Purdue wrestle-offs

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By Tanner Lipsett
Purdue Sports Information

Purdue Wrestling Head Coach Scott Hinkel set his starting lineup for the beginning of the 2007-08 season as the Boilermakers held varsity wrestle-offs at the Blake Wrestling Center on Saturday.

Seven of the 10 starting jobs were on the line for Hinkel's grapplers, with the 174-, 184- and 197-pound classes being set with only one eligible starter. Most of the classes featured a head-to-head matchup, while they decided the 165-pound job with a three-man round robin and the 157-pound position with a five-man tournament.

The major surprise of the day came at 149 pounds, where junior tri-captain Mark Powell upended classmate and fellow tri-captain Jake Patacsil, 6-5. The pair has had an intense intra-team rivalry for the last year and Saturday marked the first time Powell has gotten the better of Patacsil in a live match. Powell jumped all over Patacsil in the first period, scoring a takedown and two-point nearfall in the first 30 seconds to take a 4-0 lead. Patacsil managed to score a fairly quick escape, but Powell managed another takedown in the frame to gain the early 6-1 advantage. Patacsil took the top position in the second period and rode Powell for the entire frame. However, Powell was steady in the lower spot and didn't allow Patacsil to force him to his back. Patacsil picked up a late takedown in the third frame, and nearly turned Powell before the buzzer, but even with the extra point for riding time he came up short.

Freshman Akif Eren and senior tri-captain Sean Schmaltz won the starting spots at 125 and 133 pounds as Eren topped first-year George Petrov by major decision, 8-0, while Schmaltz beat freshman Matt Hemry, 6-3. Sophomore Matt Redmond earned the nod at 141 pounds, edging out freshman Kevin Lipp, and fellow sophomore Chris Kasten defended his various preseason heavyweight rankings with a 15-0 technical fall of freshman Roger Vukobratovich.

Returning NCAA qualifiers Justin Fraga and Jake Murphy regained their starting jobs at 165 and 157 pounds as Fraga beat out freshman Luke Manuel and sophomore Jason Martin, while Murphy marched through the five-man tourney. The Fraga/Manuel match was one of the top showings of the day, heading to triple-overtime where Fraga notched a takedown for the 4-2 sudden victory. He returned later to score a narrow 5-4 win over Martin.

The two opening matches of the 157-pound tournament both went to extra time as sophomore Sam Patacsil topped freshman Kevin Clem, 3-1, in sudden victory, while junior Nick Spohn posted a 6-4 sudden-victory win over sophomore Nick Bertucci. Patacsil advanced to face Murphy, who advanced to the finals with a 3-1 win. Murphy wasted no time in the final match, posting a 16-1 technical fall over Spohn in 3:49.

The Boilermakers showcased several of their true freshmen and redshirt wrestlers in exhibition matches, including sophomore Colton Salazar and freshmen Matt Fields and A.J. Kissel. All three were 2-0 on the day as Salazar notched wins over freshman John Doyle (D, 10-5) and sophomore Jordan Nettuno (TF, 21-5), Fields toppled fellow rookie Bill Putman (MD, 13-4) and 125-pound starter Akif Eren (D, 7-4), and Kissel defeated junior Nick Corpe and sophomore David Pisarcik, nipping Corpe, 3-2, and posting a 9-0 major decision over Pisarcik.

The Boilermakers saw four falls on the day as Patacsil stuck Doyle in 2:44, Schmaltz pinned freshman Jake Fleckenstein in 2:27, Bertucci worked Clem's shoulders to the mat in 4:59 and Kasten flattened freshman Logan Brown in 4:26.

"It was a great day all around," said Hinkel. "The guys got a good idea of where they stand and what they need to work on as we get going. This was the last step in preparing for the start of the season next weekend."

Purdue opens its slate next Saturday as they travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. for the Eastern Michigan Open.

Varsity Wrestle-Offs 125
Akif Eren def. George Petrov by major decision, 8-0
1st - none
2nd - (Petrov down) nearfall-2 Eren, (2-0, 3:20), nearfall-2 Eren (4-0, 3:50)
3rd - (Eren down) escape Eren (5-0, 5:32), takedown Eren (7-0, 6:59), riding time Eren (8-0)

133
Sean Schmaltz def. Matt Hemry by decision, 6-3
1st - takedown Schmaltz (2-0, 0:42), escape Hemry (2-1, 1:07)
2nd - (Schmaltz down) escape Schmaltz (3-1, 3:40), takedown Schmaltz (5-1, 4:13), escape Hemry (5-2, 4:30)
3rd - (Hemry down) escape Hemry (5-3, 5:23), riding time Schmaltz (6-3)

