March 9, 2013
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Purdue wrestling team sits in ninth place with 28 team points after the first day of competition at the 2013 Big Ten Championships on Saturday at the University of Illinois. Four individuals punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships on the day as senior Ivan Lopouchanski, sophomores Brandon Nelsen and Braden Atwood and freshman Chad Welch all secured automatic-qualifying bids.
While no Boilermakers were able to advance to tomorrow's finals, Nelsen made his way to the semifinals at 141 pounds and took top-seeded and undefeated Hunter Stieber to sudden victory before falling, 10-8. After giving up four early takedowns, Nelsen scored one of his own at the end of the second and then rode Stieber out in the third to force overtime. Nelsen opened the day with a 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded Bryan Pearsall of Penn State to clinch at top-six finish and will face Northwestern's Pat Greco in the consolation semifinals tomorrow morning.
Welch secured a top-eight placing with upset victories over seventh-seeded Lee Munster of Northwestern and ninth-seeded Scott Liegel of Wisconsin. Welch avenged a major decision loss to the Northwestern sophomore, using a first-period reversal and second-period ride-out to earn a 3-2 decision, and then following a loss to second-seeded Mike Evans of Iowa, rebounded with a 4-1 decision over Liegel. The second victory also avenged a loss from the Big Ten Dual season as Liegel took a 7-2 decision in January. Welch finished the day with a 7-3 loss to third-seeded Robert Kokesh of Nebraska and will face the top seed, Logan Storley of Minnesota tomorrow for seventh place.
Atwood made his way back to the national championships by rebounding from a quarterfinal loss to defeat one opponent and secure a top-eight spot at 197 pounds. He nearly rallied from behind in his 7-6 opening loss to fourth-seeded Andrew Campolattano of Ohio State, but answered with a solid 4-0 victory over Nebraska's Caleb Kolb. He closed the day with a 7-3 loss to Michigan's Max Huntley and will face Wisconsin's Jackson Hein tomorrow for seventh place.
Lopouchanski was forced to bounce back from an upset loss to Michigan State's seventh-seeded Dan Osterman to pick up two victories and secure a top-six finish at 149 pounds. Osterman outlasted Lopouchanski through four overtime periods and earned more riding time in the second pair of 30-second frames to advance. Lopouchanski rallied in the wrestlebacks with wins over Indiana's Preston Keiffer and Illinois's Caleb Ervin, scoring bonus points in both victories. He used all seven minutes in a 19-4 technical fall of Keiffer and used a pair of three-point turns to earn a 9-0 major decision over Ervin. Lopouchanski advances to face eighth-seeded Ian Paddock of Ohio State in the consolation semifinals tomorrow morning.
Penn State leads the team race with 123 points, followed by Minnesota with 112.5 and Iowa with 109.0. Wrestling resumes tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. (CT) with the consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches.
Team Scores
1. Penn State - 123.0
2. Minnesota - 112.5
3. Iowa - 109.0
4. Ohio State - 92.0
5. Illinois - 72.5
6. Michigan - 61.0
7. Nebraska - 52.0
8. Northwestern - 50.0
9. Purdue - 28.0
10. Indiana - 26.5
11. Wisconsin - 26.0
12. Michigan State - 17.0
Purdue Results
125 Pounds - #6 Camden Eppert
Quarterfinals - lost to #3 Jesse Delgado (IL), MD 10-2
Conso. First Round - def. Brenan Lyon (MSU), D 4-1
Conso. Quarterfinals - lost to #7 David Thorn (MN), D 3-1
Seventh-Place Match - Joe Duca (IU)
133 Pounds - #7 Cashe Quiroga
Quarterfinals - lost to #2 Tony Ramos (IA), D 9-5
Conso. First Round - lost to #8 Shawn Nagel (NEB), D 10-9
141 Pounds - #5 Brandon Nelsen
Quarterfinals - def. #4 Bryan Pearsall (PSU), D 2-1
Semifinals - lost to #1 Hunter Stieber (OSU), SV 10-8
Conso. Semifinals - Pat Greco (NU)
149 Pounds - #2 Ivan Lopouchanski
Quarterfinals - lost to #7 Dan Osterman (MSU), TB2 2-2 (RT)
Conso. First Round - def. Preston Keiffer (IU), TF 19-4 (7:00)
Conso. Quarterfinals - def. #6 Caleb Ervin (IL), MD 9-0
Conso. Semifinals - #8 Ian Paddock (OSU)
157 Pounds - Tommy Churchard
First Round - lost to #5 Taylor Walsh (IU), D 3-0
Conso. First Round - lost to #3 Dylan Alton (PSU), Fall 1:03
165 Pounds - #10 Pat Robinson
First Round - lost to #7 Ryan LeBlanc (IU), MD 10-1
Conso. First Round - lost to #9 Mark Martin (OSU), SV 3-1
Bronze Standard Match* - def. #10 Frank Cousins Jr. (WI), D 7-5
174 Pounds - #10 Chad Welch
First Round - def. #7 Lee Munster (NU), D 3-2
Quarterfinals - lost to #2 Mike Evans (IA), MD 12-3
Conso. First Round - def. #9 Scott Liegel (WI), D 4-1
Conso. Quarterfinals - lost to #3 Robert Kokesh (NEB), D 7-3
Seventh-Place Match - #1 Logan Storley (MN)
184 Pounds - Kyle Mosier
First Round - lost to #4 John Rizqallah (MSU), D 6-4
Conso. First Round - lost to #6 Tony Dallago (IL), Fall 6:08
197 Pounds - #5 Braden Atwood
Quarterfinals - lost to #4 Andrew Campolattano (OSU), D 7-6
Conso. First Round - def. #11 Caleb Kolb (NEB), D 4-0
Conso. Quarterfinals - lost to #8 Max Huntley (MI), D 7-3
Seventh-Place Match - #7 Jackson Hein (WI)
285 Pounds - Alex White
First Round - lost to #5 Mike McClure (MSU), D 4-0
Conso. First Round - lost to #6 Adam Chalfant (IN), MD 12-3
Bronze Standard Match* - lost to Spencer Johnson (NEB), D 5-2
* - matches are to determine a bronze standard wrestler for NCAA Championship at-large qualifiers, they do not count towards team scores.