"It was a good win," Ersland said. "As a coach you're always looking at things you can do better and that's where I am at right now. We will enjoy it for a day or two; it was the first one for me in our home gym so that is special. I am really excited for our guys because they did win. They're learning how to win and close matches out, that's important, from that there are a lot of positives that they can take from it with confidence and energy."
Purdue is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2008-09 season when the Boilermakers won their first six duals. Their win over Northern Iowa marks the first over a ranked opponent since Feb. 17, 2013, when they beat No. 20 Wyoming, 20-16. It was also the Old Gold & Black's first win over the Panthers since a 24-9 dual on Nov. 14, 2009.
"I'm excited for the guys and the direction of the program," Ersland said. "At the same time we have to finish matches; we have to put a stamp on it, like [Patrick] Kissel did. Kissel put a stamp on it and we need a few more guys to do the same thing."
The Boilermakers combined for a 17-5 takedown edge against Indiana Tech, winning six of their eight matches with bonus points. Falls were registered by Danny Sabatello (133), Jacob Morrissey (174), No. 8 Braden Atwood (197) and Tyler Kral (285). It was the first pin of the year for Kral, the third for Sabatello and Atwood and the fourth for Morrissey. Atwood's fall was the 27th of his career, moving him into a three-way tie for seventh on Purdue's all-time list.
It had been nearly two years since Nick Lawrence had wrestled in a home dual for Purdue and the redshirt senior seized the moment, scoring a 12-4 major decision over Indiana Tech's Matt Miller at 141 pounds. More bonus points came in the ensuing match with a 15-0 technical fall in 3:30 by Alex Griffin at 149 pounds. Griffin has now won three of his 11 matches via shutout technical falls.
Northern Iowa's sixth-ranked Dylan Peters opened with a fall at 125, but that proved to be the Panther's only lead of the dual against Purdue. Sabatello got the Boilermakers on the board by upsetting No. 15 Levi Wolfensperger, 5-3, at 133 pounds. The redshirt junior used a first period takedown and escape, plus an escape in the second period and 1:32 of riding time en route to his ninth win and his first win of the year against a ranked foe.
"Nationally, Sabatello's win certainly gets him noticed and [he should get] in the rankings," Ersland said. "I think it should build his confidence. Already, he's the guy we thought he would be, so it's not that big of a surprise for a lot of us because we know what he does every day. It should continue to show that his hard work is paying off and the sacrifice he's put in moving down a weight; it's all paying off for him and he needs to keep that going."
Lawrence followed at 141 with a solid 5-2 outing against Jake Hodges, pushing his record to 10-3. Griffin held a 4-2 advantage on Zach Witte after two periods at 149, but an escape by Witte and stalling by the redshirt sophomore forced the match into overtime at 4-4. Neither grappler scored in the 60-second sudden victory. Starting the first 30-second tiebreaker on bottom, Griffin escaped and scored a critical takedown to take a 7-4 lead. He was called for stalling again before the horn sounded making it 7-5. A 30-second ride from Griffin in the second tiebreaker clinched his 11th win. At the conclusion of the match, Witte was cited for unsportsmanlike conduct, resulting in the loss of a team point for Northern Iowa, putting the dual at 9-5 in favor of the Old Gold & Black.
The Boilermakers extended their lead to 12-5 thanks to a 2-0 decision from Doug Welch at 157. UNI tied the dual back up at 12-12 with a major decision at 165 from 11th-ranked Cooper Moore and a decision by Curt Maas at 174.
With the team score tied and three bouts to go, the stage was set where a bonus point victory could be the difference maker. Cue Kissel. For the second time in as many seasons, Kissel rose to the occasion, pinning Kyle Lux in 5:48. The redshirt senior wasted no time getting on the board in a wild opening series where he took Lux down, Lux reversed and Kissel escaped. He took the Panther down again looking for back points, but Lux was able to ward it off as the first period came to a close. Kissel escaped to start the second period, struck for another takedown, got a three count, went after the pin and got it.
