March 17, 2016
Results, Match Notes / Photo Gallery / Brackets / Brackets (PDF) / Media Notes
| SCHEDULE | |||
| DAY | SESSION | START TIME | WATCH |
| Friday, March 18 | III | 11 a.m. | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
| Friday, March 18 | IV | 8 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
| Saturday, March 19 | V | 11 a.m. | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
| Saturday, March 19 | IV | 8 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
NEW YORK -- Purdue's Danny Sabatello and Chad Welch split matches on Day 1 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday in Madison Square Garden. Sabatello closed out Session II with a dramatic pin at 141 pounds and Welch began the day with a major decision against familiar competition at 165 pounds. The third Boilermaker at the tournament, 149-pounder Alex Griffin suffered consecutive losses to bow out.
Sabatello rebounded from an opening round 5-0 loss to third-seeded Kevin Jack of NC State with a wild finish in a winner move on, loser go home match against Arizona State's Robert Mathers. Trailing 8-6 after being taken down late by the Sun Devil and with under 10 seconds remaining, the redshirt senior gained position to reverse Mathers and sent him to his back in a single motion to get the fall at 6:52.
@PurdueWrestling's Danny Sabatello reacts to finishing Day 1 of #WrestleNYC with a dramatic pin. #AlwaysAggressive https://t.co/CgfQbv4Jof
-- Purdue Athletics (@PurdueSports) March 18, 2016
It was the fifth fall of the season for Sabatello and 10th of his career while pushing his final season record to 20-16. He will meet Seth Gross of South Dakota State in the second round of wrestlebacks Friday.
Welch collided with a pair of opponents he had met earlier in the season. In his first match, the eighth-seeded Boilermaker made easy work of Oregon State's Seth Thomas with a 13-4 major decision. It was the second major decision in as many meetings during his final campaign.
@welchtwin1 on his #WrestleNYC opening round major decision + looking ahead to tonight's match. #AlwaysAggressive https://t.co/wBNbbFfQU0
-- Purdue Wrestling (@PurdueWrestling) March 17, 2016
History was unable to repeat itself in a second round bout pitting No. 8 vs. No. 9 in Iowa State's Tanner Weatherman. A four-point nearfall at the start of the second period could not be matched and Welch dropped a 7-4 decision to fall into the consolation bracket.
The 31-8 redshirt senior squares off against Forrest Przybysz of Appalachian State in the second round of wrestlebacks Friday.
Griffin had his redshirt junior campaign come to an end with back-to-back losses. No. 10 Mike DePalma of Kent State recorded a 10-1 major decision over the Purdue grappler in a first round matchup. Cornell's Joey Galasso used a second period escape, a takedown in the third and riding time to defeat Griffin 4-1 and force him to bow out of his first-ever NCAA Championships. The Lafayette, Indiana, native concludes the season at 14-9.