Purdue Wrestling Notches 35-9 Road Win at SIUE 12/19/19

[TomM]

Purdue Wrestling Notches 35-9 Road Win at SIUE
12/19/19

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Purdue wrestling team finished off the first semester in solid fashion, taking eight-of-10 road matches in a 35-9 dual victory at Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Thursday. The Boilermakers posted bonus points in five of their eight wins, including three falls, and freshman Thomas Penola knocked off a ranked opponent at heavyweight as Purdue improved to 7-1 on the season.

The Boilermakers raced out to a 12-0 lead behind falls from junior Devin Schroder and freshman Travis Ford-Melton at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively. Schroder quickly built an 8-0 lead at 125 with a takedown and six quick nearfall points before sticking his opponent in a tilt. Ford-Melton wasted zero time in the ensuing match, quickly launching his foe to his back and getting the fall in 12 seconds, marking Purdue's fastest since a 13 second fall at the 2019 Loras Open.

Sophomore Parker Filius stretched the lead to 15-0 with a 7-1 decision before a wild match at 149 where junior Griffin Parriott came from behind to earn a 12-10 victory in a tie-breaker overtime. Trailing 4-0 out of the gate after a throw from SIUE's Tyshawn Williams, Parriott started chipping away with a reversal in the first, and then a 5-2 scoring advantage in the second period to make it 7-7. Williams got an escape in the third, and Parriott evened the count at the end of regulation with a riding-time point, heading to the extra sessions at 8-8. Neither wrestler scored in the sudden-victory frame, but that's when things got crazy.

Williams took bottom to start the 30-second rideouts, and reversed Parriott 14 seconds into the period. The official inadvertently blew his whistle, stopping the action after the reversal and negating potential back points for the Cougars; a call which was confirmed after the SIUE staff challenged the ruling. After the restart, Williams was then called for his third caution of the match, awarding a point to Parriott, and then the Boilermaker junior escaped before the end of the period to tie the match at 10-10. Parriott took bottom in the second 30-second rideout, and was immediately released by Williams to give the Boilers an 11-10 edge. The lead grew to 12-10 as Williams went down with a severe cramp, and Parriott again chose bottom and got another escape point. In the dust of the zany contest was an 18-0 Boilermaker lead and Parriott improved to 11-2 on the season.

Freshman Kendall Coleman put together a dominant performance at 157 pounds, rolling out a 14-2 major decision over SIUE's Justin Ruffin. Ruffin was coming off a huge, upset win over No. 4 Larry Early of Old Dominion on Wednesday, but Coleman left little doubt early, building a 2-1 lead in the first and exploding for a 10-2 lead after the second, taking Ruffin to his back for a six-point move. Coleman finished things up with another takedown in the third, notching his third major decision of the season.

SIUE got on the board at 165 as a third-period locked-hands call was the difference in a 2-1 win for Chase Diehl over Elijah Davis, but Purdue senior Dylan Lydy quickly regained the momentum. The fourth-ranked Boilermaker senior scored five takedowns in a 12-4 major decision, his sixth of the season, remaining undefeated at 15-0 on the year.

The Cougars picked up six points at 184 pounds as Purdue junior Max Lyon was forced to injury default after the first period, but Boilermaker senior Christian Brunner got those six right back, sticking his opponent 1:57 into the first period for his sixth fall of the season and 15th of his career.

Penola put the exclamation point on the night, using a second-period reversal and two takedowns in the final frame to secure a 7-3 decision over No. 17 Colton McKiernan. After a scoreless first period, Penola worked off bottom for a reversal and 2-1 lead heading to the third. He kept the heat on McKiernan down the stretch, surrendering an escape to tie things at 2-2, but working for two takedowns in the final two minutes and finishing the match on top in his first ranked win at heavyweight.

The Boilermakers will take a short break for the holidays, but return to action Dec. 29 and 30 at the Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Purdue 35, Southern Illinois Edwardsville 9
125: No. 6 Devin Schroder (PUR) def. Gage Datlovsky (SIUE), Fall 1:45
133: Travis Ford-Melton (PUR) def. Jake Blaha (SIUE), Fall 0:12
141: Parker Filius (PUR) def. Saul Ervin (SIUE), D 7-1
149: No. 9 Griffin Parriott (PUR) def. Tyshawn Williams (SIUE), TB1 12-10
157: No. 9 Kendall Coleman (PUR) def. Justin Ruffin (SIUE), MD 14-2
165: Chase Diehl (SIUE) def. Elijah Davis (PUR), D 2-1
174: No. 4 Dylan Lydy (PUR) def. Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE), MD 12-4
184: Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) def. Max Lyon (PUR), Injury Default (3:00)
197: No. 8 Christian Brunner (PUR) def. Jake McKiernan (SIUE), Fall 1:57
285: Thomas Penola (PUR) def. #17 Colton McKiernan (SIUE), D 7-3
All rankings via InterMat