March 20, 2009
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Purdue senior Jake Patacsil joined his grandfather, Joe Patacsil, in Boilermaker wrestling history on Friday night, securing himself All-America honors at the 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships, hosted by the University of Missouri and the St. Louis Sports Commission at the Scottrade Center. The Boilermakers sit 22nd in the team standings, heading into the final day with 23.5 points.
Patacsil qualified for the round of 12 for the second consecutive season on Friday, needing just one win to secure national recognition. In 2008, he fell prey to Minnesota All-American Dustin Schlatter, but that would not be the case in 2009, as he downed Iowa State's Mitch Mueller by decision, 9-2. Patacsil jumped on top early, taking Mueller down just over a minute into the match and following closely with a pair of back points for the 4-0 advantage. The ride continued in the second period as Patacsil spend the whole frame on top, forcing the official to call a pair of stall warnings on Mueller and increase his lead to 5-0. Mueller battled back in the third, choosing neutral and taking Patacsil down to make it 5-2, but Patacsil quickly escaped and scored a takedown to seal the match, adding riding time to make it a 9-2 final.
Patacsil chased more team points in the consolation quarterfinals, racking up 4.5 for the Boilermakers with his 10-2 major decision over Heinrich Barnes of Oregon State. Patacsil gave up Barnes's only two points of the match in the first minute, surrendering a takedown, but escaped to make it a 2-1 bout at the end of the first. After a neutral start in the second period, Patacsil reined in a takedown of his own and then locked in a cradle to score a three-point nearfall and give himself a 6-2 advantage. He went on to take his usual top position in the third and turned Barnes twice more for two-point nearfalls and had over three minutes of riding time to seal up the major decision and team bonus point. Patacsil's final turn of the day pushed him over 800 back points for his career and gives him 291 for the season.
He is the 38th All-American in Purdue wrestling history, and their first since 2006, when Chris Fleeger and Ben Wissel earned the honors. Patacsil is now third in Purdue history with 119 career victories and tied for seventh on the Boilermakers' single-season list with 37 this year. He is the first All-America winner under second-year head coach Scott Hinkel, and makes Hinkel just the third coach in school history to produce a national award winner in his first two seasons. Mitch Hull coached Mike McHenry to All-America honors in his first season (1989), and Jessie Reyes led Aaron Moran to national recognition in his second year (1994).
Purdue sophomore A.J. Kissel just missed out on a spot on the 184-pound championship podium, falling in the round of 12 to Harvard's Louis Caputo, 2-1. After a scoreless first period, Caputo took the bottom position to start the second. Kissel went to work on top, but in his aggression, surrendered a reversal to Caputo to fall behind, 2-0. Kissel got back on top in the third and stayed in control this time, riding Caputo throughout the period. Kissel worked both arms, trying to run a bar and turn Caputo, but only managed to get one stall warning out of the official and was unable to bare Caputo's blades to the mat. Kissel's 1:30 of riding time provided his lone point.
Patacsil continues his pursuit of team points for the Boilermakers tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. (CST). Visit the Boilermakers' schedule and results page here for continuous play-by-play and results updates.