"The first body lock I had on him, I got a little ahead of myself and got a little too aggressive where he was able to roll out," Kissel explained. "My plan going into the match was to secure the win, get some points on the board and go for it. It worked out in my favor this time and it felt good to get that for the team and for the overall team win. It's something I definitely need to keep working on all year is coming out ready to go rather than sit on my heels. I wrestle better when I'm attacking. All of the coaches told me before my match that I need to keep moving my feet and get after this guy."
Kissel's fall pushed Purdue ahead 18-12 and the nation's eighth-ranked 197-pounder made it 21-12 as Atwood prevailed in the first set of tiebreakers, 4-1, over Jared Bartel. The two wrestlers exchanged escapes in the second and third periods, deadlocking the match at 1-1 after 7:00. A scoreless sudden victory led to Atwood starting the first 30-second tiebreaker from bottom, to which he escaped and took Bartel down. Atwood was able to ride Bartel out in second 30-second tiebreaker to secure a 4-1 decision.
Northern Iowa's 16th-ranked Blaize Cabell closed out the dual with an 8-4 decision over Kral at 285 pounds for a 21-15 final score.
"I was really happy with the way they rebounded," Ersland said of his team. "I thought we were a little sluggish in the first dual [against Indiana Tech] and didn't show our best stuff. The way they came back and flipped it around and wrestled much tougher, I thought, was positive to know that they can do that when they're a little sluggish and in your hands to turn it around and be tough."
The Boilermaker grapplers will be back in action Nov. 29 at the Journeymen/ASICS Northeast Duals where they will face Binghamton, No. 6 Missouri and No. 22 Old Dominion in Troy, N.Y.
PURDUE 39, INDIANA TECH 6
125 // Aaron Assad (Purdue) dec. Erique Early (Indiana Tech), 4-3
133 // Danny Sabatello (Purdue) pinned Brett Yarbrough (Indiana Tech), 6:12
141 // Nick Lawrence (Purdue) maj. dec. Matt Miller (Indiana Tech), 12-4
149 // Alex Griffin (Purdue) tech fall Thomas Garty (Indiana Tech), 15-0 (3:30)
157 // Doug Welch (Purdue) dec. Chase Hack (Indiana Tech), 7-3
165 // Jacob Johnson (Indiana Tech) dec. Patrick Robinson (Purdue), 6-5
174 // Jacob Morrissey (Purdue) pinned Antonio Rodriguez (Indiana Tech), 1:46
184 // LJ Grayson (Indiana Tech) dec. Tanner Lynde (Purdue), 3-2
197 // No. 8 Braden Atwood (Purdue) pinned Brandon Sunday (Indiana Tech), 0:54
285 // Tyler Kral (Purdue) pinned Kegan Clark-Sanchez (Indiana Tech), 2:15
PURDUE 21, NO. 18 NORTHERN IOWA 15
125 // No. 6 Dylan Peters (UNI) pinned Aaron Assad (Purdue), 1:08
133 // Danny Sabatello (Purdue) dec. No. 15 Levi Wolfensperger (UNI), 5-3
141 // Nick Lawrence (Purdue) dec. Jake Hodges (UNI), 5-2
149 // Alex Griffin (Purdue) dec. Zach White (UNI), 7-5 (TB1)*
157 // Doug Welch (Purdue) dec. Jarrett Jensen (UNI), 2-0
165 // No. 11 Cooper Moore (UNI) maj. dec. Patrick Robinson (Purdue), 14-3
174 // Curt Maas (UNI) dec. Chad Welch (Purdue), 5-1
184 // Patrick Kissel (Purdue) pinned Kyle Lux (UNI), 5:48
197 // No. 8 Braden Atwood (Purdue) dec. Jared Bartel (UNI), 4-1 (TB1)
285 // No. 16 Blaize Cabell (UNI) dec. Tyler Kral (Purdue), 8-4
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