Brackets
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Redshirt senior Tyler Kral led the way among 11 Purdue wrestling placewinners with a runner-up showing at the Eastern Michigan Open in the Convocation Center on Saturday. A pair of true freshmen who wrestled unattached in the tournament also placed in their respective weight classes.
Kral posted three shutout decisions as well as a major decision on his way to the 285-pound finals. Tiffin's Garrett Gray caught Kral early in the title match with a 31-second fall. Despite the loss, the runner-up showing is the highest of Kral's career.
Joining Kral with heavyweight accolades was true freshman and unattached competitor Shawn Streck. Streck opened with a bang, sticking Chase Carter of Tiffin in 1:25. A narrow 9-7 loss sent him into the wrestlebacks, but he rattled off five consecutive wins to take fifth.
Unattached at 197, freshman Christian Brunner went 5-1 with three major decisions. A 4-1 decision gave him the edge over Tyrus Kemp in the fifth-place match.
Five Boilermakers wrestled in third-place matches with three coming out on top. Ben Thornton (125), Jeremy Golding (149) and Alex Griffin (157) all went 4-1 to place third.
Griffin, a 2016 NCAA qualifier, registered four technical falls, including three straight, while outscoring his competition 67-4. The last time a Boilermaker had won three or more consecutive matches by technical fall was Dec. 20, 2009, when Logan Brown strung together four.
Cole Wysocki and Jacob Morrissey were fourth-place finishers at 157 and 174 pounds, respectively. In addition to Streck and Brunner placing fifth, Dylan Lydy was fifth at 165 and Blake Reid at 184. Luke Welch rounded out the Boilermakers' placewinners with a sixth-place outing at 133.
Purdue opens dual competition by hosting the Boilermaker Duals on Nov. 13. Two mats will be down in Holloway Gymnasium for a round-robin with UIndy, Bloomsburg and Northern Illinois. The first of three rounds of duals will start at 10 a.m. ET.
