Jan. 22, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 16th-ranked Purdue wrestling team lost a heartbreaker to 19th-ranked Wisconsin Saturday afternoon, 20-19 in Madison, Wis. With the loss, the Boilers dropped to 8-6 overall (0-2 Big Ten), while the Badgers improved to 7-1-1 (1-0 Big Ten). On Friday, the Old Gold and Black were shutout by top-ranked Iowa 42-0 in Iowa City. The last time Purdue was blanked in a dual match was 55-0 against Wisconsin during the 1979-80 season.
"I thought for the most part we wrestled well," head coach Jessie Reyes of his team's effort today. "I was very pleased with the effort especially after last night. The difference in this dual was they got some major decisions and we did not. We fought hard and now we need to move on and learn from this weekend. "
The Boilers got things going on the right foot at 184-pounds, as sophomore Jared Williams defeated Brad Marten 8-5 to pick-up his 11th victory of the season. In a hard-fought battle at 197, senior Mark Colegrove fell to 10th-ranked Steve Alf 2-0 to deadlock the team-score at 3-3. In a battle of the heavyweights, eighth-ranked sophomore Jacob Vercelli made quick work of Wisconsin's Jason Pernat pinning him in 1:37 and giving the visitors a 9-3 cushion. With the win today, the Wilmington, Ill., native has compiled a 16-3 overall record, 11-2 in dual matches and has a team-leading five pins. Last year, he led the entire squad with five wins via a fall.
With that match completed, the battle on the mat turned to the lightweights and Purdue All-American Jason Silverstein ran his season record to 12-4 with an 8-5 decision over Wisconsin's Tony Black. At 133-pounds, junior captain Evan Robinson won his team-leading 19th match with an 11-9 overtime win over Brad Owens, pushing the team-score to 15-3. After splitting the next two matches at 141 and 149-pounds and having only three weight classes left, Purdue looked in control leading 19-6. In the 157-pound match, Wisconsin's Cory Wallman, ranked tenth, pinned Purdue senior James Leavell in 4:02, which made the score 19-12. Don Pritzlaff, ranked fourth in the nation, then scored a major decision, 15-5, over redshirt freshman Kirk Moore and inched the Badgers to within three points behind Purdue. In the final match of the afternoon, tenth-ranked Kole Clauson (174 lbs.) led the Badgers to a one-point victory over Purdue. The score was 9-3 going into the third period and Clauson scored one takedown and was awarded one point for stalling before scoring a second takedown in the final seconds of the period to capture a major decision over Purdue sophomore Jon Fitch. Clauson's major decision gave the Badgers four team points and the victory, 20-19.
The Boilermakers continue conference competition against Michigan State on Jan. 28 in East Lansing, Mich., at 7:30 p.m. before battling Michigan on Sunday, Jan. 30, in Fort Wayne, Ind., at Carroll High School. The dual begins at 1 p.m. in the high school gym.
Wisconsin 20, Purdue 19184- Jared Williams, PU def. Brad Marten, UW 8-5197 #10 Steve Alf, UW def. Mark Colegrove, PU 2-0Hwt.-#8 Jake Vercelli, PU def. Jason Pernat, UW Fall (1:37)125-#9 Jason Silverstein, PU def. Tony Black, UW dec. 8-5133-Evan Robinson, PU def. Brad Owens, UW OT, dec. 11-9141-Grant Hoerr, UW def. Carlos Blanco, PU dec. 2-1149-Jimmy Hawthorne, PU def. Corey McNellis, UW MD, 15-4157-#10 Cory Wallman, UW def. James Leavell, PU Fall (4:02)165-#4 Don Pritzlaff, UW def. Kirk Moore, PU MD, 15-5 UW174-#9 Kole Clauson, UW def. Jon Fitch, PU MD, 15-5 UW