Dec. 30, 2015
Purdue Results / Brackets / Welch Championship Match / Welch Post-Match Interview
#BoilerNotes
- Chad Welch became Purdue's second-ever Midlands Championships titlist and the program's first since Dave Gibson in 1963 ... Welch is the third 165-pound Boilermaker to place at Midlands and the first since Luke Manuel's back-to-back eighth-place finishes in 2007 and 2008 ... Welch is the sixth Purdue wrestler to make the Midlands' finals, marking the seventh time a Boilermaker has been in the title match.
- Welch has now advanced to the finals of all three tournaments he's wrestled in this season ... he made the finals in both of this season's previous tournaments, the Michigan State Open (unattached) and the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Invitational.
- Welch's 19 wins through the first half of the season are just three short of his career season win best of 22, which he set during his redshirt freshman campaign in 2012-13 ... 13 of his 19 victories have been resulted in bonus points (5 MD, 2 TF, 6 F) ... the six pins and five major decisions are career highs in a season ... he has 30 wins in his career resulting in bonus points (9 MD, 5 TF, 16 F).
- In 21 matches wrestled this season, Welch has only been taken down six times.
- Ben Thornton became Purdue's first 125-pounder to place at Midlands ... the seventh-place showing is the sixth overall for the Boilermakers at the tournament ... it's the second tournament placing for Thornton in his redshirt freshman season, he also placed fifth wrestling unattached at the Michigan State Open.
- With two Boilermakers placing, Purdue now has 36 placewinners in the 53-year history of the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships ... it is the first time since 2011 Purdue has had multiple placewinners ... the Boilermakers have now sent at least one wrestler to the podium in each of the last three seasons.
- Purdue totaled 54.5 points to finish 11th in the team standings ... last year the Boilermakers were 16th with 33 points and one medalist.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The pin is the ultimate victory in wrestling and that's how Purdue's Chad Welch captured the 165-pound title at the 53rd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday. Welch, the No. 3 seed, pinned Iowa State's fourth-seeded Tanner Weatherman in 3:54 to become the Boilermakers' first Midlands champion since Dave Gibson at 157 pounds at the first-ever edition of the tournament in 1963.
"I'm so excited right now!" Welch said. "I went out like any other match with tunnel vision on what I had to do. Now after I've had time to let it sink in, it's really cool that I got to win like that in front of all of my family and friends."
The two-time NCAA qualifier seized the opportunity on a national stage. Welch built a 5-1 lead thanks to a takedown to close out the first period and another midway through the second. He then found exactly what he was after.
"I was looking for the cement mixer and I wanted it," Welch said. "Once we got into position, it was natural and I was able to pin him."
Welch's championship-winning fall was the only one of the 10 bouts contested.
"[Winning like that] is definitely a confidence booster, but I know I have to keep working and improving," Welch said. "I want to dominate more in my matches; take it out of the ref's hands and put the match into my own control. It's about focusing on the details in order to dominate moving forward."
It was an exclamation point on a tournament run that saw him outscore his competition 47-8 in five matches, including points scored in his two pins. The sixth-ranked redshirt senior pushed his record to 19-2 after picking up six wins in two days.
Not only was the title the first of Welch's career, but also the first tournament champion for Purdue's second-year head wrestling coach Tony Ersland.
"I'm very happy for Chad and I'm really proud of him," Ersland said. "Before the match I told him to just go out there and do what you do. That's what he did. He has been putting in the work, it's showing and I like where his head is at. I want what Chad has been doing to reflect back and motivate all of our guys."
Welch posted his third bonus point victory of the tournament, a back-point explosion 15-2 major decision over American's Mitch Wightman, to earn his spot in the finals. Welch tilted Wightman four times in the opening three minutes, twice each for a two- and four-count. The dozen back points moved him into 19th on Purdue's career list with 123.
Ben Thornton became Purdue's first 125-pounder to place at Midlands, upsetting 11th-seeded Brandon Jeske of Old Dominion with a 6-4 decision for seventh place. The match was knotted at 4-4 after the second period. Thornton took bottom in the final period and before the whistle blew, Jeske jumped and was called for his third caution, awarding Thornton with a penalty point to take a 5-4 lead. He later escaped and secured the victory.
The Stoddard, Wisconsin, native compiled a 4-2 mark in his first trip to the Midlands Championships, pushing his rookie record to 14-6.
Thornton was guaranteed a podium finish courtesy of a medical forfeit from Alex Madrigal, who hails from Old Dominion, but wrestled unattached. In the consolation semifinals, Thornton was pinned by Oregon State's eighth-seeded Kegan Calkins in 1:29.
Rutgers' third-seeded Anthony Ashnault denied Danny Sabatello from placing at the event, shutting out the redshirt senior Boilermaker 10-0. The Scarlet Knight took Sabatello down once in each of the three periods, tallied a two-point nearfall early in the first, escaped in the second and had 4:15 of riding time. Sabatello's record stands at 11-7 after a 2-2 outing at Midlands.
Purdue's schedule shifts into Big Ten Conference dual action. The 19th-ranked Boilermakers will wrestle their first home dual of the season against No. 1 Penn State at 7 p.m. on Jan. 8 inside Holloway Gymnasium.