From the first match of the day, the Boilers set out to prove they would not be intimidated, as they wrestled a very aggressive style and continuously attempted to fire shots despite being out-matched.
Fourth-ranked Jayson Ness quickly proved the strategy would not be effective, earning a 14-5 major decision over Brandon Tucker at 125. Tucker attacked Ness early in the first period, but Ness countered and scored a takedown just 19 seconds in and built a 5-1 lead at the end of the first period. Tucker came out firing again in the second and scored a takedown and back points in the first 30 seconds. His success was short-lived, however, as Ness turned it around in the third with a takedown midway through and a three-point near fall as time expired. He added the bonus point with over three minutes of riding time. With his major today, Ness has now earned bonus points in eight of his last 10 matches.
Purdue got three points back with a victory from Sean Schmaltz over Mike Thorn at 133, but it was close as the Boilermakers would get for the remainder of the dual, as Minnesota's 1-2-3 punch of Manuel Rivera and the Schlatter brothers gave the Gophers a 15-3 advantage before intermission.
Rivera improved to 29-0 on the season with a 13-4 major decision over Nick Bertucci at 141. Leading 4-1 after the second, Rivera took aim at bonus points in the third, scoring an escape 10 seconds in and immediately allowing Bertucci to escape. He used the same method three more times in succession to build his lead to 12-4 and earned the bonus point with 2:41 of riding time.
In the only match of the day featuring two-ranked opponents, top-ranked Dustin Schlatter won a close 3-2 decision over No. 11 Jake Patacsil at 149. Patacsil battled Schlatter throughout the first, a period which saw both wrestlers countering each other's attempts. Schlatter got on the board when Patacsil was issued his second stall warning with 30 seconds remaining in the second and added a takedown late in the period to take a 3-0 lead. Patacsil got a couple points back in the third on a stall warning on Schlatter and for the riding time advantage, but Schlatter prevented him from generating any offense to win his 54th consecutive match.
C.P. Schlatter, ranked No. 3 in the country, continued his impressive streak since returning from a knee injury by downing Purdue's Jake Murphy, 14-3. Schlatter went after Murphy immediately, scoring a takedown just seven seconds and adding another takedown and back points later in the period. He built his lead from there with a number of impressive takedowns in the second and third, the last with just four seconds remaining, to earn the major decision.
Purdue won its second match of the day at 165, with Justin Fraga defeating No. 20 Jeremy Larson, 13-8, but the Gophers finished off the Boilermakers with a pair of exciting victories in the next two bouts.
No. 12 Gabriel Dretsch overcame an early deficit to pin Jason Martin with a lightning quick maneuver near the end of the first period. Trailing 4-3 after a Martin reversal, Dretsch got an escape with 15 seconds left in the first, quickly spun around and used a body lock to take the Purdue wrestler down and immediately put him on his back to earn the fall at the 2:52 mark.
Second-ranked Roger Kish followed by providing the most entertaining match of the night with a 23-8 tech fall over Nick Skinner. Kish wasted no time in attacking Skinner, scoring the bout's first points with a takedown just two seconds into the match. He built his lead to 8-4 entering the third period and provided the 3,487 in attendance at the Pavilion with plenty to cheer about in the final two minutes. After starting down to begin the third, Kish got the escape and immediately went after Skinner, scoring a takedown and three-point near fall to quickly extend his lead to 14-4. He then used a series of four takedowns and got the bonus point for riding time advantage to earn the tech fall. Kish's 23 points scored in the bout tied a career-high for a single match.
The Boilermakers got their final victory from No. 14 Nathan Moore, who defeated Brent Eidenschink, 5-1, at 197. Eidenschink, a true freshman from Detroit Lakes, Minn., has faced a ranked opponent in five of his first six matches since earning a starting spot prior to the National Duals.
Purdue forfeited at heavyweight to make the final score 32-9. With the victory, senior Cole Konrad extended his school-record winning streak to 61 consecutive matches, currently the second-longest active streak in the nation.
The Gophers will hit the road next weekend to face a pair of ranked Big Ten opponents. Minnesota will meet the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m., in Bloomington and stop in Champaign, Ill., on Sunday, Feb. 4 to take on Illinois at 1 p.m.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now