Dec. 30, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. - After notching the best finish in school history at the Midlands Championships in 2007, taking ninth with 58 points, the Purdue wrestling team upped the ante to close out 2008, taking home seventh place with a Boilermaker record, 82.5 team points. Four Boilermakers climbed the podium led by bronze medalists Logan Brown and Jake Patacsil at 197 and 149 pounds, respectively.
Purdue's outing was its second straight top-10 performance at a major collegiate tournament this season, following its fifth-place showing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and should garner some national recognition in the polls. The Boilermakers finished ahead of five of the top-25 teams in attendance, including Big Ten rivals Illinois (No. 8) and Indiana (No. 18), and missed surpassing 12th-ranked Central Michigan University by just a half a point. Purdue finished 28.5 points ahead of the Illini, and topped the archrival Hoosiers by more than 40 points. The Boilermakers also displaced No. 21 Old Dominion, No. 22 Northern Iowa and No. 25 Pittsburgh.
The Old Gold and Black scored bonus points in bunches, piling up 24.5 extra tallies on six major decisions, three technical falls, six pins and a medical forfeit. Brown racked up the most bonus points for the Boilermakers, notching three falls and a medical forfeit, while Patacsil had two major decisions and three technical falls over the two days.
Brown had a very impressive second day, winning four straight matches, knocking off a pair of ranked opponents and scoring six bonus points. He secured a spot on the podium with a 3-1 victory over fifth-seeded and 11th-ranked Andrew Anderson of Northern Iowa, taking down the Panther in the waning seconds to advance. He followed with a 2:53 pin of Iowa State's Kyle Simonson, to roll to the consolation semifinals, where he received a medical forfeit from Wisconsin's Trevor Brandvold. Brown capped the tournament with a 6:32 pin of second-seeded and fourth-ranked Max Askren of Missouri, coming from behind to snag the win. Brown opened the match with a takedown and after giving up a second-period reversal, snared a double-leg takedown in the third and lifted Askren over his head and on to his back for the fall.
Patacsil slipped up in his semifinal matchup with third-seeded and seventh-ranked Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin, taking an 8-2 lead into the final frame before giving up a third-period reversal and falling to his back for the pin. The Boilermaker senior came back with a vengeance in the consolation brackets, rolling to a 17-0 technical fall in just 1:59 against Michigan State's David Cheza and posting an 11-2 major decision over sixth-seeded and 16th-ranked Kyle Borshoff to close the day.
Sophomore A.J. Kissel earned his first career placing at Midlands, taking seventh place at 184 pounds. He opened Tuesday with a hard-fought 2-1 tie-break victory over Pittsburgh's Zac Thomusseit, riding out the Panther in the second 30 second session after escaping in the first. A 4-2 loss to seventh-seeded and 16th-ranked Jordan Blanton of Illinois deterred Kissel, but he rebounded in the seventh-place bout, snaring another narrow win. Kissel opened the second frame of his final bout on top, nearly pinning Central Michigan's Vince Didona, but settling for a trio of back points. These three would prove enough to win as he battled his way through the rest of regulation to a 3-2 decision.
Fellow second-year Luke Manuel took home eight-place at 165 pounds for the second straight year, posting just one win in the second day of the tournament. His one victory came in the round of 12 as he topped Rutgers Matt Pletcher by major decision, 8-0, and guaranteed the Boilermakers three team points. However, Manuel dropped his next two matches in narrow fashion, suffering a 12-7 loss to top-seeded and second-ranked Moza Fay of Northern Iowa, and Oregon State's Keegan Davis in the second sudden-victory period, 4-2.
Juniors Nick Bertucci and Nick Corpe were both unable to advance through the afternoon's round of 12 and earn a place on the podium. Bertucci dropped a 9-6 decision to Northern Iowa's Tyson Reiner at 157 pounds, while Corpe came up short against Lloyd Rogers of the Chattanooga Takedown Club, suffering a 5-3 loss.
Top-ranked Iowa captured the team title, leap-frogging second-ranked Iowa State in the final session with a trio of individual champions to overcome the Cyclones 156.5 to 153.5. Wisconsin and Northwestern boasted a pair of individual champions apiece to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Boilermakers will have little rest as they depart Saturday for Norfolk, Va. to compete in a trio of duals at Old Dominion University. Purdue will face the host Monarchs along with George Mason University and University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and then head south to Florida where the Boilermakers will face Central Florida and train in the warm climate for approximately a week.