Thornton and Morrissey at Cliff Keen (Purdue)

[TomM]

Four Boilermakers in CKLV Wrestlebacks

Day 2 of the tournament starts at noon ET on Saturday

Dec. 2, 2016

Purdue Results / http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pur/sports/m-wrestl/auto_pdf/2016-17/box_score/stats_20161202aaa.pdf
Brackets, Results, Live Video / http://arena.flowrestling.org/
Tournament Information / http://cklvwrestle.com/

#BoilerNotes
• Purdue won 19 matches on Day 1 ... six major decisions, one technical fall and one pin were registered along with four shutouts.

• With a dozen back points Friday, Alex Griffin pushed his season total to 106, which ranks eighth on the season record list ... his career total moved to 258, which ranks fifth.

• Jacob Morrissey knocked off the highest ranked opponent of his career when he beat No. 11 Jadaen Bernstein of Navy.

• Tyler Kral had the first technical fall of his career, a 16-0 outing against Michigan's Dan Perry that lasted 4:21.

LAS VEGAS - Four Purdue wrestlers remain in wrestleback action after the first day of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Wrestling Invitational on Friday. Jacob Morrissey advanced to the 174-pound quarterfinals while Ben Thornton, Kyle Ayersman and Alex Griffin worked their way through wrestlebacks after early losses. Action resumes at noon ET on Saturday from the Las Vegas Convention Center.

In his first match in nearly a month, Morrissey cruised to a 9-0 major decision over Seth Williams of Ohio State. The redshirt junior's 1:11 worth of riding time then lifted him past Navy's fourth-seeded Jadaen Bernstein 3-2, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with Jim Wilson, the No. 5 seed out of Stanford.

Morrissey got a takedown on the board early in the first period and Wilson responded with one of his own after escaping. The score was evened at 3-3 with an escape by the Boilermaker in the second period. The score remained locked through regulation, forcing sudden victory. Wilson hit Morrissey with a double and dropped him to his back for the takedown and earned a four-point nearfall to end the match at 9-3.

He'll square off against Christian Brucki of Central Michigan in Saturday's wrestlebacks.

Thornton won a pair of consolation matches at 125 to stay alive after dropping an 8-5 decision to fourth-seeded Sean Russell of Edinboro in the second round. Thornton began the day with a win in sudden victory, beating Jake Gromacki of Clarion 5-3. His first win in the wrestlebacks was a 12-3 major decision, his fifth this season, against Navy's Brant Leadbeter. An 8-4 decision of Arizona State's Josh Kramer closed out the day for the now 15-5 redshirt sophomore.

Thornton will get a recent opponent in the wrestlebacks, second-seeded Connor Schram of Stanford.

Ayersman posted a 3-1 mark 141 pounds. A first round pin sent Ayersman into the wrestlebacks, where he rattled off three wins, starting with an upset of No. 8-seeded Kyle Springer of Eastern Michigan in a 10-2 major decision. Another major decision ensued, a 12-4 showing vs. Cornell's Will Koll, and he wrapped up the day by shutting out Chance Driscoll of Kent State 3-0.

His next hurdle in the path to placing is A.J. Jaffe of Harvard.

Griffin won his first match by upsetting third-seeded Victor Lopez of Bucknell with the ever-elusive defensive pin. Tied at 7-7 with time ticking away, Griffin got Lopez's shoulders square and stuck him at the 6:55 mark. A 4-2 setback to Air Force's Alex Mossing then sent him into the wrestlebacks. The Lafayette, Indiana, native, blanked Zach Elvin 5-0 and then posted a 10-3 decision against Destin McCauley of Nebraska-Kearney. Griffin will take a 15-5 record into his next match against Cal Poly's Colt Shorts on Saturday.

