Senior wins final match; Purdue loses to Illinois

By Mike Urena
Staff Writer

The lone senior on the Purdue wrestling team, Evan Robinson, said he felt he had to win his final match at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility.

He did, but it wasn't enough as No. 21 Purdue fell to No. 7 Illinois 32-10 Friday.

Entering the third match of the evening at 133 pounds, ninth-ranked Robinson defeated Illinois’ Kelly Madden 6-2.

After two scoreless periods for Robinson, the Boilermaker came back stronger in the third to score a reversal and an escape on Madden. Robinson finished off the match by scoring a takedown on the Illinois sophomore with seven seconds remaining to clinch the win and improve to 18-5 and 4-3 in the Big Ten.

"It was pretty good, I started off making everybody a little scared there," Robinson said. "I had some lungs and kept going to win the match."

After wrestling at the facility for four years, Robinson still has plenty of matches to prepare for. The Boilermaker is still hungry for a Big Ten and NCAA Championship.

"I’ve put effort in," Robinson said. "All that matters now is the Big Ten and Nationals."

With an exhausting experience at Purdue, the senior plans on teaching high school and coaching wrestling after his collegiate career.

Purdue’s Jason Silverstein (125) and Ryan Lange (174) were the only other Boilermakers that mustered a win for the team.

After holding on 2-1 in the first period of the second match, Silverstein let Illinois’ Ryan Escober slip away to score an escape point to tie the match at two in the third period. Silverstein earned a point for having more than a minute of riding time advantage and won the match 3-2.

At 174 pounds, 15th-ranked Lange improved his team-leading win total to 25 wins by defeating John Sears. Lange dominated his opponent as usual, scoring two takedowns in the match's first 57 seconds. In the third period, the Boilermaker added eight more points on the scoreboard to register a 17-5 major decision and earn the team its last four points. Lange improves to 25-6 overall, 6-1 Big Ten.

But the rest of the Boilers, many of whom weren't 100 percent, failed to upset the heavily favored Illinois wrestlers.

"We’ve been sick all week with four or five guys," Lange said. "It all depends on how the matchups go, and it didn’t go our way today."

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