UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Purdue's Danny Sabatello and Doug Welch silenced a packed Rec Hall with upsets of No. 7 Jimmy Gulibon and No. 7 Dylan Alton, respectively, in a 26-9 dual loss to fifth-ranked Penn State Sunday. The Boilermakers also got a win from Nick Lawrence as their record moved to 8-5, 1-3 B1G. The Nittany Lions pushed their record to 8-1, 4-1.
"I think it is continued development from Danny and Doug," head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "They are confident; they are training hard and are seeing the results. They've got the momentum rolling downhill and they are building speed. They have the right mindset and are expecting to win."
Penn State jumped on the board first with No. 8 Jordan Conaway's 9-4 decision over Aaron Assad at 125 pounds. The Old Gold & Black struck back and took a 6-3 lead thanks to Sabatello at 133 and Lawrence at 141.
Sabatello, listed 20th in the latest InterMat rankings, defeated his second ranked opponent of the weekend, shutting Gulibon, 6-0. The redshirt junior stunned the Nittany Lion with a takedown in the opening 15 seconds of the match and rode the period out. He scored a second takedown in the third period after escaping and finished the match on top for 2:51 of riding time.
"Danny has picked up his intensity," Ersland said. "If you watch his wrestling since Midlands, you'll see that he has more snap. He is dialed in and understands what he needs to do to win and what his style is to win."
With his 10-2 win over No. 19 Dominick Malone on Friday, Sabatello outscored a pair of ranked foes 16-2 while improving to 20-4. He has five wins over ranked opponents to his credit with seventh-ranked Gulibon standing as his highest ranked victim. Sabatello is now 12-1 in duals for the Boilermakers and is 3-1 against the B1G.
In the ensuing match, Lawrence tallied a 3-2 decision over Penn State freshman Kade Moss. A redshirt senior from Westlake, Ohio, Lawrence won thanks to a second period escape and a takedown in the third. Both of Moss' points came on escapes in the final period. Lawrence picked up his 17th win overall and his eighth in dual competition.
Welch's scramble takedown with eight seconds left in sudden victory clinched the 3-1 upset of Alton. The two were scoreless after three minutes of action and exchanged escapes in the second and third periods.
"Doug has been active in his ties," Ersland said. "He's using his hands and making his opponents pay the price when hand fighting. He is contesting everything, every point. He is in shape and winning the close matches because of that."
The upset for Welch, who is also ranked 20th, is his second over a top-10 opponent in two weeks after defeating then-No. 2 James Green of Nebraska on Jan. 9. The redshirt junior hailing from Newburgh, Ind., leads the team in wins with 22 and boasts a 12-1 dual record. Welch has won his last eight dual matches and is 4-0 against B1G opponents.
Purdue took a 9-6 lead into the break courtesy of Welch, but it was all Penn State in the next five bouts. The Nittany Lions took decisions at 165, 184 and 285, registered a pin at 174 and a scored a tech fall at 197.
The Boilermakers will be inactive next weekend, returning to the mat against Ohio State Jan. 30 in Columbus.
No. 5 PENN STATE 26, PURDUE 9
125 // No. 8 Jordan Conaway (Penn State) dec. Aaron Assad (Purdue), 9-4
133 // No. 20 Danny Sabatello (Purdue) dec. No. 7 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State), 6-0
141 // Nick Lawrence (Purdue) dec. Kade Moss (Penn State), 3-2
149 // No. 17 Zack Beitz (Penn State) dec. Brandon Nelsen (Purdue), 7-5
157 // No. 20 Doug Welch (Purdue) dec. No. 7 Dylan Alton (Penn State), 3-1 (SV1)
165 // Garett Hammond (Penn State) dec. Pat Robinson (Purdue), 16-11
174 // No. 4 Matt Brown (Penn State) pinned Chad Welch (Purdue), 1:29
184 // No. 16 Matt McCutcheon (Penn State) dec. Patrick Kissel (Purdue), 3-2
197 // No. 6 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) tech. fall Drake Stein (Purdue), 21-6 (7:00)
285 // No. 6 Jimmy Lawson (Penn State) dec. Tyler Kral (Purdue), 9-3