March 17, 2011
Complete Team Scores & Brackets 
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Purdue wrestling team finished the first day of competition at the 2011 NCAA Championships tied for 33rd place with eight team points. Three Boilermakers remain alive in the consolation bracket, looking to work their way towards All-America honors tomorrow.
Senior Colton Salazar picked up three team points for the Old Gold and Black at 157 pounds, rolling out a 13-4 major decision over Eastern Michigan's Aaron Sulzer, but falling to top-seeded Adam Hall of Boise State in the second round. Salazar dominated from start-to-finish against Sulzer, scoring four takedowns in the first period with a variety of moves, adding a fifth in the second frame and then tacking on a reversal in the third after Sulzer chose the top position. Salazar couldn't get the offense going against Hall, getting in on the legs a couple times, but coming up short of the takedown.
Fellow senior Luke Manuel was the victim of the same kind of tournament draw at 174 pounds, winning his first match of the day, but falling to the top seed in his second contest. Manuel earned a 5-2 decision over Hofstra's Ryan Patrovich in the first round, scoring takedowns in each of the first two periods and escaping quickly in the third to account for his scoring, while only surrendering a pair of escapes in his 116th career win, good for fourth all-time at Purdue. In addition, Manuel's two takedowns against Patrovich moved him into eighth all-time at Purdue with 273 career takedowns. In the second round, Manuel hit a brick wall in the form of Iowa State's No. 1-seeded Jon Reader, who put together a 13-0 major decision over the Boilermaker senior.
Purdue got another 1-1 performance at 197 pounds as senior Logan Brown defended his No. 10 seed at 197 pounds in the first round, defeating Shawn Fendone of Edinboro by major decision, 13-4, but falling to seventh-seeded Zac Thomusseit of Pittsburgh in the second, 3-2. Brown rolled out six takedowns in the bonus-point victory over Fendone, including four in the third period, but couldn't finish any of his offense against Thomusseit. He traded a second-period reversal for a pair of escapes and ended regulation in a 2-2 tie, but Thomusseit managed 1:08 of riding time in the third period for the decisive point.
Salazar will face Frank Hickman of Bloomsburg in tomorrow's second round of wrestlebacks, while Manuel draws Alex Caruso of Rutgers and Brown is set to wrestle Missouri's Brent Haynes.
In one of the most exciting bouts of the day at any weight class, junior A.J. Kissel came up on the wrong end of a 184-pound contest with fifth-seeded Joe LeBlanc of Wyoming in the first round. Kissel struck first with an ankle-pick takedown in the opening period, but gave the lead back to LeBlanc with a reversal in the second. Going to the third trailing, 3-2, Kissel quickly escaped to even the score, but then fell behind by two as LeBlanc scored on the edge of the mat. The Boilermaker knotted the count again with a reversal, hitting a switch off a restart, but LeBlanc made an impressive move, bridging Kissel to his back for the defensive fall at 6:41. Kissel was then knocked out of the tournament in the wrestlebacks by Appalachian State's Austin Trotman, 7-4. Kissel was unable to get anything going on top, and didn't get his first takedown of the match until the final 10 seconds.
Freshman 125-pounder Camden Eppert was unable to advance past the first day, suffering a pair of losses in preliminary matches on both sides of the bracket. He gave seventh-seeded Ryan Mango of Stanford all he could handle, but came up short in an 11-9 loss, and then dropped a 4-0 decision to Boise State's Alan Bartelli. Eppert scored a pair of takedowns against Mango, including a late score in the third period, but couldn't come up with a turn to cover the final spread.
Action gets going again tomorrow morning at 10:30 (ET) at Wells Fargo Arena, starting with the second round of consolation wrestling. Sessions Three and Four will both be shown live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com.
TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State - 30.5
2. Cornell - 29.0
3. Iowa - 25.0
3. Oklahoma State - 25.0
5. American - 23.5
6. Arizona State - 21.0
7. Wisconsin - 20.0
8. Boise State - 19.5
9. Minnesota - 19.0
10. Nebraska - 18.5
T-33. Purdue - 8.0
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
125 Pounds: Camden Eppert
Preliminary Round - lost to #7 Ryan Mango (Stanford), D 9-11
Consolation Preliminary Round - lost to Alan Bartelli (Boise State), D 0-4
157 Pounds: Colton Salazar
1st Round - def. Aaron Sulzer (Eastern Michigan), MD 13-4
2nd Round - lost to #1 Adam Hall (Boise State), D 2-6
Consolation 2nd Round - Frank Hickman (Bloomsburg)
174 Pounds: Luke Manuel
1st Round - def. Ryan Patrovich (Hofstra), D 5-2
2nd Round - lost to #1 Jon Reader (Iowa State), MD 0-13
Consolation 2nd Round - Alex Caruso (Rutgers)
184 Pounds: A.J. Kissel
1st Round - lost to #5 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming), Fall 6:41
Consolation 1st Round - lost to Austin Trotman (Appalachian State), D 4-7
197 Pounds: #10 Logan Brown
1st Round - def. Shawn Fendone (Edinboro), MD 13-4
2nd Round - lost to #7 Zac Thomusseit (Pittsburgh), D 2-3
Consolation 2nd Round - Brent Haynes (Missouri)