Christian Brunner (197) and Tyler Kral (285) were bounced from the tournament in the second session of Friday's competition. Brunner went 2-2 with a major decision and a decision to take his rookie record to 14-7. Kral won two of his three matches with bonus points, posting a major decision and a technical fall, and he knocked off seventh-seeded and 20th-ranked Jeramy Sweany of Cornell 7-4 in the wrestlebacks. He moved to 14-6 in his final campaign at Purdue.

Luke Welch (133), Nate Limmex (149), Dylan Lydy (165) and Tanner Lynde (184) were forced to exit with two losses in the first session of the tournament.

AMANDA C. DAHL
SUPERVISOR OF PURDUE WRESTLING OPERATIONS
ASSOCIATE ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, WRESTLING
P: 765.494.0529 / C: 712.251.9271
@PURDUEWRESTLING / #ALWAYSAGGRESSIVE

[Ghetto]

Watched Thornton wrestle Gromacki. Just wore him out. Was fun to watch.

[TomM]

WR: Purdue's Thornton, Ayersman Place at CKLV
Date:     Sat 12/03/16 03:35 PM

Purdue's Thornton, Ayersman Place at CKLV
First time since 2010 that multiple Boilermakers have placed at the event
Dec. 3, 2016

Purdue Results / Brackets / Photo Gallery

LAS VEGAS - Purdue's Ben Thornton and Kyle Ayersman each earned a spot on the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Wrestling Invitational on Saturday. The Boilermaker duo placed seventh at 125 and 141 pounds, respectively, as the two-day tournament concluded at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Purdue last had two wrestlers place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Wrestling Invitational was 2010 when there were four Boilermaker placewinners. Thornton becomes Purdue's second 125-pounder to place at the tournament since Chris Fleeger won the title in 2002, while Ayersman is the first Boilermaker to place at 141 pounds.

Thornton finished seventh thanks to a medical forfeit from eighth-seeded Markus Simmons of Iowa State. In the consolation quarterfinals matchup with CSU Bakersfield's Sean Nickell, it was the Roadrunner posting a 13-2 major decision that sent Thornton to the seventh-place match.

The Boilermaker also received a medical forfeit in his first match Saturday, this one from the No. 2-seed Connor Schram of Stanford.

The redshirt sophomore had a 5-2 tournament, posting a pair of decisions and a major decision in addition to receiving the two medical forfeits. Wrestling in three tournaments this season, Thornton has placed just as many times. His record now stands at 17-6 and he has already surpassed his win total from last season.

Like Thornton, Ayersman captured seventh place by way of a medical forfeit from American's Jack Mutchnik. He began Saturday's competition with his second shutout of the tournament, blanking A.J. Jaffe of Harvard 4-0. Ayersman registered a first-period takedown and rode the period out and added an escape in the third for the win.

Northern Colorado's Timmy Box denied the Boilermaker in the consolation quarterfinals by handing the redshirt senior an 8-1 decision.

Ayersman's five wins in Las Vegas included two shutout decisions, two major decisions and the medical forfeit. His record stands at 12-6 in his final season.

Both Alex Griffin and Jacob Morrissey were bounced one match shy of placing. Cal Poly 157-pounder Colt Shorts defeated Griffin 5-2 with a takedown in the first, a reversal in the second and 3:14 of riding time. The loss brought him to 15-6 on the season as he closed out the tournament with a 3-2 record.

For the second time in as many meetings this season, Christian Brucki of Central Michigan handed Morrissey a major decision loss, 13-2, to deny him a place on the 174-pound podium. Morrissey owns an even record of 4-4 after the two-day tournament.

Purdue returns to West Lafayette for a two-week hiatus with the end of the semester. The Boilermakers will then travel to Edwardsville, Illinois, for their only dual of the month when they take on SIU Edwardsville at 8 p.m. on Dec. 19.

AMANDA C. DAHL
SUPERVISOR OF PURDUE WRESTLING OPERATIONS
ASSOCIATE ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, WRESTLING
P: 765.494.0529 / C: 712.251.9271
@PURDUEWRESTLING / #ALWAYSAGGRESSIVE