Wrestling drops tough contest at Purdue, 19-17

Five Spartans earn wins in tough-fought loss

ELKHART, Ind., 2/19/09 - The Michigan State wrestling team dropped a heartbreaker to Big Ten foe Purdue, 19-17, on Thursday night (Feb. 19). The Spartans (6-9, 1-6 Big Ten) put together an impressive run midway through the contest, but the Boilermakers (12-6-1, 1-5-1) took three out of the first four matches to give them the cushion that they needed to seal the win, their first in Big Ten play.

Sixth-ranked junior Franklin Gomez earned his 17th win of the season, recording a 17-2 technical fall against Purdue's Carson Beebe. Gomez's season record is now 17-2, 6-2 in the Big Ten.

The match began at the 165-pound weight class, where 16th-ranked Luke Manuel downed Spartan senior Rex Kendle, 5-2, to give the Boilers a 3-0 lead. MSU would tie it at three after redshirt freshman Ian Hinton beat Purdue's Nicholas Corpe in the second overtime period, 4-2.

The Boilers then rattled off three wins in a row to extend their lead to15-3. No. 14 A.J. Kissel pinned MSU sophomore Eric Anderson in 2:07 at 184 pounds, 17th-ranked Logan Brown beat senior John Murphy, 6-0, at 197 and Chris Kasten defeated true freshman Steve Andrus, 2-0.

The Spartans then put together a streak of their own, winning three in a row to narrow Purdue's lead to 15-14. MSU redshirt freshman Eric Olanowski won an 11-7 decision over Akif Eren at 125, Gomez recorded a technical fall and redshirt freshman Collin Dozier used 1:16 of riding advantage to seal his 6-5 decision over Purdue's Juan Archuleta.

Purdue's eighth-ranked 149-pounder Jake Patacsil then earned a 10-2 major decision over redshirt freshman David Cheza, giving the Boilers a 19-14 lead heading into the final bout. Sophomore Anthony Jones Jr. then won a 7-5 decision against Nicholas Bertucci, leaving the Spartans two points short of matching the Boilers.

The Spartans travel to Champaign, Ill., this Sunday (Feb. 22) to take on ninth-ranked Illinois at 2 p.m.

MATCH RESULTS
165: #16 Luke Manuel (PUR) dec. Rex Kendle (MSU), 5-2; PUR leads, 3-0
174: Ian Hinton (MSU) dec. Nicholas Corpe (PUR), 3-2 (TB); Tied, 3-3
184: #14 A.J. Kissel (PUR) pins Eric Anderson (MSU), 2:07; PUR leads, 9-3
197: #17 Logan Brown (PUR) dec. John Murphy (MSU), 6-0; PUR leads, 12-3
285: Chris Kasten (PUR) dec. Steve Andrus (MSU), 2-0; PUR leads, 15-3
125: Eric Olanowski (MSU) dec. Akif Eren (PUR), 11 - 7; PUR leads, 15-6
133: Franklin Gomez (MSU) tech. fall Carson Beebe (PUR), 17-2; PUR leads, 15-11
141: Collin Dozier (MSU) dec. Juan Archuleta (PUR), 6-5; PUR leads, 15-14
149: #8 Jake Patacsil (PUR) maj. dec. David Cheza (MSU), 10-2; PUR leads, 19-14
157: Anthony Jones Jr. (MSU) dec. Nicholas Bertucci (PUR), 7-5; PUR wins, 19-1