March 5, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue Wrestling team moved up to ninth place in the second session of the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Northwestern University at Welch Ryan Arena, amassing 44.5 team points and advancing six individuals to tomorrow's placing rounds. Four Boilermakers are in the consolation semifinals, while the other two will wrestle for seventh place in Sunday's third and final session.
Purdue senior Logan Brown was one win shy of a trip to the finals, winning his first two bouts of the day, but suffering a 9-3 loss to Iowa's second-seeded Luke Lofthouse in the semifinals. Brown toppled Penn State's Nick Ruggear in the preliminary round by major decision, 12-3, and followed that with a 2-1 tie-break win over Michigan's sixth-seeded Anthony Biondo. Brown is set to wrestle Michigan State's Tyler Dickenson in tomorrow's consolation semifinals, already having clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Fellow seniors Colton Salazar and Luke Manuel and freshman Camden Eppert join Brown in the consolation semifinals, all battling through the wrestlebacks for a spot on the podium tomorrow. Salazar split matches this morning at 157 pounds, beating Illinois' Jackson Morse, 11-6, but falling by major decision to Indiana's fifth-seeded Paul Young, 13-5. He rebounded in the evening session with an 8-3 decision over Ohio State's Sean Nemec and will face the No. 3 seed Jason Welch of Northwestern. Salazar has already locked up an automatic bid for the national tournament.
Manuel dropped his opener on Saturday to Iowa's fifth-seeded Ethen Lofthouse, but came back with consecutive wins over Brian Roddy of Northwestern, 16-5, and eighth-seeded Curran Jacobs of Michigan State, 6-1. Manuel looks to advance to the third-place match in the morning, facing Wisconsin's sixth-seeded Ben Jordan. Manuel's secured one of eight bids at 174 pounds for the NCAA Championships, set to make his fourth appearance at the national tournament along with Brown and Salazar.
Eppert is still chasing a bid to nationals in his rookie season, needing just one win tomorrow to grab one of the five allocated spots at 125 pounds. He lost his opener to the No. 2 seed, Brandon Precin of Northwestern, 8-0, but bounced back with an 11-3 major decision over Logan Arlis of Illinois and a fall over Michigan State's Eric Olanowski, securing much needed bonus points for the Old Gold and Black. Eppert will meet Michigan's Sean Boyle for a shot at the third-place match tomorrow morning.
Juniors Jake Fleckenstein and A.J. Kissel will vie for seventh place at their respective weights tomorrow morning, both posting 1-2 records on Saturday. Fleckenstein was pinned by Indiana's Mitchell Ritchey to start the day at 141 pounds, but topped Wisconsin's Shane McQuade, 13-9, in the consolation bracket to advance. His bid for an automatic berth to NCAAs ended in the consolation quarterfinals with a 17-2 technical fall loss to Penn State's fifth-seeded Andrew Alton. Fleckenstein will get a rematch with Ritchey tomorrow for seventh place.
Kissel was edged in the closing seconds of both his losses at 184 pounds on Saturday, suffering a 5-4 decision to third-seeded Grant Gambrall and a 2-1 loss to Ohio State's seventh-seeded Cody Magrum. However, Kissel did earn his 45th career fall, needing just 2:02 to stick Indiana's Eric Cameron in the consolation first round, drawing within two of the school record. Kissel will face Michigan State's fourth-seeded Ian Hinton for seventh place tomorrow.
Seniors Akif Eren and Sam Patacsil, freshman Kyle Mosier and junior Roger Vukobratovich were all eliminated from the tournament on Saturday and fell shy of the placing rounds. Eren lost to second-seeded Tyler Graff, 10-4, and eighth-seeded Ian Paddock, 3-2, narrowly missing a bid to NCAAs at 133 pounds, while Patacsil suffered a similar fate at 149 pounds, dropping a 9-3 decision to Eric Terrazas of Illinois and getting pinned by Indiana's Kurt Kinser. Mosier lost to Indiana's Ryan LeBlanc, 5-3, and Northwestern's Kevin Bialka, 6-3, at 165 pounds and Vukobratovich was pinned by Michigan heavyweight Ben Apland and lost to Wisconsin's Eric Bugenhagen, 3-2.
Continue following the Boilermakers on Twitter (http://bit.ly/gpYBz9) and Facebook (http://on.fb.me/eIf1hc) for live updates. Tomorrow's third and final session is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (CT).
Team Scores
1. Penn State - 110.5
2. Iowa - 109
3. Minnesota 96.5
4. Wisconsin - 85.5
5. Michigan - 73
6. Northwestern - 53
7. Ohio State - 52.5
8. Illinois - 51
9. Purdue - 44.5
10. Michigan State - 38.5
11. Indiana - 35
Individual Results
125: #7 Camden Eppert
Quarterfinals - lost to #2 Brandon Precin (Northwestern), MD 8-0
Consolation 1st Round - def. Logan Arlis (Illinois), MD 11-3
Consolation Quarterfinals - def. Eric Olanowski (Michigan State), Fall 5:50
Consolation Semifinals - #5 Sean Boyle (Michigan)
133: Akif Eren
Preliminary Round - lost to #2 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin), D 10-4
Consolation 1st Round - lost to #8 Ian Paddock (Ohio State), D 3-2
141: #7 Jake Fleckenstein
Preliminary Round - lost to Mitchell Ritchey (Indiana), Fall 4:56
Consolation 1st Round - def. #8 Shane McQuade (Wisconsin), D 13-9
Consolation Quarterfinals - lost to #5 Andrew Alton (Penn State), TF 17-2 (4:32)
7th Place Match - Mitchell Ritchey (Indiana)
149: Sam Patacsil
Preliminary Round - lost to #4 Eric Terrazas (Illinois), D 9-3
Consolation 1st Round - lost to #3 Kurt Kinser (Indiana), Fall 4:32
157: #4 Colton Salazar
Preliminary Round - def. Jackson Morse (Illinois), D 11-6
Quarterfinals - lost to #4 Paul Young (Indiana), MD 13-5
Consolation Quarterfinals - def. Sean Nemec (Ohio State), D 8-3
Consolation Semifinals - #3 Jason Welch (Northwestern)
165: Kyle Mosier
Preliminary Round - lost to #7 Ryan LeBlanc (Indiana), D 5-3
Consolation 1st Round - lost to #8 Kevin Bialka (Northwestern), D 6-3
174: #4 Luke Manuel
Quarterfinals - lost to #5 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), D 5-2
Consolation 1st Round - def. Brian Roddy (Northwestern), MD 16-5
Consolation Quarterfinals - def. #8 Curran Jacobs (Michigan State), D 6-1
Consolation Semifinals - #6 Ben Jordan (Wisconsin)
184: #6 A.J. Kissel
Quarterfinals - lost to #3 Grant Gambrall (Iowa), D 5-4
Consolation 1st Round - def. Eric Cameron (Indiana), Fall 2:06
Consolation Quarterfinals - lost to #7 Cody Magrum (Ohio State), D 2-1
7th Place Match - #4 Ian Hinton (Michigan State)
197: #3 Logan Brown
Preliminary Round - def. Nick Ruggear (Penn State), MD 12-3
Quarterfinals - def. #6 Anthony Biondo (Michigan), TB 2-1
Semifinals - lost to #2 Luke Lofthouse (Iowa), D 9-3
Consolation Semifinals - Tyler Dickenson (Michigan State)
285: Roger Vukobratovich
Preliminary Round - lost to #5 Ben Apland (Michigan), Fall 4:12
Consolation 1st Round - lost to #6 Eric Bugenhagen (Wisconsin), D 3-2