Coach breaks record; team
goes 3-0 at weekend
meet
By Mike Urena
and Paul
Trembacki
Coach Jessie Reyes picked up his 98th, 99th and
100th career coaching victories as the Purdue wrestling team easily
went 3-0 at the Wendy's Classic Sunday in Ashland, Ohio, improving their
dual meet record 6-1.
Reyes, in his ninth season at Purdue, improved
to 100-68-3, which put him at the top of the school’s all-time
win list ahead of Claude Reeck, who coached from 1937 to 1969 and went
99-187-6.
"As far as records are concerned, this is
a neat record to break," Reyes said. "It’s nice to have
the record, but I just see it as a product of getting the kids focused
day in and day out in practice."
Reyes, whose .584 winning percentage is also the
best in school history, said he couldn’t have achieved as much
success without his coaching staff and wrestlers.
"These are not just my wins," he said.
"The coaching staff and the kids deserve credit too. They put you
in place for the wins."
Reyes’ wrestlers didn’t disappoint him
Saturday; they excelled from start to finish.
Purdue picked up its first victory of the day against
Ashland, 23-15. Ranked fourth in the nation in Division II, Ashland
came in with an attitude.
"They are a tough team," assistant coach
Scott Hinkel said. "They expected to beat us because we were the
first to wrestle them."
Although Ashland did not fully dominate the Boilers
as a team, their 133-pound wrestler, Chris Shears, gave Purdue's Evan
Robinson a tough battle and won when Robinson was injured so badly he
had to forfeit the match. Robinson did not compete against Cleveland
State or Marquette.
"We didn't expect to not have Evan, our only senior,
not able to compete the rest of the day," Hinkel said.
Paul Sacquitne, who lost a close match against
Ashland's Dugan Bentley 7-6, got some valuable experience, which, according
to Hinkel, is most important.
"A lot of these guys have been familiar with the
format in the past and have gotten experience," Hinkel said. "But most
of our freshmen also got some confidence."
Getting Reyes to 100 wins was relatively easy after
the Ashland meet. Purdue beat Cleveland State 37-9 and notched a 40-3
victory over Marquette.
Tying for the team lead in wins was 174-pounder
Ryan Lange, who went 3-0 on the day. He defeated Ashland's Chris Schlaegel
21-9, Cleveland's Joe Philips 4-2 and closed his evening with an 11-6
win over Marquette's Mike Dratz. Lange has compiled a record of 19-5
this season and is now ranked 19th in the nation.
Also, Jason Silverstein (125 pounds), Kirk Moore
(165) and Jon Bush (197) all went 3-0 on the day.
"We expected to go in there with a positive attitude
and win all three matches," Hinkel said.
|
