Purdue wrestling improves to 9-2

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The Purdue wrestling team improved to 9-2 in dual competition on Sunday, dominating visiting Iowa Western Community College and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) at Holloway Gymnasium. The Boilermakers smashed Iowa Western in their opener, 42- ^-1, and followed with a 34-9 victory over SIUE, earning bonus points in 10 of their 18 individual wins.

The day opened with a 27-15 victory for SIUE over Iowa Western as the Cougars won six of the four bouts, including a fall for junior Josh Wood at 197 pounds. In addition, sophomore Patrick Meyers improved to 11-1 on the year at 133 pounds, scoring a 19-3 technical fall over Iowa Western freshman Carlos Garcia.

Things got worse for the Reivers as they took on the 21 ^st-ranked Boilermakers in the second meet of the day as Purdue swept all 10 matches for the fourth time this season. Freshman Dominique Price and sophomores Dustin Schultz and Andy Wiseman each earned their first collegiate dual victory, all winning in dominant fashion. Price posted a 20-7 major decision over freshman Adrian Lozano at 125 pounds to open the dual, while Schultz earned a 10-3 win at 157 pounds over freshman Sean Dulom and Wiseman notched a 12-1 major decision over sophomore Dan Williams at 174 pounds. Further bonus points came from freshman Danny Sabatello, senior Ivan Lopouchanski and sophomore Braden Atwood as Sabatello earned his team-best fourth technical fall of the season at 133 pounds, a 21-5 win over Garcia. Lopouchanski topped freshman Kasey Einerson at 149 pounds by major decision, 15-5, while Atwood needed just 1:34 to stick rookie Ronald Lemons at 197. 

The Boilermakers captured eight of 10 matches against SIUE in the day’s finale, highlighted by bonus-point wins at 141, 149, 184 and 197. Sophomore Brandon Nelsen notched an 11-3 major decision over freshman Drew Vrbenec at 141, and Lopouchanski rolled out an 18-3 technical fall over senior Dillon Pousson at 149. After taking a forfeit win against Iowa Western, 184-pound sophomore Patrick Kissel followed up with a 8-0 major decision over SIUE freshman Jake Tindle, and Atwood scored his second fall of the day and fourth of the season at 197 pounds, pinning Wood in a late flurry at 6:46. Sabatello was impressive again at 133 pounds, dealing Meyers just his second loss of the season, 7-2, and sophomore Pat Robinson and freshman Chad Welch both rallied late for respective decision victories at 165 and 174 pounds. The Cougars only two wins came at 157 and 285 pounds as senior Kyle Lowman came out on top of Purdue sophomore Frankie Porras in a scramble to score a fall, and junior David Devine scored a late takedown against Purdue junior Alex White for a 3-2 decision.

“We came out and took care of business today, wrapping up a solid first semester of work,” said Purdue head coach Scott Hinkel. “With the extra stress of finals this week, it was a challenge for our guys to balance their studies along with getting ready to wrestle. I think they did a great job and we’ll try and carry this momentum over to the second semester.”

The Boilermakers are away from competition until the end of month, when they head to Northwestern University for the 50 ^th-Annual Midlands Championships. Purdue will have 10 entries in the prestigious holiday tournament, scheduled for Dec. 29-30 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.