LINCOLN, Neb. - The momentum that Purdue's Doug Welch built at Midlands carried over as he upset the nation's second-ranked 157-pounder, James Green of Nebraska in the tiebreaker, 5-4, Friday in the Devaney Center. Welch was one of two Boilermakers that were victorious in a 25-6 loss to the 12th-ranked Huskers in their B1G opener. The loss puts the Old Gold & Black at 7-3, 0-1 B1G, while Nebraska pushed their mark to 5-1, 2-1 B1G.
"I believed in myself; I was relaxed and I was ready to go," Welch said. "The coaches believe in us and I felt confident going into the match. [Head] Coach [Tony] Ersland stresses going out there and wrestling to the best of our ability. Wrestle hard and wrestle tough and the wins and losses will take care of themselves."
Green, who brought an 18-1 mark into battle with Welch, struck with a pair of first period takedowns, but a Boilermaker reversal shifted the tone of the match after three minutes even though he was down 4-3.
"That reversal definitely swung the momentum my way; it was a huge turnaround for the match," Welch said. "All week Coach Ersland focused on pressure on top and it was a huge factor in this match tonight. I was told to keep applying pressure, get to my positions and fight hard."
With choice in the second, Welch deferred and the Husker took bottom. Welch dominated on top and used his funky style to keep Green down the entire two minutes of the period.
Still trailing 4-3 going into the final two minutes, the Purdue redshirt junior started from bottom. He escaped to even the score at 4-4 and force a 60-second sudden victory. Neither wrestler scored, taking the match into a pair of 30-second tiebreakers with each wrestler getting choice. The second-period ride out by Welch was clutch in proving his ability on top as he rode out Green in the first tiebreaker. Taking his turn on bottom, Welch got the match-winning escape and held off the Huskers' last-minute shots.
The upset of Green marks the highest ranked opponent that Welch has defeated in his career and lifts his season record to 19-6. He also improves to 9-1 in duals with a fifth-straight dual win.
"I'm happy I took the win tonight and I wish we would have been able to get the win as the team, but we will bounce back Sunday at Wisconsin," Welch said. "I know we are going to get back to the boards and wrestle tough. [My win] it's exciting, but we have to get our heads straight and take care of business Sunday."
Danny Sabatello was credited with the other victory for Purdue, notching a 5-2 decision over Eric Montoya at 133 pounds pushing his dual-match winning streak to 12 while improving to 18-3. For the 15th time in 21 matches wrestled, Sabatello scored the first points in the match and added a three-point nearfall in the third.
Up next for the Boilermakers is 20th-ranked Wisconsin in Madison on Sunday. The dual is set for a 2 p.m. ET start and will be available via BTN2Go.
No. 12 NEBRASKA 25, PURDUE 6
125 // No. 12 Tim Lambert (Nebraska) dec. Luke Welch (Purdue), 7-2
133 // Danny Sabatello (Purdue) dec. Eric Montoya (Nebraska), 5-2
141 // No. 12 Athony Abidin (Nebraska) dec. Nick Lawrence (Purdue), 4-0
149 // Justin Arthur (Nebraska) dec. Brandon Nelsen (Purdue), 10-5
157 // Doug Welch (Purdue) dec. No. 2 James Green (Nebraska), 5-4 (TB1)
165 // Austin Wilson (Nebraska) dec. Pat Robinson (Purdue), 7-5 (SV1)
174 // No. 1 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) dec. Chad Welch (Purdue), 9-4
184 // No. 18 TJ Dudley (Nebraska) dec. Patrick Kissel (Purdue), 8-3
197 // Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska) dec. No. 8 Braden Atwood (Purdue), 3-1
285 // No. 17 Collin Jensen (Nebraska) maj. dec. Tyler Kral (Purdue), 10-1