Feb. 9, 2018 Results / Highlights / Photo Gallery
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue took a critical first match and closed with bonus points, but the No. 22 Boilermakers were unable to overcome Northwestern's bonus points, falling 24-16 at Mackey Mayhem on Friday. The 19th-ranked Wildcats (9-4, 4-4 B1G) captured bonus points in four of their five victories, while Purdue (8-7, 2-6 B1G) won four weights by decision and posted one major decision in its home finale at Mackey Arena.
The dual's first match at 174 pounds was one Dylan Lydy has had on his radar since the first weekend of the season. The 11th-ranked Boilermaker avenged a dramatic loss to Johnny Sebastian, a pin that came at the final horn, with some drama of his own, winning in the first tiebreaker 2-1.
"It was hard, just everything mentally," Lydy said. "Looking back at someone pinning you, that was really just a humbling experience and it really kind of turned around my whole season. I did not get off as many attacks as I wanted to today, but I knew I was going to be ready and I was not going to give him an inch. I am clutch when I need to be."
Lydy and No. 19 Sebastian exchanged escapes in the second and third periods to send the match into overtime. A scoreless sudden victory took it to the first set of tiebreakers. The Wildcat took bottom first and Lydy rode for the full 30 seconds. Lydy then had his turn on bottom and immediately escaped for the 2-1 advantage and ultimately the win.
"The ride out is so important," the Indianapolis native said. "Sometimes coach is like, `Sometimes you are going to need to ride somebody.' I usually win on my feet, but I had to ride to win. You just do not know what this sport is going to put in front of you and you have to be able to overcome it."
The win lifted the redshirt sophomore's record to 28-10 and 6-2 in Big Ten Conference duals.
"Just everything in front of me; I am training for a national championship," Lydy said. "I think I can wrestle some of the best people in the world, I truly believe that. I am going to keep training like that."
Redshirt senior Jacob Morrissey made the most of his last home match, putting a bookend on the dual with a 13-0 major decision over Michael Sepke. The 165-pounder registered a takedown in each period and did what he does best, tilting for a four-point nearfall, in the third.
"Obviously I would have liked to get the pin, but he was pretty stalled up on bottom and I was not able to," Morrissey said. "I was able to get the bonus points, so you always take what you can get. It was definitely a good ending to my career here."
The win was the 20th of the season for Morrissey, marking a career high for wins in a season. It was also the 34th bonus point victory of his career.
Purdue had decisions turned in by true freshman Max Lyon, who rallied in the final period at 184 pounds, Ben Thornton (133) and 16th-ranked Nate Limmex (141).
Friday's dual at Mackey Arena marked the second consecutive season wrestling has taken a dual to Mackey.
"The environment is great," Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "Obviously you want to keep trying to build the crowd, but the environment is great with the drum, the band and the video boards. It is tremendous. We want to keep coming back and we want to put more people in the seats. I loved it. We will be back again."
For the first time in three weeks, the Boilermakers will be inactive on Sunday. They'll wrap up the regular season on the road, wrestling at Wisconsin on Feb. 18. The dual from the UW-Fieldhouse is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue took a critical first match and closed with bonus points, but the No. 22 Boilermakers were unable to overcome Northwestern's bonus points, falling 24-16 at Mackey Mayhem on Friday. The 19th-ranked Wildcats (9-4, 4-4 B1G) captured bonus points in four of their five victories, while Purdue (8-7, 2-6 B1G) won four weights by decision and posted one major decision in its home finale at Mackey Arena.
The dual's first match at 174 pounds was one Dylan Lydy has had on his radar since the first weekend of the season. The 11th-ranked Boilermaker avenged a dramatic loss to Johnny Sebastian, a pin that came at the final horn, with some drama of his own, winning in the first tiebreaker 2-1.
"It was hard, just everything mentally," Lydy said. "Looking back at someone pinning you, that was really just a humbling experience and it really kind of turned around my whole season. I did not get off as many attacks as I wanted to today, but I knew I was going to be ready and I was not going to give him an inch. I am clutch when I need to be."
Lydy and No. 19 Sebastian exchanged escapes in the second and third periods to send the match into overtime. A scoreless sudden victory took it to the first set of tiebreakers. The Wildcat took bottom first and Lydy rode for the full 30 seconds. Lydy then had his turn on bottom and immediately escaped for the 2-1 advantage and ultimately the win.
"The ride out is so important," the Indianapolis native said. "Sometimes coach is like, `Sometimes you are going to need to ride somebody.' I usually win on my feet, but I had to ride to win. You just do not know what this sport is going to put in front of you and you have to be able to overcome it."
The win lifted the redshirt sophomore's record to 28-10 and 6-2 in Big Ten Conference duals.
"Just everything in front of me; I am training for a national championship," Lydy said. "I think I can wrestle some of the best people in the world, I truly believe that. I am going to keep training like that."
Redshirt senior Jacob Morrissey made the most of his last home match, putting a bookend on the dual with a 13-0 major decision over Michael Sepke. The 165-pounder registered a takedown in each period and did what he does best, tilting for a four-point nearfall, in the third.
"Obviously I would have liked to get the pin, but he was pretty stalled up on bottom and I was not able to," Morrissey said. "I was able to get the bonus points, so you always take what you can get. It was definitely a good ending to my career here."
The win was the 20th of the season for Morrissey, marking a career high for wins in a season. It was also the 34th bonus point victory of his career.
Purdue had decisions turned in by true freshman Max Lyon, who rallied in the final period at 184 pounds, Ben Thornton (133) and 16th-ranked Nate Limmex (141).
Friday's dual at Mackey Arena marked the second consecutive season wrestling has taken a dual to Mackey.
"The environment is great," Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "Obviously you want to keep trying to build the crowd, but the environment is great with the drum, the band and the video boards. It is tremendous. We want to keep coming back and we want to put more people in the seats. I loved it. We will be back again."
For the first time in three weeks, the Boilermakers will be inactive on Sunday. They'll wrap up the regular season on the road, wrestling at Wisconsin on Feb. 18. The dual from the UW-Fieldhouse is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start.