Dec. 4, 2010
Complete Brackets & Team Scores 
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The No. 23 Purdue wrestling team tied for eighth place at the 2010 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitaitonal on Saturday, amassing 68.5 team points at the Las Vegas Convention Center over the two-day event. Tenth-ranked senior Logan Brown paced the Boilermakers, taking second place at 197 pounds with a 4-1 tournament record, while fifth-ranked junior A.J. Kissel was honored with the tournament Most Pins Award.
"We're happy about the way the guys rebounded on Saturday, and getting themselves into the top-10, but we're far from satisfied," said Boilermaker head coach Scott Hinkel. "I'm proud of the guys that battled their way on to the podium, especially Logan (Brown) and A.J. (Kissel). Those guys both showed why they're ranked near the top of the country."
After a 2-0 start to his tournament yesterday, Brown opened competition Saturday with a 7-6 decision over second-seeded and 15th-ranked Anthony Biondo of Michigan. The bout went back and forth over the seven minutes, and Biondo actually held a 5-4 lead early in the third period. Brown assured himself at least overtime with a takedown and then held Biondo down for the riding time point to seal up the win. Brown came up just short of the tournament title in the finals, falling to second-ranked Cam Simaz of Cornell, 6-0.
Kissel had a monster start to his day, sticking three straight opponents to roll to the consolation finals, and taking fourth place at 184 pounds. He stuck Todd Noel of California State Fullerton to start the day, needing just 1:12 for the pin, and backed it up with a similar effort against Jake Meredith of Arizona State, sticking him in 1:57. Kissel had to work a little harder against No. 13 Erich Schmidtke of Oklahoma, taking a 1-0 lead to the third period before turning the Sooner for his fourth fall of the season and 40th of his career. Kissel got a second shot at 15th-ranked Andrew Saunders of UNC Greensboro in the consolation finals, but was edged out, 3-2.
Seniors Colton Salazar and Luke Manuel found their way back on the podium as Salazar was seventh at 157 pounds and Manuel was eighth at 174 pounds. Salazar topped 15th-ranked Barrett Abel of Cal Poly, 12-6, to earn his spot on the podium, but faltered in his second match, dropping a 5-4 decision to Walter Peppelman of Harvard. He continued to the seventh-place match, where he finished the tournament with a 5-2 victory over Andrew Balch of California State Bakersfield, placing for the second straight year, and moving up a spot from last year's eighth-place effort. Manuel had a similar start to his day, dropping No. 19 Ben Jordan of Wisconsin to secure placewinning points, 6-2, but went on to suffer a 7-3 loss at the hands of 12th-ranked Colby Covington of Oregon State. Manuel dropped to rematch Ohio State's Nick Heflin in the seventh-place match, but took his second loss to the Buckeye in as many days, 5-2.
Manuel's 101st career win moved him into a tie for 14th in Purdue history, matching Boilermaker All-American Matt Lindley, while his 13 takedowns in the tournament pushed his career total to 231, surpassing Evan Robinson for 14th all-time at Purdue. Brown inched closer to the century mark as well, as his 96 career wins are 16th all-time at Purdue.
Freshman Kyle Mosier saw his tournament run come to an end Saturday morning, suffering a 10-5 loss to Joe Booth of Drexel. Mosier is now 8-2 this season overall (8-1 at 165), with four falls and a major decision.
Continue following the Boilermakers at the Official Purdue Wrestling Twitter Page. They return to action Sunday, Dec. 12, hosting No. 16 Missouri live on the Big Ten Network in their home opener.
TEAM SCORES
1. Cornell - 140.0
2. Wisconsin - 101.5
3. Boise State - 100.0
4. Oklahoma - 99.0
5. Illinois - 91.0
6. Michigan - 86.5
7. Virginia Tech - 74.5
8. Purdue - 68.5
8. Cal State Bakersfield - 68.5
10. Oregon State - 66.5