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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Luke Welch provided an upset and Jacob Morrissey pinned for his sixth straight win, but it wasn't enough as Purdue suffered a 29-12 loss to Minnesota on Sunday. The 13th-ranked Gophers (6-3, 5-2 B1G) won seven bouts, earning bonus points in five matches in their first visit to Holloway Gymnasium since Jan. 15, 2012. Nate Limmex was credited with the Boilermakers (8-5, 3-4 B1G) third win in the dual.
"It is nice to get a couple big wins," Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "My most pressing thought out of that dual is that even when we lost we weren't creating action like we needed to, this time of year. We have to go back and work on it.
"[Jacob] Morrissey keeps rolling; he's the most consistent guy," Ersland said. "I always kid him it's not always the prettiest [win], but he's the most consistent because he does what he does. He finds a way to get to his offense. Obviously, Luke Welch over a ranked kid is a nice win. Nate Limmex being 2-0 on the weekend, and for a freshman, that is good in the Big Ten."
A strong second period of riding and a reversal in the third period lifted Welch to a 4-0 upset of No. 15 Mitch McKee. The 133-pounders were scoreless after the opening stanza. McKee took bottom in the second and Welch made him pay by riding him out. Even though the match was still 0-0, Welch had 2:00 of riding time. The Gopher had been called twice for jumping before the whistle.
"In that second period, I knew McKee was looking for a roll, so I just rode smart and I was trying to break him down and ride hard," Welch said. "I wasn't trying to give easy points up. Then going into the third period, I knew I had it. I had riding time, so I just tried wrestling through the situation. Tried to get the next point."
Welch took bottom and reversed McKee 36 seconds into the final period for the first points in the match. McKee was called for his third caution, awarding Welch with a third point. His fourth point came way of 2:45 of riding time. The win, his first over a ranked opponent this season, brought the Newburgh, Indiana, native's record to 17-9, matching a career best in wins. It also brought his conference dual mark to 4-3.
Morrissey extended his winning streak to six by pinning Chris Pfarr in 2:23. The 174-pounder wasted no time getting after his Minnesota opponent with a six-point move. Pfarr escaped and Morrissey took him down again, locking him in a cradle. Morrissey's third pin of the season came 47 seconds later.
"I've been using the cradle a lot more this year," Morrissey said. "It's one of my go-to moves on top and I earned my four-point nearfall. I was trying to build my lead up right away and score as many points as I could."
Pfarr is the second Big Ten foe that Morrissey has pinned as he remains undefeated in conference matches (6-0). During Morrissey's current six-match win streak, he has posted three bonus point victories to push his season total to nine (2 MD, 4 TF, 3 F). The redshirt junior owns an overall record of 13-6.
Limmex notched his second win of the weekend at 149 pounds with an 8-4 outing against Carson Brolsma. The redshirt freshman overcame a 4-2 first period deficit with takedowns in the second and third periods. He added 2:26 of riding time as he evened his Big Ten dual record at 3-3 and brought his overall record to 11-10.
The final road trip of the regular season is next Boilermakers. They will travel to Champaign, Illinois, for the first time since 2013 to take on the 12th-ranked Illini on Feb. 5. Action from Huff Hall is set for a 2 p.m. ET start.
