"I thought their intensity was better than last night considering they had to go on back-to-back scratch weigh-ins," head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "They responded and wrestled hard. You get in the groove a little bit after you wrestle. Some guys had some things to prove, others had a better idea of how they wanted to wrestle tonight compared to last night and then with lineup changes, some guys had to step up. There was a combination of things that motivated our guys tonight."
Redshirt freshman Luke Welch opened the dual by notching the first dual win of his career by shutting out Cody Karns, 4-0. After a scoreless opening period in the 125-pound bout, a second period rideout was key to Welch setting the tone for the remainder of the match. He escaped at the beginning of the third and took Karns down. Welch's 2:47 of riding time closed out the scoring for his fifth win of the season.
Sabatello used four takedowns, an escape and racked up 5:00 of riding time to cruise past Matt Williams with a 10-1 major decision at 133. The third major decision of the redshirt junior's campaign extended his winning streak to 14 and he has had his hand raised in 11 consecutive duals dating back to last season. Sabatello owns a team-best record of 15-1 and boasts a 9-2 dual record.
"I was very happy with Luke [Welch] going out and setting tone for what the night was going to be," Ersland said. "He took a fight to [Cody] Karns and wrestled him tough. Then Danny [Sabatello] built upon that momentum and kept it going."
The Tar Heels narrowed the dual to 7-3 with a 3-2 decision from 14th-ranked Joey Ward against Nick Lawrence at 141 pounds, only to have the Boilermakers respond by winning the next two weights and push their lead to 13-3.
With just seconds remaining and knotted at 5-5, Alex Griffin took Joey Moon down to win the 149-pound match, 7-5. The redshirt sophomore scored a takedown in the first and added two more in the third, while holding Moon to three escapes and a reversal. It was the third time the two grapplers had met and just as it was in the previous two meetings during the Roadrunner Open earlier in the season, Griffin was the victor. The win lifted his mark to 13-5 overall and 5-1 in duals.
Doug Welch followed at 157 with a 5-3 decision over Chris Mears. Even though Mears struck fast and early in the first period with a takedown, Welch wasn't fazed. Nearly immediately after being taken down, he escaped. He added another escape at the start of the second period and took the North Carolina redshirt senior down. He added 1:45 of riding time to win his fourth straight match and push his mark to 13-4 in his redshirt junior season.
An escape with one second on the clock lifted twin brother Chad Welch past John Michael Staudenmayer, 3-2. The 13-6 Boilermaker used a first period takedown and an escape in the third to earn the decision. Like Griffin, it was the third time Welch had seen and defeated his Tar Heel opponent, previously facing him at the Roadrunner Open.
Purdue's sixth win of the night came from Patrick Kissel at 197 pounds with an 8-5 decision. Trailing Chip Ness 3-1 going into the final two minutes of action, Kissel used a six-point third period to pick up the win. The redshirt senior tallied two escapes before getting a takedown of his own and tilting Ness for a three count.
"Good teams find a way to win on the road," Ersland said. "We had some adversity this weekend and they responded. I am happy with how they handled themselves with these two duals. It was a business trip; they had good poise. Overall it was a good weekend for us to build on."
Purdue wrestling will break for the holidays and return to the mat at the 52nd Annual Ken Craft Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Ill.
"Going into this break before Midlands, we want to get everyone refreshed," Ersland said. "This season is going to fly by. We want to make sure our guys stay focused and build their mindset to March and continue to get better."
Results:
125 // Luke Welch (Purdue) dec. Cody Karns (North Carolina), 4-0
133 // No. 19 Danny Sabatello (Purdue) maj. dec. Matt Williams (North Carolina), 10-1
141 // No. 14 Joey Ward (North Carolina) dec. Nick Lawrence (Purdue), 3-2
149 // Alex Griffin (Purdue) dec. Joey Moon (North Carolina), 7-5
157 // Doug Welch (Purdue) dec. Chris Mears (North Carolina), 5-3
165 // Ethan Ramos (North Carolina) dec. Pat Robinson (Purdue), 5-3
174 // Chad Welch (Purdue) dec. John Michael Staudenmayer (North Carolina), 3-2
184 // Alex Utley (North Carolina) dec. Tanner Lynde (Purdue), 10-6
197 // Patrick Kissel (Purdue) dec. Chip Ness (North Carolina), 8-5
285 // Josh Lehner (North Carolina) dec. Tyler Kral (Purdue), 6-4
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