Dec. 6, 2008
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Purdue wrestling team sits in seventh place with 50.5 points after the first day of competition at the 27th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Five Boilermakers remain in contention, including a pair of grapplers advancing to the tournament semifinals.
The Boilermakers are the fourth-highest Big Ten team in the field, sitting behind second-place Minnesota (59.5 points), fifth-place Indiana (53.5 points) and sixth-place Michigan (52 points), but ahead of third-ranked Ohio State (eighth place/50 points), No. 7 Illinois (12th place/44.5 points) and 11th-ranked Wisconsin (16th place/35.5 points). Their day-one score is already 15 points higher than last year's final team score in Las Vegas and are tied for their highest team placing in the last six years.
Sophomores A.J. Kissel and Logan Brown are both vying for the respective tournament titles at 184 and 197 pounds and they won three matches apiece on Friday. Kissel pinned his first two opponents, stretching his pin streak to seven consecutive matches and providing the team with four bonus team points. He needed just 41 seconds to stick Andrew Roden of New Mexico and then put West Virginia's Lance Bryson to his blades in 4:44. The pin streak would come to an end in the tournament quarterfinals, but the win streak lives on as he topped fifth-seeded and 13th-ranked Justin Kerber of Cornell by decision, 8-2. He now boasts eight falls on the year and 27 for his career, moving into a tie for fifth in Purdue history with heavyweight standouts Tony Vaughn and Jake Vercelli. Brown took his first victory by injury default, and backed that up with a pair of decision wins, grounding San Francisco State's Vince Bordi, 8-2, and shutting down North Idaho's Rudi Burtschi, 5-1. Brown pushed his season takedown total to 20, and has yet to surrender the two-point maneuver to a foe in eight matches.
Kissel is set to wrestle top-seeded and fourth-ranked Louis Caputo of Harvard in the 184-pound semifinals tomorrow, while Brown is slated against Nebraska's No. 2 seed Craig Brester, who holds the nation's No. 3 ranking at 197 pounds. Fellow sophomore Luke Manuel nearly joined his classmates in the semifinals at 165 pounds, but fell just shy in a 3-1 quarterfinal loss to sixth-seeded and 13th-ranked Colt Sponseller of Ohio State. Manuel rolled through the first two matches without surrendering a takedown, edging Wyoming's Eric Coxbill in sudden victory, 3-1, and posting a 19-4 technical fall over Eli Arismendez of Embry-Riddle. Manuel drops to the consolation bracket where he'll square off against the No. 12 seed from Indiana, Paul Young, for the opportunity to secure a place-winning performance in the tournament.
No. 8 149-pound senior Jake Patacsil and junior heavyweight Chris Kasten stayed alive in the consolation brackets, rebounding from early losses to advance to the second day of competition. Patacsil was upset in the second round by No. 13 seed Peter Yates of Virginia Tech, but overshadowed the loss with a trio of shutout victories, including a pair of technical falls. Kasten opened the day with disappointing 5-3 loss in the second sudden-victory period, but came storming back in the consolations with three straight victories, including an 18-2 technical fall over Brown's Zach Zdrada. Both resume wrestling tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in the fourth round of consolation matches, needing just one victory to place in the tournament. Patacsil is set to face sixth-seeded and 17th-ranked Jason Chamberlain of Boise State, while Kasten is matched up against the top-seed, Kyle Massey of Wisconsin, who sits third in the nation as well.
Of the five Purdue wrestlers ousted in the first day, sophomore 157-pounder Colton Salazar boasted the best effort. He went 3-2 with a pair of falls and a major decision, and suffered one of his losses to the tournament's top seed, No. 6 Jordan Leen of Cornell. He pinned James Casaddban of Cumberland in just 1:22 to start his day, and after falling to Leen, bounced back to score a 16-8 major decision over Arizona State's Jerrad Trulson. His second fall took just a minute, sticking Montana State's Mark Hobson after a quick takedown, but 11th-seeded Sean Billodeau ended the Purdue sophomore's run in the following round with a late fall.
Fellow sophomore Juan Archuleta scored a pair of wins at 141 pounds, including a 12-4 major decision over Beau Lasalle of Montana State, while second-year 125-pound starter Akif Eren topped North Dakota State's Trent Sprenkle and rookie 133-pounder Jake Fleckenstein notched a 15-11 win over Northern State's Rick Schiley.
Action resumes tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. (PST) with the fourth-round of consolation matches. For full tournament brackets and team scores check the Purdue schedule or visit thewrestlingmall.com.