Feb. 2, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - No. 15 Purdue fell to third-ranked Ohio State, 27-8 today at the Intercollegiate Athletics Facility. The Boilermakers are now 12-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.
"I thought our team looked flat today," said head coach Jessie Reyes. "Ohio State forced us to wrestle their style. When you face a team of their quality and wrestle their style, they will beat you."
Ohio State's Tommy Rowlands, ranked third in the nation, defeated Purdue's fifth-ranked Jake Vercelli, 4-2, to open the match. It was Vercelli's first loss of the season.
Chris Fleeger won by tech fall at 6:18 over Ohio State's Jesse Leng, giving Purdue a 5-3 lead. Ohio State re-captured the lead and never relinquished it, winning the next five matches on their way to capturing the victory.
Ryan Lange was the other victorious Boilermaker with a double-overtime criteria win over Ryan Hieber
Purdue returns to action Thursday, Feb. 7, when they face intrastate rival Indiana at 7 p.m. in Evansville.
Ohio State 27, Purdue 8
HWT: Rowlands (OSU) def. Vercelli 4-2, Ohio State 3-0
125: Fleeger def. Leng (OSU) Tech 6:18, Purdue 5-3
133: Ratliff (OSU) def. Hernandez 17-4, Ohio State 7-5
141: Sessley (OSU) def. Pursley, 10-4, Ohio State 10-5
149: Anderson (OSU) def. Jankowski, 11-9, Ohio State 13-5
157: Janson (OSU) def. Harper 8-3, Ohio State 16-5
165: Clark (OSU) def. Santiago, 14-1, Ohio State 20-5
174: Lange def. Hieber (OSU) by criteria, 2OT, Ohio State 20-8
184: Talamantes (OSU) def Fitch 8-6, Ohio State 23-8
197: Preston (OSU) def. Williams, 20-8, Ohio State 27-8