141
Matt Redmond def. Kevin Lipp by decision, 4-2
1st - takedown Redmond (2-0, 1:40), escape Lipp (2-1, 2:31)
2nd - (Lipp down) escape Lipp (2-2, 4:14)
3rd - (Redmond down) escape Redmond (3-2, 5:16), riding time Redmond (4-2)

149
Mark Powell def. Jake Patacsil by decision, 6-5
1st - takedown Powell (2-0, 0:15), nearfall-2 Powell (4-0 0:17), escape Patacsil (4-1 0:24), takedown Powell (6-1, 3:00)
2nd - (Powell down) none
3rd - (neutral) takedown Patacsil (6-3, 6:13), stalling Powell (6-4, 6:45), riding time Patacsil (6-5)

157
Sam Patacsil def. Kevin Clem by decision, 3-1 (sv)
1st - none
2nd - (Clem down), escape Clem (1-0, 3:21)
3rd - (Patacsil down), escape Patacsil (1-1, 5:15)
SV - takedown Patatcsil (3-1, 7:43)

Nick Spohn def. Nick Bertucci by decision, 6-4 (sv)
1st - takedown Spohn (2-0, 1:52), escape Bertucci (2-1, 2:15)
2nd - (Spohn down) none
3rd - (Bertucci down) escape Bertucci (2-2, 5:02), takedown Spohn (4-2, 6:25), escape Bertucci (4-3, 6:28), riding time Bertucci (4-4)
SV - takedown Spohn (6-4, 6:30)

Jake Murphy def. Sam Patacsil by decision, 3-1
1st - takedown Murphy (2-0, 2:59)
2nd - (Murphy down) escape Murphy (3-0, 3:47)
3rd - (Patacsil down) escape Patacsil (3-1, 5:19)

Jake Murphy def. Nick Spohn by technical fall, 16-1 (3:49)
1st - takedown Murphy (2-0, 0:55), nearfall-3 Murphy (0:55), nearfall-3 Murphy (8-0, 1:18), nearfall-2 Murphy (10-0 1:42), escape Spohn (10-1, 2:27), takedown Murphy (2:35, 12-1)
2nd - (neutral) takedown Murphy (14-1, 3:24), nearfall-2 Murphy (16-1, 3:49)

165
Justin Fraga def. Luke Manuel by decision, 4-2 (sv)
1st - none
2nd - (Manuel down), escape Manuel (1-0, 3:42)
3rd - (Fraga down), escape Fraga (1-1, 5:32)
SV - none
TB - (Fraga down), escape Fraga (1-2, 8:07) (Manuel down), escape Manuel (2-2, 8:37)
SV2 - takedown Fraga (2-4, 9:38)

Justin Fraga def. Jason Martin by decision, 5-4
1st - takedown Fraga (2-0, 2:44)
2nd - (Fraga down) escape Fraga (3-0, 3:25)
3rd - (Martin down) escape Martin (3-1, 5:05), takedown Fraga (5-1, 6:05)escape Martin (5-2, 6:35), takedown Martin (5-4, 6:50)

Luke Manuel def. Jason Martin by decision, 2-1
1st - none
2nd - (Manuel down) escape Manuel (1-0, 3:08)
3rd - (Martin down) escape Martin (1-1, 6:28), riding time Manuel (2-1)

285
Chris Kasten def. Roger Vukobratovich by technical fall, 15-0 (7:00)
1st - none
2nd - (neutral) takedown Kasten (2-0, 3:26), nearfall-3 Kasten (5-0, 4:25), nearfall-3 Kasten (8-0, 5:00)
3rd - (Kasten down) escape Kasten (9-0, 5:02), takedown Kasten (11-0, 6:36), nearfall-3 Kasten (14-0, 7:00), riding time Kasten (15-0)

Exhibition Matches
Matt Fields def. Bill Putman by major decision, 13-4
Jake Fleckenstein def. David Zimmer by decision, 8-5
Colton Salazar def. John Doyle by decision 10-5
A.J. Kissel def. David Pisarcik by major decision, 9-0
Matt Fields def. Akif Eren by decision, 7-4
Sean Schmaltz def. Jake Fleckenstein by fall, 2:27
Colton Salazar def. Jordan Nettuno by technical fall, 21-5
Mark Powell def. Kevin Lipp by major decision, 10-1
Logan Brown def. David Pisarcik by decision, 9-4
Matt Hemry def. Jake Fleckenstein by decision, 10-5
Matt Redmond def. David Zimmer by decision, 4-0
Jake Patacsil def. John Doyle by fall, 2:44
A.J. Kissel def. Nick Corpe by decision, 3-2
Chris Kasten def. Logan Brown by fall, 4:26
Nick Bertucci def. Kevin Clem by fall, 4:59
Sam Patacsil def. Nick Bertucci by decision, 9-3

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