Northwestern
Purdue
Northwestern Narrowly Defeated by No. 23 Purdue, 22-17
1/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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#23 Purdue 22, #17 Northwestern 17 Holloway Gymnasium • West Lafayette, Ind. |
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Northwestern picked up four wins, and No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis improved to 23-0, but the Wildcats were upended on the road by No. 23 Purdue, 22-17.
Jameson Oster, Pierce Harger, Mike McMullan and Tsirtsis were all winners for Northwestern Friday night.
Tsirtsis picked up career win number 50 with his 4-1 decision over Brandon Nelson at 149 lbs.
The 17th-ranked Wildcats (8-4, 0-3) fell behind 7-0 after the first two matches. Garrison White dropped a tight 4-3 decision, and in a rematch from the Midlands, No. 20 Danny Sabatello got the best of No. 19 Dominick Malone at 133 lbs.
Oster provided a quick response with an 8-0 major decision over Nick Lawrence at 141. The win was number 14 for Oster this season and his second in a row by major decision.
Northwestern tied the match at seven when Tsirtsis won his 39th consecutive match. The nation's top-ranked wrestler lead throughout the match and won a methodical 4-1 decision over Brandon Nelson.
After a Ben Sullivan loss by a 6-3 decision at 157, the seventh-ranked Harger wasted no time pinning Patrick Robinson. The 165-pounder took less than a minute, fifty-four seconds to be exact, to give the Wildcats a 13-10 advantage coming out of the intermission period.
Purdue regained control with an NU forfeit at 174 and a Patrick Kissel decision over Mitch Sliga at 184. In the 197 lbs. match, 15th-ranked Braden Atwood narrowly defeated No. 10 Alex Polizzi, 5-3.
In the last match of the night, No. 4 Mike McMullan gave a dominant effort to come away with a 17-5 major decision over Tyler Kral. McMullan led 9-3 after the first period and scored takedown after takedown on his way to the win. He snapped a two-match skid in the process and won his 16th of the season.
Northwestern has a quick turnaround for its next match, traveling to Bloomington, Ind. for a Sunday afternoon showdown with the Hoosiers. The match is scheduled to begin at noon CT.
Results
125: Luke Welch (PUR) dec. Garrison White (NU), 4-3
133: No. 20 Danny Sabatello (PUR) maj. dec. Dominick Malone (NU), 10-2
141: Jameson Oster (NU) maj. dec. Nick Lawrence (PUR), 8-0
149: No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. Brandon Nelson (PUR), 4-1
157: No. 20 Doug Welch (PUR) dec. Ben Sullivan (NU), 6-3
165: No. 7 Pierce Harger (NU) Fall Patrick Robinson (PUR), 0:54
174: Chad Welch (PUR) Win by Forfeit
184: Patrick Kissel (PUR) dec. Mitch Sliga (NU), 8-1
197: No. 15 Braden Atwood (PUR) dec. No. 10 Alex Polizzi (NU), 5-3
285: No. 4 Mike McMullan (NU) maj. dec. Tyler Kral (PUR), 17-5
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