Feb. 4, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 23rd-ranked Purdue wrestling team lost another tough, hard-fought dual match Friday night to the Ohio State Buckeyes 20-19 before 650 frenzied fans at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility. This season, the Boilers have had five of their 17 matches decided by three points or less with Purdue claiming only one win (18-16 win over Pennsylvania on Jan. 14). Last year, these two combatants wrestled to a 19-19 tie in Columbus. The loss drops the Old Gold & Black to 8-9 overall, 0-5 in the Big Ten, while the Scarlet & Gray improve to 8-7 overall, 1-4 in the conference. Purdue has now dropped seven league duals in a row dating back to last season.
"This is a tough one to swallow," Purdue coach Jessie Reyes said. "We had them on the ropes and we just weren't able to finish them off. When you give a team a chance to stick around late in a dual, you are usually playing with fire. Tonight, we did that and got burned. The bottom line is we have to finish better. If we can that, I think we can be a pretty good team. If not, we are going to continue to drop these close match ups."
With the match on the line and the fans on the edge of their seats in the final weight of the evening, 165-pounds, Ohio State's Pete Rogers outlasted Purdue's redshirt freshman Kirk Moore for a 4-0 victory and with that a Buckeye team win. The fifth-year senior and 1999 NCAA qualifier Rogers controlled much of the action amassing 1:33 in riding time. For the entire second period, Rogers kept the younger Moore off his foot for two minutes.
The meet started out at 174-pounds, where OSU's Joel Walker decisioned Purdue sophomore Jon Fitch, 12-7. Fitch fought hard after falling behind 7-2 in the first period and eventually closed the score to 8-6 before two takedowns late by Walker sealed the victory for the OSU grappler.
At 184-pounds, Purdue sophomore Jared Williams pummeled Donovan True scoring a fall in just 1:04. With the win, Williams improves to 14-9 overall and 11-6 in dual meets. The fall was the first of the season for the Evansville, Ind., native.
In a classic battle of two Big Ten veterans, OSU's Nick Preston scored a 10-5 decision over Purdue's Mark Colegrove at 197-pounders. Preston controlled much of the match up finishing with 1:48 of riding time. With the one-plus minute advantage in riding time, Preston was awarded one additional point.
Purdue won the next three matches. In the battle of the big men, Purdue's Jacob Vercelli returned to the win column with a quality 14-4 major decision victory over Tony Sylvester. With the win, Vercelli improves to 17-6 overall and a 12-5 mark in dual meets. The Wilmington, Ill., native won with a 2:16 advantage of riding time.
Returning to the speedy lightweights, returning All-American Jason Silverstein outdualed Kore Sharpley 4-1 to push the Boilermakers team-lead to seven at 13-6. With the score tied at 0-0 entering the third period, Silverstein scored an escape and a takedown within 20 seconds of each other to score and seal his 16th victory of the season. The Ramsey, N.J. native, leads the Boilers with 13 dual wins on the season.
Purdue's Evan Robinson picked up his team-leading 22 victory in easy fashion, as the junior team captain won by forfeit.
Needing a victory to keep the team-race close, Ohio State's Sean Peterson scored a takedown with 23 seconds remaining in the third period, as he claimed a 3-1 victory over Luis Blanco at 141-pounds.
At 149-pounds, OSU senior Brian Roskovich scored the Buckeyes five team-points with a 17-0 technical fall over redshirt freshman Jimmy Hawthorne in 5:00. Roskovich posted 21 wins during the 1998-99 season.
OSU closed the team race to two at 19-17 with one match remaining on the heels of an 8-3 victory by Josh Janson over Oscar Santiago at 157-pounds.
"We need to pick the pieces up and come out tomorrow ready to face a tough Penn State team," Reyes said. "If we can put this one behind us and focus on the Lions, I think we can finish this weekend off on a good note."
The Boilermakers will have little time to rest, as national power Penn State will invade the IAF tomorrow night. The match is slated to start at 7 p.m.
FINAL SCORE: Ohio State 20, Purdue 19125 Jason Silverstein (PU) dec. Kore Sharpley (OSU), 4-1133 Evan Robinson (PU) won by forfeit141 Sean Peterson (OSU) dec. Luis Blanco (PU), 3-1149 Brian Roskovich (OSU) tech fall Jimmy Hawthorne (PU), 17-0157 Josh Janson (OSU) dec. Oscar Santiago (PU), 8-3165 Peter Rogers (OSU) dec. Kirk Moore (PU), 4-0174 Joel Walker (OSU) dec. Jon Fitch (PU), 12-7184 Jared Williams (PU) won by fall over Donovan True (OSU), 1:04197 Nick Preston (OSU) dec. Mark Colegrove (PU), 10-5Hwt. Jacob Vercelli (PU) maj. dec. Tony Sylvester (OSU), 14-4
Exhibition149 Craig Grimes (OSU) Clovis Crane (PU), 16-5