Jan. 31, 2016
Results / Highlights / Photo Gallery
#BoilerNotes
- Sunday's dual started at 125 … 11 of Purdue's 12 duals have now gone straight up from 125 this season.
- No. 8 Johnni DiJulius stands as the highest-ranked opponent Luke Welch has defeated in his career and is his first top-10 upset … with the win, he avenged an 8-3 loss to the Buckeye at the Cliff Keen Collegiate Wrestling Invitational in Las Vegas in December.
- With a dozen back points, Alex Griffin moved into the No. 15 spot on Purdue's career back points list with 134 … he now has 48 this season (6 2N, 9 4N) … the technical fall is his second of the season and the ninth of his career … Griffin has now won three of his four Big Ten dual matches with bonus points (1 MD, 2 TF).
- Drake Stein and Jacob Morrissey each picked up the 30th win of their careers.
- Luke Schroeder (125) made his first dual start since Feb. 7, 2014 … his appearance in the lineup marks the sixth different lineup used this season.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ââ'¬" The 10 weights were split, however it was bonus points that gave Ohio State the edge in a 20-17 loss for No. 24 Purdue inside Holloway Gymnasium on Sunday. Luke Welch (133) and Jacob Morrissey (174) helped set the stage with upset victories, but the Boilermakers (7-5, 2-4 B1G) were unable to overcome losses at three weights that earned the ninth-ranked Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1 B1G) bonus points.
"It stings, these are heartbreakers," Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "When you have the opportunity to win, you want to get it done. Minnesota and Ohio State, the national champs last year, [they] are good teams. When you get the opportunity you want to take advantage of it, so with us being short, it is disappointing. The guys are fighting hard. We will correct our mistakes and get better, but moral victories do not exist for me. We've got to knock the door down against some good teams. We have to finish."
A critical call in the second period after a L. Welch takedown proved to be the deciding factor in a 3-1 upset of No. 8 Johnni DiJulius. The Buckeye escaped 30 seconds into the second period. The two were on their feet until a scramble situation and shot attempt by DiJulius with less than a minute to go in the period saw L. Welch come out on top with a takedown. DiJulius popped out, came around and was awarded a reversal, but as time expired, the officials reversed the call and it was a 2-1 lead for L. Welch heading into the third.
"I got the two real fast and I did not want to give up the reversal [because] he was able to catch my leg," L. Welch said. "From there I had to defend and keep my head up. Heading into the third period, I was up 2-1 and had riding time, so [it was] 3-1. The ball was in his court at that point. I was not worried on bottom and I knew not to get sucked into anything. I knew I could not give anything up and had to continue to fight him off."
DiJulius worked the Boilermakers' riding time under a minute and cut him, giving L. Welch the final point in the match. The redshirt sophomore who hails from Newburgh, Indiana, pushed his season record to 12-10 with the win.
"I heard something from Dan Gable when I was a little kid, it is a mindset that he used going into wrestling matches," L. Welch said. "It is something that I use as a confidence booster and going into that match I knew I could beat him. It was about going in there and getting the job done. This match is already in the past I am thinking about tomorrow and what I have to do to get better for Indiana."
Purdue closed out the first half of the dual by winning back-to-back bouts at 149 and 157. Alex Griffin provided an 18-2 technical fall of Mike Hozan in 6:22 to earn bonus points for the Boilermakers. Griffin built a 10-0 lead in the opening three minutes with a takedown and a pair of four-point nearfalls. He added two more takedowns and a tilt for a four-count to end the match and move to 12-5 in his redshirt junior campaign.
Doug Welch (11-8) broke open a scoreless match with under a minute to go thanks to a takedown and a four-point nearfall as the horn sounded to beat Ohio State's Justin Kresevic 6-1.
At 174, Morrissey put eight points on the board in a wild second period vs. No. 15 Myles Martin and went on to take an 11-8 upset decision. The second period featured a pair of reversals from both grapplers and Morrissey earned a four-point call to take a 9-6 lead into the third.
"I got the reversal, and then I surprised myself when I had him on his back, and when I got there I was trying to hold on and get the pin," Morrissey said. "I did not get the pin, but I kept wrestling through."
Morrissey then escaped twice in the third as he earned the 13th victory of his redshirt sophomore season.
"Morrissey wrestled a very athletic kid," Ersland said. "He weathered the storm after the first takedown; Jake stayed in it, he wrestled hard and he created good situations for himself. [He's a] good indication of where the team is going. There are a lot of guys improving and he's been wrestling really well."
The win from Morrissey brought the dual score to a tie at 14-14 with three bouts to go. Thirteenth-ranked Buckeye Kenny Courts eluded Tanner Lynde as time ticked away to steal a 9-8 decision at 184, putting Ohio State ahead 17-14.
Once again the score was evened at 17-17 thanks to an 8-4 performance from Drake Stein over Jack Rozema at 197. Stein was looking for the fall early, but came through in the second and third periods with three takedowns and added 1:15 of riding time.
A Nick Tavanello takedown in the second period at 285 was all the separation the Buckeye needed in a winner-take-all 3-1 decision over Tyler Kral to earn the dual victory for Ohio State.
The Boilermakers return to action against in-state rival Indiana at 1 p.m. ET Feb. 7 inside University Gymnasium. The dual is worth one point in the Indiana National Guard Governor's Cup battle, which is currently tied at 5-5.