Dec. 20, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue wrestling team posted a dominating effort on Sunday, sweeping four dual victories at the fifth-ever Purdue Duals, in Holloway Gymnasium in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility. The Boilermakers took home 34-of-40 individual victories, winning four duals in one day for the second time in school history and improving to 7-1 overall.
The Boilermakers rolled up bonus points in bunches, scoring eight major decisions, 10 technical falls and seven falls in the four team victories. Juniors Luke Manuel and Logan Brown led the effort as Manuel finished with a fall and three technical falls, while Brown tallied four technical falls. Senior Nick Bertucci, junior Akif Eren and freshmen Cashé Quiroga and Adam Walls all added falls as well.
Purdue improved to 4-0 all-time against the College of Mount Saint Joseph (MSJ) in Sunday's opener, downing the Lions, 30-12. Quiroga posted the first of his four career dual wins on the day, toppling MSJ's Cody Stewart by major decision, 17-3, at 125 pounds, while Eren and sophomore Jake Fleckenstein ran the Boilermakers' team lead to 14-0 through 133 and 141 pounds as Eren stuck Charlie Pickelheimer in 3:47 at 133, while Fleckenstein notched a 14-5 major decision over Eric Meyer at 141. MSJ grabbed one of its three team wins at 149 pounds as Bryan Massong edged out Purdue senior Matt Redmond by decision, 4-3, but Boilermaker junior Colton Salazar bounced right back for the Boilermakers with a 9-0 major decision over Tommy Fehring at 157 pounds.
The Lions took a medical forfeit at 165 to take a six-point bite out of the team score, however Luke Manuel grabbed most of those right back at 174 pounds, reeling off a 16-0 technical fall in just three minutes over Matthew Collins. Junior David Pisarcik followed up with an 8-2 decision at 184 pounds, and Brown closed out the Boilermakers' scoring with a 25-10 four-point technical fall over Marcus Fridley at 197 pounds. MSJ's Sean Jameson won the heavyweight bout to complete the match, topping Walls, 4-0.
The Boilermakers' second contest resulted in a solid 32-10 win over intrastate rival Indianapolis as Purdue won eight of the 10 individual matches. Quiroga got a bit of a scare from Indianapolis' Alex Johns to start the bout, falling behind early, but rallying with two third-period takedowns to force sudden victory where he sealed the win. The comeback sparked a streak of five straight Purdue wins to start the match as Eren, Fleckenstein, senior Sam Patacsil and Salazar won in succession. Eren and Fleckenstein turned in bonus points for the second straight dual as Eren scored a 17-5 major decision, while Fleckenstein notched a 27-10 technical fall.
After another medical forfeit at 165 pounds for the Boilermakers, Manuel scored his first technical fall of the season, needing just 5:28 for the 18-2 win over Shelby Mappes. Purdue senior Nick Corpe opened his day at 184 pounds with a 15-3 major decision over Frank Wittkamp, and Brown notched his second straight technical fall at 197 pounds, getting all five points this time in a 21-6 win. The Greyhounds wrapped up the match with a 10-2 major decision at heavyweight as Lynn Panko topped Walls.
The Boilermakers rolled up their highest team point total of the season in their third bout of the day, rolling up Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE), 52-0. All 10 individual wins turned in bonus points as Quiroga, Bertucci, Luke Manuel and Walls all scored falls, Salazar and Brown notched technical falls and Eren Fleckenstein and Corpe posted major decisions. The Boilermakers' 10th win of the match was a forfeit win for injured senior Jason Martin at 165 pounds, as he weighed-in and took the victory because SIUE's 165-pounder failed to make weight, while medically forfeiting his other three scheduled bouts.
The Old Gold and Black continued its dominance in Sunday's finale, churning out a 41-6 win over Lakeland College. Quiroga needed just 2:50 to stick Cory Hildebrandt at 125 pounds, and Eren took just the first two periods to mount an 18-3 technical fall over David May. Freshman Matt Manuel scored an 11-6 decision at 141 pounds over Jake Montie, and Bertucci's 2:51 fall at 149 pounds pushed his career total to 18, moving him into a tie for 13th all-time at Purdue. Patacsil picked up a 157-pound victory, topping Ryan Renon, 9-5, and after Martin's medical forfeit, Manuel busted out a 24-9 four-point technical fall over Derek Flok at 174. Corpe and Brown stormed into Purdue's history books at 184 and 197 as matching 22-7 technical falls moved their respective career takedown totals to 201 and 205. Brown now sits 15th in school history, while Corpe is right behind him at 16th all-time on the career takedown leaderboard.
The Boilermakers return to action Tuesday, Dec. 29, at the Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University at Welsh-Ryan Arena.