ROSEMONT, Ill. - Purdue's Danny Sabatello has been named the B1G's Co-Wrestler of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday. It is the first weekly award of Sabatello's career and he is the first Boilermaker to receive the honor since Matt Fields on Nov. 29, 2011.
Sabatello, an unranked 133-pounder for the Old Gold & Black, went 3-0 at Journeymen/ASICS Northeast Duals held at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y., on Nov. 29. The redshirt junior opened the day by posting a 9-3 decision over Binghamton's David White, who was a NCAA qualifier at 125 pounds in 2014.
He followed by upsetting a second nationally ranked opponent in less than a week, shocking then-No. 12 Matt Manley of Missouri, 7-4. A takedown and an escape from Sabatello and a takedown and penalty point for Manley had the match tied at 3-3 after five minutes of action.
After deferring in the second, Manley took bottom in the third, to which Sabatello was able to get the Tiger tilted for a five count and took a 6-3 lead. Manley then escaped to make it 6-4 with 34 seconds remaining. The redshirt junior denied Manley's frenzied attempts to get a shot in as the final seconds ticked away. He earned the final point courtesy of 2:20 worth of riding time.
Sabatello took Old Dominion's Michael Hayes down twice and added a pair of escapes en route to a 6-4 decision in his final bout of the event.
The Long Grove, Ill., native boasts a 12-1 record, with the dozen wins tied for most on the team, and is 6-0 in dual action. Sabatello has won 11-straight matches and has five bonus point victories to his credit with a pair of major decisions and three falls. He has put 95 points on the board through 13 matches and has scored 24 dual points for Purdue.
Sabatello, who was a NCAA qualifier last season at 141 pounds, becomes the 13th grappler in program history to be named B1G Athlete of the Week/Month.
| 2014-15 B1G WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK | ||||
| Date | Name | School | Year | Weight |
| Nov. 4 | Scott Schiller | Minnesota | Sr. | 197 |
| Mike McMullan | Northwestern | Sr. | 285 | |
| Nov. 11 | Jimmy Gulibon | Penn State | So. | 133 |
| Nov. 18 | Zac Brunson | Illinois | So. | 174 |
| Nov. 25 | Taylor Walsh | Indiana | Sr. | 165 |
| Dec. 2 | Danny Sabatello | Purdue | Jr. | 133 |
| Logan Stieber | Ohio State | Sr. | 141 | |