil opened the tournament in grand fashion, smashing his own single-season school back point record in a 16-0 technical fall over West Virginia's David Jauregui. Patacsil was dominant throughout the match, taking down Jauregui twice and turning his opponent at will. His 12 nearfall points lifts his season total to 202, snapping the mark of 190 from last season.
Patacsil met a familiar foe in the Round of 16, facing off with ninth-seeded Big Ten rival Lance Palmer of Ohio State. Patacsil led early in the match, taking Palmer down and turning him for a pair of back points. Palmer rallied in the second and ran away with the match finishing with a 14-6 major decision. Patacsil fell to the consolation bracket, where he'll face Maryland's Eric Medina. Medina fell to the consolation bracket with an opening-round loss to Edinboro's Daryl Cocozzo, but advanced to Friday by pinning Tennessee-Chattanooga's Joey Knox.
Kissel opened the day with a 6-4 pigtail victory over Lehigh's Manuel Schubert, using a first-period takedown and third-period reversal to score the decision. He followed with a 4:44-fall of ninth-seeded Brent Chriswell of Arizona State. Kissel took a 2-0 first-period lead with a takedown, and rode Chriswell out for the remainder of the frame. After taking the bottom position in the second, Kissel reversed Chriswell, locked in an arm-bar and stuck him for the win. A former Boilermaker grappler, Chriswell transferred to Tempe, Ariz. last fall.
In the next round, Kissel suffered a 4-0 loss at the hands of eighth-seeded Roger Kish of Minnesota. After a scoreless first period, Kish nabbed a takedown in the second and a reversal in the third to steal the win. Kissel will square off with West Virginia's Kurt Brenner in tomorrow's consolation bracket, marking the pair's second matchup of the season. Kissel pinned Brenner at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, running a bar on in the third period to stun the then-ranked Mountaineer. Brenner lost his NCAA opener to third-seeded Tyrel Todd of Michigan, and returned to top Northern Iowa's Andy O'Loughlin by major decision, 16-8.
Brown moved into the Round of 16 with a 6-2 victory over Northern Iowa's Andrew Anderson. Brown hit his trademark double-leg shot in the first period, and countered an Anderson shot in the third to secure the win. Brown followed with a 9-2 loss to 2008 Big Ten Champion Phil Davis of Penn State. Brown ensnared the second-seeded Nittany Lion for a second-period takedown, and finished the frame trailing just 3-2. However, Brown would hit the wall there and Davis continued his attack for the win. Brown dropped into the wrestlebacks where he will take on 12th-seeded Joseph Rovelli of Hofstra tomorrow. Rovelli was upset by unseeded Darren Burns of UNC-Greensboro, but toppled Indiana's Joe Fagiano in sudden victory to stay alive in consolation action.
Manuel suffered a narrow defeat in his tournament opener, dropping a 4-2 decision to third-seeded Nick Marable of Missouri. Marable snagged a takedown in the first frame and fought Manuel off the rest of the way to advance.
Despite falling to the consolation bracket, Manuel rebounded with a narrow 6-5 victory over Wisconsin's Jake Donar to advance to tomorrow's competition. Manuel mounted an early lead on the Badger senior, taking him down once in the first and again in the second for a 5-2 advantage. Donar rallied in the third, taking Manuel to the mat and building over a minute of riding time, but Manuel escaped for the winning point down the stretch. Manuel will face West Virginia's Donald Jones, who won his tournament opener over Calif. St. Bakersfield's Daniel Atondo, but fell to fourth-seeded Mack Lewnes of Cornell to fall to the wrestlebacks.
Action resumes tomorrow 10 a.m. (CST). Live text results are available at www.intermatwrestle.com.