March 18, 2016
Results, Match Notes / Photo Gallery / Brackets / Brackets (PDF)
Updated at 10 p.m. ET
NEW YORK - Chad Welch's season and career came to an end one match shy of earning All-America honors Friday night in Madison Square Garden. Sixth-seeded Steven Rodrigues of Illinois edged the No. 8 Boilermaker 4-2 in the blood round of the NCAA Championships at 165 pounds.
Welch was in control throughout the opening period, striking early with a takedown and rode the remainder of the period out. After deferring in the second, Rodrigues took a neutral start to which he used to his advantage. Twenty-five seconds in, he evened the score at 2-2 and then took a 4-2 lead a minute later with a two-point nearfall on the edge.
The third period was Welch's choice to go with a neutral start. A shot taken on the far edge by Welch was thwarted by Rodrigues inching his way out of bounds. They returned to center. The seconds ticked away and a shot could not be found as time expired.
The loss brings a standout season of success to an end for Welch. The native of Newburgh, Indiana, posted a redshirt senior campaign record of 33-9 for a four-year mark of 84-55 (.604). He racked up 21 wins with bonus points during his final season and tallied 38 during his career (16 MD, 6 TF, 16 F).
Welch scored eight back points in five matches at the NCAA Championships, to land at No. 10 on the career list with 165 and the season record list at No. 11 with 90.
Purdue finishes the tournament with 6.5 points.
The championships continue with two sessions Saturday. Consolation semifinals, followed by third-, fifth- and seventh place matches will be contested in Session V starting at 11 a.m. ET and the championship finals get underway at 8 p.m. Session V can be seen on ESPNU and WatchESPN and the finals will be on ESPN.
Published at 5 p.m. ET
NEW YORK -- Purdue's eighth-seeded Chad Welch won both of his consolation matches at 165 pounds during Session III of the NCAA Championships on Friday in Madison Square Garden. Welch advances into Friday night's Session IV starting at 8 p.m. ET. A win for the redshirt senior in a matchup with Big Ten foe and sixth-seeded Steven Rodrigues of Illinois would guarantee the Boilermaker All-America honors. Consolation matches can be viewed live on WatchESPN while championship semifinals go live on ESPN.
Welch registered his second major decision of the tournament in his first match of the day, cruising past Forrest Przybysz of Appalachian State 11-1. He followed up with an 8-4 outing against Harvard's 16th-seeded Devon Gobbo to bring his record to 33-8. Check out the Results/Match Notes for complete play-by-play from both matches.
Rodrigues (27-4) lost in the quarterfinals to third-seeded Bo Jordan of Ohio State by a 10-2 major decision. He scored a 5-2 decision over Cornell's George Pickett in first round and escaped with a 3-1 decision in sudden victory over Geno Morelli of Penn State in the second round Thursday.
It has only been a dozen days since the two met in the consolation semifinals of the Big Ten Championships. Rodrigues had takedowns in the first and second periods for a 5-1 decision and went on to place third.
Two wild periods at 141 pounds between Purdue's Danny Sabatello and Seth Gross of South Dakota State resulted in a 12-10 loss for the redshirt senior. A takedown by the Jackrabbit with just 12 seconds remaining was the deciding factor in a match that was headed to sudden victory.
The loss not only brought the three-time NCAA qualifier's run to an end, but also a decorated career. Sabatello concludes his final season with a record of 20-17. The native of Long Grove, Illinois, won 62 percent of his matches during his four years, amassing a mark of 81-49. Of those 81 wins, 35 percent were with bonus points, including 11 major decisions, seven technical falls and he pinned 10 opponents.
In his three matches in Madison Square Garden, Sabatello scored four takedowns to push his final career total to 266. That number ranks 12th all-time in Purdue history. His four-point nearfall of Gross brought his career back point total to 146, which ranks him at No. 13.