Feb. 20, 2000
"I was disappointed in our effort mentally today. I hope this setback does not discourage our seniors," said head coach Jessie Reyes. "It is unfortunate for them to lose their last dual, but they are capable of bouncing back and doing something at Big Ten's."
Sophomore heavyweight Jacob Vercelli got things off on the right foot for the Boilermakers against Hoosier junior Michael Dixon. Vercelli, ranked 16th, won the match 2-1 and got Purdue out to a 3-0 lead. Fellow sophomore Jason Silverstein kept things rolling for Purdue with an upset victory over 5th-ranked Pat Cassidy of Indiana at 125-pounds. Silverstein, ranked #14, struck first with a takedown at 1:48 in the first and secured the 3-2 victory with another point in the third period as Cassidy was called for stalling. This result extended the Purdue lead to 6-0.
Purdue continued its early dominance of the dual in the 133-pound match featuring Purdue captain Evan Robinson. The 17th-ranked junior scored two points against Indiana's Gabe Cook with a takedown at 1:40 and pinned his Hoosier opponent in the second period at 4:52. "We expected a win from Robinson at 133, but you can't count on a pin. The six points from that match was a bonus to take us to 12-0, but once again, we didn't close it out," said Reyes.
After the Boilermaker victory at 133-pounds, Indiana's seniors started the comeback. Hoosier James Torres defeated Purdue sophomore Carlos Blanco 13-6 at 141-pounds to get Indiana on the board and Tim Myers defeated Purdue freshman Jimmy Hawthorne 3-1 in overtime at 149-pounds after Hawthorne was unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities in the third period.
Leavell tried to get the Boilers back on track after the intermission against Indiana's Kevin Stanley at 157-pounds but the Hoosier junior never gave Leavell an opportunity to do any damage. Stanley took Leavell down in the second for two points and kept the Purdue senior on the mat for the duration of the third period to win 4-0. In the following match, Purdue Freshman Kirk Moore needed only to maintain his riding time advantage against Hoosier Butch Hildebrand at 165-pounds to force overtime, but the Indiana senior scored two with a reversal and eventually took the decision 6-5 to tie the dual score 12-12.
Indiana then captured the lead from Purdue with an overtime win at 174-pounds. Purdue sophomore Jon Fitch drew even with Hoosier Mingo Morrison at the end of regulation with a point for riding time advantage but Morrison took only 22 seconds to end the match in the extra period. Ty Matthews of Indiana finally put the Boilers away for good with a 13-1 major decision over Jared Williams at 184-pounds and Viktor Sveda earned the final six points for the Hoosiers by pinning Colegrove at 197-pounds.
Purdue looks to rebound from a disappointing regular season with a solid performance in the postseason. The Boilers return to the mat on March 4-5 as hosts of the 2000 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The NCAA Championships follow March 16-18 in St. Louis, Mo.
INDIANA 25, PURDUE 12 125 #14 Jason Silverstein (PU) dec. #5 Pat Cassidy (IU), 3-2 133 #17 Evan Robinson (PU) fall Gabe Cook (IU), 4:52 141 James Torres (IU) dec. Carlos Blanco (PU), 13-6 149 Tim Myers (IU) dec. Jimmy Hawthorne (PU), 3-1 OT 157 #12 Kevin Stanley (IU) dec. James Leavell (PU), 4-0 165 Butch Hildebrand (IU) dec. Kirk Moore (PU), 6-5 174 Mingo Morrison (IU) dec. Jon Fitch (PU), 7-5 OT 184 Ty Matthews (IU) maj. dec. Jared Williams (PU), 13-1 197 #8 Viktor Sveda (IU) fall Mark Colegrove (PU), 3:18 HWT. #16 Jacob Vercelli (PU) dec. Michael Dixon (IU), 2-1