March 8, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Purdue junior Jake Patacsil and freshman Luke Manuel and Logan Brown all punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships at the first day of the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, hosted by the University of Minnesota. The Boilermakers sit in 10th place in the team standings, amassing 39.5 points on the day.
The Boilermakers struggled through Saturday morning's session as sixth-seeded Patacsil was the only Purdue grappler to remain in the championship bracket when the dust settled. The 149-pound junior rolled up a 19-4 technical fall of Wisconsin's Kendall Vogel in a pigtail match, and followed up with a 7-6 upset of third-seeded Josh Churella of Michigan to move on to the semifinals. After surrendering a takedown to Vogel in the first period, Patacsil locked on top in the second, rolling Vogel up for five nearfalls and a 14-2 lead. Vogel responded with a takedown to start the third period, but Patacsil quickly escaped, scored a takedown of his own, and tilted Vogel for the two-point nearfall and technical fall.
The matchup with Churella, the 2007 NCAA Runner-Up at 149 pounds, was intense to the wire, going back and forth for the full seven minutes. Churella led early, snagging a pair of first-period takedowns to secure a 4-1 edge. However, Patacsil came back in the second, taking his standard top position and tilting Churella for a pair of back points. Churella seemed to put the match out of reach in the third, taking Patacsil down for a 6-3 advantage with just over a minute left. Patacsil needed 24 seconds to reverse his foe and then took him to his back for two more back points and the narrow victory.
Sophomore Nick Corpe was the only other Boilermaker to pick up a victory in the early session, taking a 12-4 major decision from Ohio State's Alex Picazo. Corpe bolstered his team-best takedown total to 75 in the win, but followed up with a 9-0 major decision loss to second-seeded Jay Borschel of Iowa in the tournament quarterfinals, and bowed out of the tournament with a 6-3 loss to eighth-seeded Dan Clum of Wisconsin.
The Old Gold and Black turned it on in the evening session as five of the nine Purdue grapplers in the consolation bracket rolled to the consolation quarterfinals, and two of those five secured a trip to nationals with advancement to the consolation semifinals, along with Patacsil, who dropped an 8-0 major decision to 2006 NCAA Champion Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. Patacsil rebounded/dropped his second straight in the consolation semifinals,
Manuel punched his ticket to St. Louis with a 5-3 decision over Wisconsin's Jake Donar, and will wrestle sixth-seeded Matt Coughlin of Indiana for a shot at the third-place match tomorrow. Manuel used a pair of first-period takedowns to mount a solid advantage on Donar and rode the rest of the way to the win.
After a pigtail loss to third-seeded Patrick Bond of Illinois, fellow rookie Brown surged through the consolation bracket, toppling fifth-seeded Joe Williams in the first consolation round, and edging John Weakley of Ohio State in the consolation quarterfinals. Both ended in dramatic fashion as Brown scored a takedown with one second left to upset Williams, and pushed Weakley into sudden victory before the official ended the match with Weakley's second stalling warning. Brown is scheduled to rematch Bond tomorrow for a shot at the third-place match.
Sophomore Nick Bertucci ousted the 2007 NCAA Runner-Up, Craig Henning of Wisconsin, who entered the tournament ranked fifth in the country and seeded fifth in the tournament, with a thrilling 6-3 tie-breaker. Bertucci used a last-second reversal to even the count at 2-2 at the end of regulation, and after a scoreless sudden-victory period, reversed Henning again in the tie-breaker to seal his win. However, Bertucci faltered in the consolation semifinals, surrendering a late takedown to Jason Johnstone of Ohio State, but still has a shot at NCAA qualification in tomorrow's seventh-place match against seventh-seeded Ryan Morningstar of Iowa.
Fellow sophomore Chris Kasten had a similar day, dropping his opening match to No. 3 seed Kyle Massey of Wisconsin, but rebounding to topple Alan O'Donnell of Michigan State in the consolation quarterfinals. Kasten battled even with O'Donnell through the first two periods, but took advantage of the top position in the third, turning O'Donnell for the three-point nearfall and coasting to the 4-1 win. He followed with a hard-fought 4-1 loss to seventh-seeded Ben Berhow of Minnesota, but will face Indiana's Nathan Everhart with seventh-place and a trip to NCAAs on the line.
The host Golden Gophers lead the overall team standings with 106 points, followed closely by top-ranked Iowa with 93.5 points. Tomorrow's action resumes at noon with the seventh-place matches and consolation semifinals, and concludes with the first, third and fifth-place matches at 2 p.m.