Sam CartellaSam Cartella
Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics

Cartella Dazzles In Home Debut Against Purdue

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EVANSTON, Ill. (February 9, 2024) – Sam Cartella turned in a dominant showing in his first dual meet appearance as Northwestern wrestling (0-7, 0-6 B1G) came away with three individual victories this evening against Purdue (6-8, 1-5 B1G) inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.  The Boilermakers won the dual meet by a final score of 29-11.
 
After a tightly contested start, Cartella broke through in the closing seconds of the first period, coming out of a scramble to takedown Marcos Polanco and open up a 3-0 lead.  The Hudson, Ohio native hit the accelerator from that point forward, adding another takedown a pair of four-point near falls in the second period before using an escape in the opening seconds of the final frame to secure a 15-0 win by technical fall.


 
As was the case in last Friday's matchup with Wisconsin, the duo of Evan Bates (197 pounds) and Jack Jessen (285 pounds) closed out the evening with victories.
 
Bates jumped Ben Vanadia from the opening whistle, scoring a takedown five seconds in to establish a lead he would never relinquish.  He added two more first-period takedowns on the way to an 11-4 decision win.


 
After opening up a 3-1 lead after the opening frame of his clash with Tristan Ruhlman, Jessen fended off a handful of attacks from the Boilermaker heavyweight before countering a shot inside the final 20 seconds of the third period to put the exclamation point on a 7-2 decision.


 
Northwestern is back in action next weekend, hosting a trio of opponents to close out the regular season portion of its 2023-24 schedule.  The Wildcats will entertain Binghamton for Senior Night on Friday, February 16 ahead of a doubleheader with Indiana and Illinois in the regular season finale on Sunday, February 18.
 
Gallery: (2-9-2024) Wrestling vs. Purdue

Purdue 29, Northwestern 11
125: #1 Matt Ramos (PUR) over Massey Odiotti (NU) (Dec 11-4)
133: Dustin Norris (PUR) over Patrick Adams (NU) (MD 9-1)
141: Christian White (PUR) over Kolby McClain (NU) (MD 12-4)
149: Sam Cartella (NU) over Marcos Polanco (PUR) (TF 15-0 5:15)
157: #20 Joey Blaze (PUR) over #18 Trevor Chumbley (NU) (SV-1 4-1)
165: #32 Stoney Buell (PUR) over (NU) (For.)
174: #32 Brody Baumann (PUR) over David Ferrante (NU) (Fall 1:30)
184: James Rowley (PUR) over Jon Halvorsen (NU) (Dec 3-1)
197: Evan Bates (NU) over Ben Vanadia (PUR) (Dec 11-4)
285: Jack Jessen (NU) over Tristan Ruhlman (PUR) (Dec 7-2)