Purdue Results / Brackets, Results / Session I Highlights / Session II Highlights
Session III
Sunday, March 5 / Noon ET
Consolation semifinals, seventh-place matches
Live Video: Mat 1 / Mat 2 / Mat 3
Session IV
Sunday, March 5 / 3 p.m. ET / BTN
Championship finals, third- and fifth-place matches
Live Video: Third-Place Mat / Fifth-Place Mat
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Four Purdue wrestlers earned a spot on the Big Ten Championships podium and a pair earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships during the second session of the day Friday night inside Simon Skojdt Assembly Hall. On Sunday starting at noon ET, Ben Thornton (125) and Christian Brunner (197) will look to join Alex Griffin and Jacob Morrissey as NCAA qualifiers when they wrestle for seventh place. Griffin is in Sunday's consolation semifinals at 157 pounds and Morrissey will go for seventh at 174 pounds.
Griffin, the No. 10 seed, secured his second NCAA Championships appearance with a 6-2 upset of ninth-seeded TJ Ruschell of Wisconsin. He followed with another upset, this time taking down Illinois' fifth-seeded Kyle Langenderfer with a barrage of back points in the second period en route to an 8-4 decision. The redshirt senior pushed his record to 24-11 with his three matches Friday, his first competition in 42 days. He began the day with a third meeting this season against Rutgers' John Van Brill, who he injury defaulted to on Jan. 22, and was dealt a 6-3 setback, which dropped him into the wrestlebacks.
The podium finish will be the first of Griffin's career. In the consolation semifinals he will meet No. 6 Brian Murphy of Michigan, who lost in the championship semifinals Friday night.
Wrestling in the postseason for the first time in his career, Morrissey earned an automatic berth to St. Louis in dramatic fashion, coming back to beat No. 9 Micah Barnes of Nebraska, 6-4, in sudden victory. A Morrissey takedown in the third period tied the match at 4-4 and the winning takedown came midway through sudden victory. The redshirt junior went 2-2 on the day, moving his season mark to 16-10. He is poised for a showdown with eighth-seeded Devin Skatzka of Indiana on Sunday.
Jacob Morrissey punched his ticket to St. Louis in dramatic fashion. See his SV1 win and hear what it means to him. https://t.co/MjQ4upCG8G
-- Purdue Wrestling (@PurdueWrestling) March 5, 2017
Although Thornton and Brunner will be garner Big Ten hardware, a spot in the NCAA Championships is yet to be determined. Both wrestlers must win their seventh-place matches to claim an automatic berth.
Thornton had a 2-2 performance Friday, although one of his wins came by injury default. He began the second session with a 7-2 outing against Michigan State's Logan Griffin. The 26-14 redshirt sophomore will square off against eighth-seeded Jose Rodriguez of Ohio State with the winner punching their ticket to St. Louis.
Brunner's third-period comeback 9-4 victory over Indiana's Jacob Hinz extended Purdue's streak of 197-pounders earning a spot on the podium to 14 straight years. In doing so, he became the first true freshman to place for the Boilermakers since Cashé Quiroga took sixth at 125 pounds in 2010. It'll be a matchup of No. 7 vs. 8 with Brunner (22-15) set to meet Iowa's seventh-seeded Cash Wilcke for seventh place.
The season came to an end for a trio of Boilermakers on Saturday evening. Luke Welch (18-14) fell short with an 0-3 day at 133 pounds. His redshirt junior season and NCAA hopes will hang on Tuesday's at-large selection announcement. A 6-2 loss to No. 7 Eric Barone of Illinois in the second round of wrestlebacks forced the exit of Nate Limmex. The 149-pounder finished his rookie season at 12-15. Tanner Lynde's career came to an end as well, concluding a 15-18 season.
During Saturday's morning session, the season ended for two Purdue wrestlers. Dylan Lydy's redshirt freshman campaign came to a close at 16-19 at 165 pounds. For Tyler Kral, he wrestled his final match in a Purdue singlet. He closed out his career with his best season, a record of 21-16.