March 6, 1999
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - After the first day of the 85th annual Big Ten Wrestling Championships, the 14th ranked Purdue Boilermakers are currently in 11th place with 26.5 points. Big Ten regular season champion Minnesota leads with 120 points. Twenty-five time defending champion Iowa is second followed by Penn State, Michigan and Illinois to round out the top five. The last time a team other than Iowa claimed the Big Ten championship was Michigan in 1973. Current leader and second-ranked Minnesota last won the conference title in 1959.
The Boilermakers have just four wrestlers left in contention for berths in the upcoming NCAA Championships. Senior Willie Wineberg, ranked 6th in the nation and seeded third in the championships at 157 pounds, is the Boilers only hope to bring back a top three finish to West Lafayette. The Fairfield, Ohio, native won his first round match defeating Jason Erwinski of Northwestern 9-7. Wineberg trailed in the match 4-0 early in the first period. In the second round, he fought off sixth-seeded Griff Powell of Illinois 3-2 to advance to the third round where he faced second-seed Clint Musser of Penn State. Musser was too much for Wineberg, as he defeated Wineberg 9-2. In the quarterfinals of the 157 pound consolations, Wineberg escaped with one second remaining in the match to claim a 7-6 victory over IU's fifth-seeded Kevin Stanley. In tomorrow's third-place finals, he will face Minnesota's top-seeded Chad Kraft.
At 125 pounds, fourth-seeded redshirt freshman Jason Silverstein is still alive after posting a 3-2 record on the day. In his opening match, the 12th ranked redshirt freshman disposed of Michigan State's Chris Williams 3-2. In the second round, the Ramsey, N.J., native was upset by Northwestern's Dominic Caruso 4-0. Earlier in the year in a dual match in West Lafayette, Silverstein beat Caruso 10-5. Facing elimination, Silverstein responded with a hard-fought 16-8 major decision victory over Iowa's Ben Kritsonis to advance on. In the evening's third session, Silverstein defeated eighth-seeded Steve Doerrer of Illinois 7-4. His victory was his second in two weeks over Doerrer. On Feb. 21 in West Lafayette, Silverstein defeated Doerrer 10-6. Silverstein's opponent in the fourth round of consolations was second-seeded Leroy Vega of Minnesota, who defeated the Purdue grappler 4-2 on Feb. 19. This match had the same end result, as Vega won going away 12-4. Silverstein will face seventh-seeded Kevin Black of Wisconsin tomorrow for fifth place. He now stands at a Boiler best 30-8 overall and 10-5 in the conference.
Senior Josh Hutchens is no stranger to the Big Ten Championships. Last year, Hutchens placed third at 126 pounds and advanced to the NCAA Championships. This afternoon, the seventh-seeded grappler went 2-2 at 133 pounds on the day and will wrestle for seventh place tomorrow. In the first round, the Claypool, Ind., native defeated Greg Schafer of Indiana 4-1. In the second round, he ran into a wall in the form of Iowa's second-seeded Eric Juergens. Juergens prevailed 5-1 to send Hutchens into the consolation brackets. Facing elimination, Hutchens came out strong scoring a technical fall over Wisconsin's Mark Trinitapoli 18-3. In the evening session, Hutchens ran into Minnesota's Bart Golyer and fell 6-3.
The only other Boiler still alive is senior David Pierce. Pierce, the fourth- seed, seeing action for the first time in over two months due to a knee injury came out strong in his first match, as he defeated Josh Saul of Northwestern 6-1 to advance on. In the second round, fifth-seeded Matt Brink of Michigan devastated the Hammond, Ind., native scoring a 3-1 victory and sending the returning NCAA qualifier into the consolation bracket. In the third round, Pierce received a bye to advance on to the next round where he would face eighth-seeded Jason Pernat of Wisconsin. In that match, Pierce would prevail by a score of 2-0. In the final match of the evening, Penn State's Mark Janus defeated Pierce 7-6.
Sophomore Carlos Blanco, seeded seventh, won his first match of the day, beating Sean Peterson of Ohio State 15-6. From there though, it was down hill for the redshirt freshman, as lost his next two matches to get eliminated from the competition. In the second round, second-seeded Damion Logan of Michigan pinned Blanco in 5:44, while Wisconsin's Matt Goldstein scored a fall over the San Bernandino, Calif., native in just 23 seconds to send him packing.
