The Boilermakers are looking to bounce back after their first loss of the year, a 28-6 defeat at Ohio State University last Saturday. The bright spots of the day for Purdue came at 157 and 197 pounds, where sophomore Jake Murphy and 14th-ranked senior Nathan Moore won their respective matches. Murphy picked up his first career Big Ten victory, scoring a late reversal to slide past sophomore Jason Johnstone, 6-4. Meanwhile, Moore took home his first victory of the season over a ranked opponent, toppling third-ranked junior J.D. Bergman, 7-2.
Indiana has been very impressive so far this season, winning their nine matches by an average of 34 points and posting a trio of top-10 tournament finishes, including a fifth-place showing at the Midlands Championships. The Hoosiers' have grapplers ranked in five of the ten weight classes, including freshman Matt Coughlin and junior Brandon Becker, who are each ranked seventh, respectively, at 149 and 157 pounds. Other highlights of the Indiana lineup come at 125 pounds (ninth-ranked freshman Angel Escobedo), 165 pounds (11th-ranked junior Max Dean) and 184 pounds (12th-ranked senior Marc Bennett).
Friday's meet should see fireworks at a few different weight classes, headlined by the clash between Coughlin and Purdue's 11th-ranked sophomore Jake Patacsil at 149 pounds. Patacsil comes into the match looking to rebound from a narrow 4-3 defeat to 14th-ranked Lance Palmer last week, boasting a season record of 24-6. Coughlin stands at 23-4 on the year, riding on the coat tails of a 1:16 pin of Eastern Illinois' Tommy Reamer. Patacsil and Coughlin narrowly avoided each other at the 2006 Midlands Championships as Coughlin fell in the semifinals, while Patacsil advanced on to the championships match.
At 157 pounds, Murphy will look to continue his winning ways in conference competition and hopes to avenge a 7-1 loss from last season against Becker. Murphy is 10-6 on the year, while Becker enters the match 18-3, and finished as the runner-up at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Match time is set for 7 p.m. at IU's University Gymnasium.
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