March 3, 2001
The Purdue wrestling team is sitting in ninth place after the first day of the Big Ten Championships with a team score of 26 points.
Evan Robinson advanced to the semi-finals with two impressive victories. He picked up a 4-2 decision over Jeff Ratliff (Ohio State) and a 15-8 decision over fifth-seeded Foley Dowd of Michigan. Robinson will face top-seeded Eric Juergens of Iowa tomorrow.
Also advancing is Jon Bush at 197. Bush scored one of the tournament's major upsets, knocking off second-seeded Nick Preston of Ohio State, 5-4. Bush will face sixth-seeded Ty Matthews of Indiana tomorrow.
In other action, Jason Silverstein dropped a 6-0 decision to fifth-seeded A.J. Grant of Michigan. Silverstein enters the third-place bracket tomorrow, starting with a match against Penn State's Josh Moore.
At 149, Brad Harper enters the third-place bracket against eighth-seeded Nate Wechter of Penn State. Harper lost his first-round match to Ohio State's Keaton Anderson, 17-5.
Clovis Crane picked up a victory at 157, before falling to top-seeded T.J. Williams of Iowa via pinfall at the 6:44 mark. Williams is also ranked number-one in the nation. Crane picked up an 8-6 decision over Penn State's Aaron Wright, and will face the winner of the P.J. Dowling (Wisconsin)-Jason Erwinski (Northwestern) match. Erwinski is the fourth seed.
Kirk Moore drew top-seeded Donny Pritzlaff of Wisconsin, losing by major decision 17-5. Pritzlaff is also ranked number one in the nation. Moore awaits the winner of the Corey Posey (Michigan State)-Charles Martinelli (Michigan) match. Moore picked up a 3-2 decision over Posey earlier this year.
At 174, Ryan Lange was unable to defeat Ohio State's Ryan Hieber for a third time year year, losing a 5-4 decision. Lange was 2-0 against Hieber this year and will face Michigan State's Nate Mesyn tomorrow.
Jared Williams dropped a 13-5 major decision to Iowa's Jessman Smith, the sixth seed. He moves on to face Wisconsin's Ralph DiNisco in the loser's bracket.
At heavyweight, Jake Vercelli lost a close match to Illinois' John Lockhart, seeded fourth. He enters the third-place bracket against the winner of the Mike Keenan (Michigan State)-Mike Dixon (Indiana) match.
Session II begins tomorrow at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena at noon.