TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
NCAA Championships
Thursday, March 16 to Saturday, March 18 / Scottrade Center / St. Louis, Missouri
Results, Match Notes / Session I Recap / Brackets / Purdue Notes
Session III
Friday, March 17 / 11 a.m. ET / ESPNU
Eight mats; quarterfinals and wrestlebacks
Live Video
Session IV
Friday, March 17 / 8 p.m. ET / ESPN
Six mats; semifinals and wrestlebacks
Live Video
Session V
Saturday, March 18 / 11 a.m. ET / ESPNU
Three mats; wrestleback semifinals and third-, fifth-, seventh-place medal rounds
Live Video
Session VI
Saturday, March 18 / 8 p.m. ET / ESPN
Championship finals
Live Video
ST. LOUIS - Alex Griffin and Christian Brunner emerged victorious in the first round of wrestlebacks during the second session of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday evening inside the Scottrade Center. The Purdue duo will continue wrestleback action at 157 and 197 pounds, respectively, in the third session starting at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.
Check out the results, match notes for complete play-by-play and notes from Purdue's matches on Thursday.
Griffin knocked out Oklahoma's No. 12 Clark Glass with a 9-1 major decision. The 25-14 redshirt senior registered three takedowns, highlighted by the third with just seven seconds remaining in the match.
"I know with my top game, early takedowns are key, so to get that one early and then the ride out was a big deal," Griffin said. "It feels good to take out a seeded guy. It's just another necessary step to getting on the podium. I feel like I am wrestling well. Going forward it's important for me to stay focused and stay consistent. Consistency wins at this level."
His next opponent is 11th-seeded Russell Parsons of Army (27-4). The two met in the championship bout of the Roadrunner Open in November.
Brunner recovered from a pair of first period takedowns by Jacob Berkowitz of Northwestern by nearly pinning the Wildcat on his way to a 10-4 victory. The true freshman (24-16) surged in the second period with a six-point move and appeared to have Berkowitz pinned. The win avenges two previous losses to Berkowitz when it mattered most, with the season on the line.
Brunner will get another shot at revenge when he squares off against No. 11 Shawn Scott of Northern Illinois. Scott (25-8) edged Brunner 6-4 in the Nov. 13 dual.@cbrunner197 on his win over Berkowitz + his first day experience at #NCAAwrestling Championships. #AlwaysAggressive https://t.co/xUx85Cw2E7
-- Purdue Wrestling (@PurdueWrestling) March 17, 2017
The Boilermakers' third competitor, Jacob Morrissey, was bounced from the tournament after suffering his second loss of the day, falling to seventh-seeded Kyle Crutchmer of Oklahoma State in a 15-4 major decision. The redshirt junior's season comes to a close at 16-13.