B1G Championships Hub / Final Purdue Results
MINNEAPOLIS – Purdue placed six wrestlers and had just as many earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships as the Big Ten Championships ended Sunday at Williams Arena. The Boilermakers were led by Dylan Lydy and Christian Brunner, who placed fifth at 174 and 197 pounds, respectively. Two Purdue wrestlers placed seventh and a pair placed eighth.
Final results, brackets and videos from the Big Ten Championships can be found on the B1G Championships Hub.
Lydy recovered from a 174-pound consolation semifinals loss by beating Ohio State's sixth-seeded Ethan Smith 5-3 in the fifth-place match. The redshirt junior capitalized where he excels, by scoring in a counter-scramble midway through the third period, a takedown that sealed the victory. His final win of the tournament pushed his record to 26-8.
It was the second time Lydy had defeated the Buckeye at the tournament. In Saturday's quarterfinals, Lydy guaranteed his second trip to the NCAA Championships with a 5-1 decision.
Brunner (23-9) overpowered unseeded Beau Breske of Wisconsin, blanking the Badger 6-0, in the NCAA-clinching fifth-place match at 197. The win secured the Purdue junior his third trip to the NCAA Championships.
It was the third podium finish for Brunner in as many Big Ten Championships. In doing so he, along with three-time placer Ben Thornton, became Purdue's first three-time Big Ten Championships placewinners since Braden Atwood (2012-15) and Brandon Nelsen (2012, 13, 15).
A quick takedown in sudden victory lifted Thornton past Illinois' Dylan Duncan 3-1 in the seventh-place match at 133 pounds. Thornton qualified for his second NCAA Championships with a 4-2 win over No. 9 Anthony Tutolo of Michigan State in the second round of wrestlebacks Saturday. That win for the redshirt senior also earned his place on Purdue's career wins list and the win over Duncan gave him sole possession of the No. 20 spot with 89 career victories. He stands at 21-9 in his final campaign for the Boilermakers.
Lyon went about his methodical way, taking Wisconsin's sixth-seeded Mason Reinhardt down once in each of the three periods for an 8-1 decision in the seventh-place match at 184 pounds. The Dyersville, Iowa, native, became the first Purdue 184-pounder to place at the Big Ten Championships since Braden Atwood placed seventh as a redshirt freshman in 2012.
On Saturday, it was a second period rideout that lifted the eighth-seeded sophomore past No. 7 Jelani Embree of Michigan 6-5 to land an automatic berth to his first NCAA Championships. Lyon (23-12) also becomes the first 184-pounder to qualify for Purdue since Patrick Kissel in 2015.
Griffin Parriott became the Boilermakers' fifth qualifier, clinching the ninth and final 157-pound automatic bid from the Big Ten to the NCAA Championships. Parriott, who was seeded ninth, was able to avenge a pair of losses Sunday while earning a trip to Pittsburgh. An escape and a takedown in the third period broke open a 2-2 match with Indiana's 11th-seeded Jake Danishek on his way to a 6-2 victory.
In the must-win match against No. 8 Eric Barone of Illinois, the ninth-seeded Boilermaker got his revenge from a first-round loss when it mattered most. A takedown with just 10 seconds remaining sealed a 5-2 decision over Barone and locked Parriott (15-11) into his first NCAA Championships.
Devin Schroder and Jacob Aven both wrestled above paper projections, placing eighth at 125 and 285 pounds, respectively. Schroder will take a 19-11 record into his first NCAA Championships; he qualified Saturday with a 10-4 decision over Nebraska's Zeke Moisey.
Aven (11-21) went from unseeded to placing in his first-ever Big Ten Championships. The redshirt senior, along with 10th-seeded Nate Limmex (141), finished one spot outside of earning an automatic bid. Limmex's late rally fell short in the deciding match, losing to No. 9 Pete Lipari of Rutgers 8-6. The pair must wait for Tuesday's announcement of 44 at-large selections.
The at-large qualifiers, as selected by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee, will be announced Tuesday. At-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; quality wins; coaches' ranking; results against common opponents; RPI; qualifying event placement; and winning percentage.
On Wednesday, brackets and seeding for each of the 10 33-man brackets will be announced on NCAA.com at 6 p.m. ET.
The 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships takes place at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 21 to 23.