No. 15 Wrestling Clips No. 9 Nebraska 18-15
LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 15 Purdue wrestling team opened its Big Ten schedule in dramatic fashion Friday, posting an 18-15 win at ninth-ranked Nebraska to improve to 7-1 overall. The victory is Purdue's first win over Nebraska since 1985, and its first top-10 dual win since 2004, the first of head coach Tony Ersland's coaching career.
The Boilermakers won five of the 10 matches, with back-to-back tremendous upsets at 174 and 184 pounds. Sophomore Gerrit Nijenhuis earned the biggest win of his young career, taking out third-ranked Mikey Labriola 6-4, and senior Max Lyon followed with a 7-2 decision over 10th-ranked Taylor Venz.
Nijenhuis took the fight to the Nebraska junior right from the get-go, scoring a first-period takedown and riding a 2-1 lead into the second. Labriola evened the score and took the lead in the second, snaring a takedown of his own and carrying a 4-3 edge into the final two minutes. Nijenhuis earned an escape to even the score and then won a scramble in the last 30 seconds, coming out on top for his 12th win of the season and first-ever top-five ranked victory.
Lyon put on a similar performance at 184, beating Venz for the first time in his college career. Lyon put together an unanswered takedown in the first, taking a 2-0 lead and then escapes in the second and third stretched his advantage to 4-0 after Venz took injury time early in the third. Venz got on the board late, but it wasn't enough as Lyon escaped and scored again late to seal the win.
Purdue's other wins came early as the trio of Devin Schroder, Matt Ramos and Parker Filius improved to 24-0 in duals this season to give Purdue an early 12-0 edge. Schroder opened with a 16-0 technical fall over Jerimiah Reno at 125 pounds, turning the Cornhusker in the second and third to post his sixth technical fall and seventh shutout of the season. Ramos used a slick second-period takedown to ride out a 3-1 decision over Alex Thomsen at 133 pounds, and Filius closed out the run with a 12-2 major decision over Tucker Sjomeling at 141. Filius raced out to a 6-0 lead with a first-period takedown and second-period turn, and then closed out with two late takedowns for his fourth major decision of the year.
Purdue limited all five of their losses in the dual to decisions, falling by narrow margins at 157, 165 and 197.
The Boilermakers head to top-ranked Iowa on Sunday for a 2 p.m. CT dual with the Hawkeyes, which will air live on the Big Ten Network.
Match Results
No. 15 Purdue 18 – No. 9 Nebraska 15
125: No. 5 Devin Schroder (PUR) def. Jerimiah Reno (NEB), TF 16-0 (6:16)
133: Matt Ramos (PUR) def. Alex Thomsen (NEB), D 3-1
141: No. 25 Parker Filius (PUR) def. Tucker Sjomeling (NEB), MD 12-2
149: No. 8 Ridge Lovett (NEB) def. Trey Kruse (PUR), D 10-3
157: Jevon Parrish (NEB) def. Cooper Noehre (PUR), SV 5-3
165: Bubba Wilson (NEB) def. Hayden Lohrey (PUR), D 3-1
174: No. 21 Gerrit Nijenhuis (PUR) def. No. 3 Mikey Labriola (NEB), D 6-4
184: No. 23 Max Lyon (PUR) def. No. 10 Taylor Venz (NEB), D 7-2
197: No. 4 Eric Schultz def. No. 15 Thomas Penola (PUR), D 5-2
285: No. 11 Christian Lance (NEB) def. Michael Woulfe(PUR), D 11-4
Print Friendly Version