The Fall
Four pins highlight scoring in loss to UM; Sprunger, Moore get pins for Purdue
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Purdue Boilermaker wrestling team was unable to overcome a lineup stacked with Top 10 wrestlers, falling to Michigan X-X at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor. The Old Gold and Black completed the dual season with a record of 8-12, 2-6 in the Big Ten.
The Wolverines sent four wrestlers that are ranked among their weight’s top 10, willing all four classes.
The dual opened at heavyweight and saw Michigan’s Greg Wagner, a product of Fort Wayne and the third-ranked 285-pounder in the nation, record a fall against freshman Jake O’Brien (Indianapolis, Ind.) at the 2:09 mark.
Purdue closed the team scoring gap to 6-3 at 125 pounds as freshman Brandon Tucker (Broken Arrow, Okla.) came one takedown shy of a major decision, defeating Jim Shutich 7-1. Takedowns by Tucker in the first and third period sandwiched a second-period reversal, giving the Boilermaker freshman a 6-0 lead. With 35 seconds remaining in the match, Tucker let Shutich go for an escape, looking for the takedown that would give him a bonus-point win. However, Shutich was able to hold Tucker off for the final seconds to close the match.
Michigan got its second pin of the afternoon when Mark Moos, ranked 18th at 133, got sophomore Sean Schmaltz to his back late in the second period and recorded the fall at 4:53.
The Boilermakers got the six points back at 141 when senior Ben Sprunger (Bluffton, Ind.) used his second turn of Brad Cusumano to score the fall at 4:53. Sprunger jumped on the board with two first-period takedowns and extended his lead to 7-1 with a takedown 27 seconds into the second stanza. With 50 seconds left in the second period, the Purdue senior turned Cusumano for three back points, upping his lead to 10-1. The Wolverine grappler chose the bottom position to start the third period, a position he would not escape from as Sprunger quickly got the turn and the fall to end the match.
In the match to decide the top seed at the Big Ten Championships at 149, Michigan’s Eric Tannenbaum took advantage of a late-match collision to put away junior Doug Withstandley (Jackson, N.J.) 10-3. Tannenbaum, 7-0 in Big Ten duals and ranked fifth in the nation, was up 5-3 with 15 seconds left when both wrestlers shot and collided. The force of the collision pushed Withstandley backwards and Tannenbaum took advantage with a takedown and three back points as time expired. Withstandley, ranked ninth in the country, finished the Big Ten dual season 7-1.
Trailing 15-9 after five matches, Purdue needed the improbable to happen as freshman Colton Salazar (Midway, Utah) faced top-ranked Ryan Bertin, the 2003 national champion, at 157. Bertin used his experience and the ranking showed as the Wolverine defeated Salazar 17-1. Purdue then forfeited at 165 pounds to put the UM lead at 26-9.
Michigan’s Nick Roy defeated freshman Dan Bedoy (Hammond, Ind.) at 174 pounds 10-3 to secure the dual victory for the Wolverines. Purdue would not go quietly, however, as the Boilermakers would win at 184 and 197 pounds.
Junior Ben Wissel (Richmond, Ind.) used a first-period takedown and a third-period reversal to deliver a 5-2 decision to the Boilermakers over Josh Weitzel to move the team score to 29-12.
In the final match of the day, sophomore Nate Moore (Indianapolis, Ind.) made a case for the top seed in the Big Ten Championships at 197 with a pin against Steve Heleniak. Moore, 7-1 in Big Ten duals, dominated the scoring, building an 8-3 lead after two periods, including three takedowns. In the third, history repeated itself as Heleniak chose the bottom position and Moore would make him regret it. Just 19 seconds into the third period, Moore wrenched the Wolverine to his back and landed the stick to close the match. Moore is the only 197 pounder in the Big Ten with just one loss in the conference dual season.
Next up for the Boilermakers is the journey to Iowa City for the 2005 Big Ten Championships. Held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the Iowa campus, the championships are scheduled for March 5-6. Seeds for the championships will be determined by the conference’s coaches on March 4.
Wrestling Gear
