Feb. 12, 2016
#BoilerNotes
- The dual started at 125 ... 13-of-14 duals have started at 125 this season.
- Mid-season addition Jeremy Golding, an NJCAA All-American at North Idaho College, and Kirk Johnson made their dual debuts at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively ... it was the seventh different lineup used this season and the fourth in Big Ten duals.
- Eight bouts resulted in bonus points ... 125-157 were all major decisions, three for Michigan and two for Purdue.
- Danny Sabatello registered career win No. 75 ... it was also the 10th major decision of his career ... 35 percent of Sabatello's career wins are with bonus points (10 MD, 7 TF, 9 F).
- With three takedowns, Sabatello took over at No. 15 on the career record list with 244, surpassing Oscar Santiago (2000-03), who had 243 ... Sabatello's next bench mark is 254, held by Tony Vaughn (1993-96).
- Chad Welch started his 60th career dual and picked up his 35th career dual victory ... Doug Welch wrestled his 95th career match and picked up career win No. 58.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Danny Sabatello and Doug Welch provided major decisions for No. 23 Purdue in a 30-11 loss to ninth-ranked Michigan on Friday inside Cliff Keen Arena. The Boilermakers also received a decision from No. 7 Chad Welch, but suffered defeat at seven weights, moving to 8-6 on the year and 3-5 in the Big Ten Conference. The Wolverines concluded Big Ten dual action at 8-1 while pushing their season mark to 13-2.
"We had some good performances tonight," Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "Danny [Sabatello] wrestled a complete match from start to finish. He got his ties, his positions and it showed with the major decision. Same thing with Doug [Welch]. He hit his positions and dominated his match. With those two, it's easy to see why they had the success that they did."
Major decisions were registered in the first five bouts of the dual. Michigan's ranked 125 and 133-pounders went back-to-back, before Sabatello stepped out at 141 vs. Zac Hall. Sixteen seconds in the redshirt senior tallied the first of three takedowns on his way to a 10-1 victory. Sabatello received two penalty points from Hall's stalling, scored an escape in the third and added 4:38 of riding time. His third major decision of the season brought his record to 14-12.
Seventh-ranked Alec Pantaleo followed with a major at 149 to give the Wolverines a 12-4 advantage. D. Welch made it a 12-8 dual heading into the break by shutting out Jordan Amine 9-0. D. Welch wasted no time taking Amine down 17 seconds after the starting whistle and rode out the period. Takedowns in each of the next two periods, along with an escape to start the second, a penalty point from Amine stalling and 3:20 in riding time filled in the match. The redshirt senior from Newburgh, Indiana, won his third straight while moving to 13-8 in his final campaign.
Video review upheld a C. Welch reversal as time expired for a 7-6 decision over Michigan's Garrett Sutton at 165 pounds. Sutton took C. Welch down in the first and second, but the Boilermaker held a 5-4 edge through five minutes of action.
The Wolverine went with a neutral start in the third, to which he made the most of by taking C. Welch down to go ahead 6-5. Twelve seconds were on the clock and C. Welch was inching closer to getting the match-tying escape. Instead, he gained position to reverse the Wolverine. The victory brought the redshirt senior to 25-4 and 6-2 in conference matches.
"I don't think there has been a match this season that I've walked off the mat thinking that I didn't have something to improve," C. Welch said. "Tonight's match reminds me that I need to force myself on my opponents, get my ties, my positions, and not let them wrestle their match. You have to have a short-term memory and I'll be ready to go Sunday."
The quick turnaround has Purdue returning to Holloway Gymnasium on Sunday for its Big Ten finale. The Boilermakers will go to battle against No. 14 Rutgers live on the Big Ten Network starting at noon ET. The Scarlet Knights (14-5, 4-4 B1G) won at Indiana on Friday.