The No. 8 seed, Patacsil advanced to the finals with five straight victories, including a 4-3 quarterfinal victory over top-seeded and seventh-ranked J.P. O'Connor of Harvard. In the finals, he fell at the hands of sixth-seeded Mike Grimes of Northern Illinois, 5-4, surrendering an escape and a takedown in the final 30 seconds for his first loss in his last 18 matches. He moves to 23-4 on the season and earned his third tournament placing of the season after finishing third at the University of Northern Iowa Open and taking home the crown at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Patacsil's 24 back points in the tournament moves his season total to 129, already good for fifth in single-season Purdue history, and his career total to 223, fourth all-time at Purdue. His two pinfalls in the tournament placed him in a tie for 18th place on the Purdue single-season record list with eight, while his career total reached 10.
Redmond was a Cinderella story for Purdue, toppling a pair of seeded and ranked opponents on his way to the medalist round. He bested fourth-seeded and 15th-ranked Jermain Thompson of Eastern Michigan University in the second round, 6-5, and followed up with a 5-4 win over fifth-seeded and 12th-ranked Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State University in the quarterfinals. After bowing to Patacsil in the semifinals, Redmond's final two losses came to seeded and ranked opponents as he dropped a 13-3 loss to seventh-seeded and 20th-ranked Troy Tirapelle of Illinois in the consolation semifinals, suffered a narrow 3-0 defeat to second-seeded and fifth-ranked Matt Coughlin of Indiana. Redmond's 4-3 tournament record moves him to 11-7 on the year.
Senior Nathan Moore finished eighth at 197 pounds, but more importantly became just the 12th wrestler in Purdue history to eclipse the 100-career victory mark. His 11-6 win over Montana State Northern's Brian Fritchmann secured the accomplishment and also guaranteed him a place on the championship podium for the second straight year.
Bertucci's eighth-place showing at 141 pounds was his first collegiate tournament placing as he rebounded from a second-round loss to eventual Midlands runner-up Alex Tsirtsis, and won three straight to reach the consolation quarterfinals.
Former Purdue standout Ben Wissel climbed the Midland's podium for the second straight year as well, this time ascending to the top spot at 184 pounds with a 7-4 victory over No. 7 seed Joe Williams of Michigan State University. The No. 1 seed in the tournament, Wissel went 5-0 over the two days with a pair of technical falls and a major decision.
Iowa State ran away with the overall team title, securing the top spot before the start of the final session. Full results are not yet available, but will be posted when available on the Northwestern University Athletics website (www.nusports.com).
The finals of the 2006 Midlands Championships will be replayed on Comcast SportsNet on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. and again on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 3 p.m.
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