Purdue also had five wrestlers lose their first two matches for an early exit. The surprising two being seventh-seeds James Crnich and Erik Kerkhof. Crnich lost in the first round at 174 pounds to Ohio State's Bo James 6-4. Earlier this year, Crnich defeated James 3-2 in a conference dual meet. After getting sent into the consolation bracket and leading Iowa's fifth-seeded Gabe McMahan 10-6, the Iowa grappler reversed the Oak Forest, Ill., native putting him on the mat to score a pin at the 5:48 mark. With the two losses, Crnich ends the season with a 25-8 overall mark.
At 149 pounds, Kerkhof would receive in the first round only to face Iowa's first seed T.J. Williams in the second round. Williams would win the battle of sophomores scoring a 14-6 victory. In the consolation bracket, Kerkhof lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Michgan State's Mike Castillo 3-1 to end his sophomore season.
TEAM STANDINGS:Minnesota 120.00Iowa 106.00Penn State 93.00Michigan 72.50 Illinois 71.50Wisconsin 52.50Northwestern 50.50Michigan State 43.50Indiana 40.00Ohio State 28.00Purdue 26.50
FIRST ROUND MATCHES:
125: Jason Silverstein (PU) d. Chris Williams (MSU) 3-2
133: Josh Hutchens (PU) dec. Greg Schafer (IU) 4-1
141: Carlos Blanco (PU) major dec. Sean Peterson (OSU) 15-6
149: Eric Kerkhof (PU) bye
157: Willie Wineberg (PU) dec. Jason Erwinski (NU) 9-7
165: Drew Pariano (NU) major dec. Dan Rendell (PU) 11-2
174: Bo James (OSU) dec. James Crnich (PU) 6-4
184: Viktor Sveda (IU) dec. Phil Holmgren (PU) 9-3
197: Frank Lodeserto (MICH) dec. Jared Williams (PU) 4-3
Hwt.: David Pierce (PU) dec. Josh Sual (NU) 6-1
SECOND ROUND MATCHES:
125: Dominic Caruso (NU) dec. Silverstein (PU) 4-0
133: Eric Juergens (IOWA) dec. Hutchens (PU) 5-1
141: Damion Logan (MICH) fall C. Blanco (PU) 5:44
149: T.J. Williams (IOWA) major dec. Kerkhof (PU) 14-6
157: Wineberg (PU) dec. Griff Powell (ILL) 3-2
Hwt.: Matt Brink (MICH) dec. Pierce (PU) 3-1
THIRD ROUND MATCHES:
165: Clint Musser (PSU) dec. Wineberg 9-2
FIRST ROUND CONSOLATIONS:
165: Alex Leykikh (PSU) dec. Rendell (PU) 6-4 (Rendell Eliminated)
174: Gabe McMahan (IOWA) fall Crnich (PU) 5:48 (Crnich Eliminated)
184: Andy Hrovat (MICH) dec. Holmgren (PU) 13-8 (Holmgren Eliminated)
197: Brett Calabretta (MSU) tech. fall Williams (PU) 17-1; 5:00 (Williams Eliminated)
SECOND ROUND CONSOLATIONS:
125: Silverstein (PU) major dec. Ben Kritsonis (IOWA) 16-8
133: Hutchens (PU) tech. fall Mark Trinitapoli (WIS) 18-3; 7:00
141: Matt Goldstein (WIS) fall C. Blanco (PU) 0:33 (C. Blanco Eliminated)
149: Mike Castillo (MSU) dec. Kerkhof (PU) 3-1 OT (Kerkhof Eliminated)
Hwt: Pierce (PU) bye
THIRD ROUND CONSOLATIONS:
125: Silverstein (PU) dec. Steve Doerrer (ILL) 7-4
133: Bart Golyer (MIN) dec. Hutchens (PU) 6-3
Hwt: Pierce (PU) dec. Jason Pernat (WIS) 2-0
FOURTH ROUND CONSOLATIONS:
125: Leroy Vega (MIN) major dec. Silverstein (PU) 12-4
157: Wineberg (PU) dec. Kevin Stanley (IU) 7-6
Hwt: Mark Janus (PSU) dec. Pierce (PU) 7-6