“Always happy to win, going 3-0 is a great feeling,†Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. “We have some young guys we are trying to build momentum for, so I think us going 3-0 and seeing them changing and grow as the day went was great. A lot of guys got better throughout the day too. We still need to keep learning to be more aggressive and carry more pace in our matches. However, there has been progress since wrestle-offs to the Eastern Michigan Open to and to now. We are trending in the right way and we need to keep moving forward and making gains.â€
Purdue won all three matches at four weight classes. Ben Thornton (125), Kyle Ayersman (141) and Tyler Kral (285) went 3-0 on the day, while Cody Pae and Luke Welch split time at 133 and combined to go 3-0.
Thornton did not surrender a takedown in his three matches at 125 pounds, picking up decisions against DJ Smith of UIndy (4-1) and Northern Illinois' Brock Hudkins (3-2). He made easy work of Bloomsburg's Willy Girard in a 12-4 major decision, his second of the season. The redshirt sophomore pushed his record to 7-1 with the trio of victories.
At 141, Ayersman recorded a pair of decisions and capped off the day with a 16-0 technical fall against Max Fisher that took just 3:39. The redshirt senior put up three four-point nearfalls en route to the fourth tech fall of his career.
Kral's first match saw him shut out UIndy's seventh-ranked Dylan Faulkenberg 2-0. The Crown Point, Indiana, native, then won an 8-6 decision that had a wild first period with Bo Spiller of Bloomsburg and he closed out the triple dual day with a 5-2 decision against Caleb Gossett of Northern Illinois. With the three wins, Kral improved to 7-1 in his redshirt senior campaign.
The first of two bonus point victories at 133 pounds was credited to Pae. After building a 6-0 lead on UIndy's Dylan Hurst, Pae reversed the Greyhound and tilted him twice for four-point nearfalls in the second period. A takedown midway through the third period ended the match at 16-0.
Eleven of Welch's 18 points came in the third period as he took an 18-7 major decision over Matt Noble of Bloomsburg. Welch also got the nod against Northern Illinois and disposed of Alijah Jeffery 7-5 to push his record to 5-2.
Alex Griffin avenged a 2-1 (TB1) Eastern Michigan Open semifinal loss to Northern Illinois' Caden McWhirter by posting a 7-3 victory. The 157-pounder's four-point nearfall in the second period was the difference maker in the match. The redshirt senior registered his fifth tech fall of the season and the 15th of his career in his opening bout, using 4:39 to defeat Kyle Barkovich of UIndy 17-1.
Blake Reid went 2-1 for Purdue at 184 pounds. The Columbus, Ohio, native, pinned Cory Graham of UIndy in 4:39 and followed with a 7-2 outing against Bloomsburg's Tyler Worthing. Reid nearly had the match-winning takedown, but time expired before he could complete his attack to drop a narrow 5-4 decision to NIU's Mike Aldrich. His record stands at 7-2.
“I don't know if Blake Reid realizes how good he can be quite yet,†Ersland said. “My job is going to be to get him to understand he can be pretty good. If he would just trust himself a little bit more out there, certainly again, going the right way. We are excited for him and hopefully he'll make a jump for us next week.â€
Dylan Lydy (165), Peter Andreotti (174) and Christian Brunner (197) also posted 2-1 marks for Purdue.
Up next for the Boilermakers is a trip west to California for a pair of duals and an open tournament. First they'll take on Boise State on a neutral mat at 8 p.m. ET on Friday in Palo Alto, followed by a battle with the home team and 14th-ranked Stanford at 9:30 p.m. They will then travel to Fresno for the CSU Bakersfield's Roadrunner Open on Nov. 20. Competition from Clovis North High School is set to get underway at 1 p.m.
#BoilerNotes
• Nate Limmex, Dylan Lydy and Christian Brunner made their first-ever dual start Sunday.
• With four four-point nearfalls, Alex Griffin moved into sixth on Purdue's career back points list with 206 … he has 54 back points through eight matches.
• Cody Pae picked up the third technical fall of his career.
• Of Purdue's 22 wins, 16 were by decision, two by major decision, two by technical fall and one by fall … only one loss was suffered with bonus points.
• Tony Ersland has won the first dual in each of his three seasons as the Boilermakers' head coach.
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