Minnesota, Iowa pin upsets on Purdue at weekend meets

By Mike Urena
Staff Writer

Along with a handful of individual upsets this weekend, the Purdue wrestling team ultimately failed in its quest to beat the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the country.

Purdue mustered just two wins against No. 1 Minnesota Saturday night in Minneapolis.

At 165 pounds, Purdue's Kirk Moore upset third-ranked Brad Pike. Pike was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week last week. Moore forced the match into overtime with a takedown and after a scoreless first overtime, the match went into sudden-death mode, where Moore hung on for the entire 30-second period and won.

At 174, Ryan Lange picked up his 22nd win of the year, upsetting 14th-ranked Jacob Volkmann 10-6.

The rest of Purdue's matches were upsetting but not upsets. Heavyweight Jake Vercelli lost 10-7 to eighth-ranked Garrett Lowney. At 125, No. 9 Jason Silverstein lost 6-1 to third-ranked Leroy Vega.

On Friday, No. 3 Iowa closed the match with 16 straight points to turn a 16-all tie into a 32-16 triumph in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility.

"I was a little disappointed at a couple of weights," Purdue coach Jessie Reyes said. "We could have given a little bit of more effort, but I really thought we did better than we expected."

The Boilers started the evening slow as Iowa's Mike Zadick picked up a 21-7 major decision win over Purdue's Dan Jankowski at the 149-pound spot.

Oscar Santiago, Purdue's157-pounder, started the second match of the evening by avoiding takedowns and using smart thinking to defeat Iowa's Corey Stanley 11-3, which tied the meet at 4-4.

"Oscar went out there and stayed on him," Reyes said. "He was a little timid at first, but once he got started, he realized he could do a lot of damage once he started taking him down."

Santiago had been scheduled to face defending national champion, T.J. Williams, but the 18-0 junior, ranked No. 1 in the nation, was in Iowa at the dentist.

"We could have made some different things happen at 165 and 174, but they were great matches and the guys had great effort." Reyes said, referring to a pair of 3-2 losses by Moore and Lange at their respective classes.

After Purdue 184-pounder Jared Williams got pinned by Iowa's Jessman Smith, the Boilers found Iowa's weak spots – the 197 and heavyweight classes.

John Bush, Purdue's 197-pounder, pinned Iowa's Ryan Fulsaas with 1:39 left in the second period.

"It is great to win against Iowa," Bush said. "You just go out there and wrestle like you train in the room."

Purdue's Jake Vercelli didn't know what to expect from his opponent but won the heavyweight match by pinning Iowa's Josh Liddle.

"I was trying to win the match and I just saw to get the pin," said Vercelli, who improved to 14-5 this season. "I looked at the scoreboard and was surprised that I tied it up."

The two Purdue victories didn't phase the Hawkeyes. Iowa reseized momentum as soon as the 125-pound match started. Purdue 125-pounder, Jason Silverstein, who is ranked ninth in the nation, faced Iowa's Jody Strittmatter, ranked second, and lost 11-3.

At 133, Evan Robinson received a head injury with 2:03 left on the clock in the first period. Unable to see well with a bandage on his forehead, Robinson was later pinned by Eric Juergens in the second period.

"They both were right with their guys, but they gave up position too many times," Reyes said.

Purdue forfeited the 141-pound match, giving the Hawkeyes the 32-16 win.

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