Thornton's pin, a 3:33 stick of Ben Gillette, was the first of the season for the redshirt sophomore as he pushed his record to 24-12. A 5-0 shutout from Kyle Ayersman at 141 pounds gave Purdue a 9-5 lead after three matches.
The next four matches shifted the lead the Jackrabbits' way and their lead ballooned to 19-9 with four wins in the middle of the lineup, two of which were major decisions. At 174 pounds, a reversal by SDSU's 16th-ranked David Kocer with just seconds remaining in a match that appeared to be headed to sudden victory broke a 4-4 tie with Jacob Morrissey to deal the Boilermaker a tough 6-4 setback.
The Boilermakers' upper weights then went to work. A six-point move in the final period earned Tanner Lynde a 13-3 major decision of Martin Mueller. The 184-pounder's third major decision of the season narrowed the lead to 19-13.
A top-10 upset came in the ensuing match with true freshman Christian Brunner's impressive 8-3 showing against seventh-ranked Nate Rotert. Brunner, unranked at 197 pounds, defeated his second nationally ranked opponent in as many matches by scoring a trio of takedowns. Two of the takedowns came in the third period, one of which was originally not called on the mat, but successfully challenged by Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland.
"Christian never gets too high and he never gets too low," Ersland said. "He understands there is a process that we are after and he stays committed to what we are asking him to do."
The win was the 20th for the East Dundee, Illinois, native, who knocked off No. 11 Ricky Robertson of Wisconsin 4-1 in his last match.
"The game plan was to go out with a high pace and have fun out there," Brunner said. "It was fun, that's the best way to look at it."
With the dual score at 19-16 in favor of SDSU with one bout to go, Purdue needed a decision to tie and that's what Tyler Kral delivered, blanking Alex Macki 3-0. Kral's win, the 21st of his redshirt senior campaign, sets a career high after winning 21 combined matches in his three previous seasons. The shutout was also a team-best seventh of the season.
"I like how the back half of the dual went," Ersland said. "Even though we lost the match at 174, Jacob Morrissey fought for everything and represented himself well. That got our bench back into it. It got everybody involved, especially when we were quiet in the middle of our lineup. I was happy that even though Jacob lost, he competed better and got our team going. Certainly Ben Thornton's win will stick out because he had the fall and that was the criteria that we won on, so it was very big for Ben to come out and get that pin."
The Boilermakers' march to the Arch begins at the Big Ten Championships. The two-day tournament will be held at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, March 4 and 5.
#BoilerNotes
• The upset of No. 17 South Dakota State is Purdue's first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 20 Indiana on Feb. 7, 2016 ... that win also came on the road ... SDSU is the highest ranked team the Boilermakers have defeated since a 19-18 win over No. 17 Michigan on Feb. 3, 2013.
• Friday's dual was Purdue's first-ever meeting with the Jackrabbits, becoming the 150th all-time opponent in program history.
• Kyle Ayersman wrestled in the 100th match of his career.
Results:
125: Ben Thornton (Purdue) pinned Ben Gillette (SDSU) 3:33
133: No. 2 Seth Gross (SDSU) tech fall Luke Welch (Purdue) 16-1 (3:29)
141: Kyle Ayersman (Purdue) dec. Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU) 5-0
149: No. 16 Alex Kocer (SDSU) major decision Nate Limmex (Purdue) 13-1
157: Logan Peterson (SDSU) major decision Jeremy Golding (Purdue) 10-2
165: Luke Zilverberg (SDSU) dec. Dylan Lydy (Purdue) 7-1
174: No. 16 David Kocer (SDSU) dec. Jacob Morrissey (Purdue) 6-4
184: Tanner Lynde (Purdue) major decision Martin Mueller (SDSU) 13-3
197: Christian Brunner (Purdue) dec. No. 7 Nate Rotert (SDSU) 8-3
285: Tyler Kral (Purdue) dec. Alex Macki (SDSU) 3-0
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