CLEVELAND — The Boilermakers will carry a pair of wrestlers into the second day of competition at the NCAA Championships as juniors Joey Blaze and Brody Baumann secured wins Thursday night at Rocket Arena. Blaze advanced to the quarterfinals for the second straight year while Baumann moved on to the second round of consolation matches.
The Boilermakers have 4.5 team points so far in the tournament, but there are a lot at stake tomorrow in the championship rounds, with each victory being worth seven points.
Blaze dominated wire-to-wire in his round-of-16 match, scoring in all three periods to notch his 11th bonus-point win of the season. He used a slick slide-by in the first period and dragged Iowa State’s No. 15-seeded Connor Euton to the mat for a 3-0 lead. After the rideout to finish the first, he added an escape point and then scored another late takedown off a scramble to push his lead to 7-0. Euton picked up an escape point in the third, but Blaze was right back in on his legs and put Euton in danger to score the third and final takedown of the match.
Baumann scored early and often in his first victory of the championships, building on his team-leading takedown total in a 15-8 decision over No. 27 seed Collin Carrigan of North Carolina. Baumann’s double-leg attack accounted for most of his takedowns, meanwhile building over three minutes of riding time.
Blake Boarman saw his collegiate career come to a close as the Purdue graduate transfer suffered a 4-1 overtime loss to Will Betancourt of Rider. Boarman continually attacked throughout the match as Betancourt wrestled from his knees, taking a stalling warning in the middle of the second period. Shortly into the sudden-victory period, Betancourt got to Boarman’s legs on a reshot and was able to finish for the win. Boarman finished his career as a two-time NCAA qualifier, with a career record of 59-36.
Fifth-year senior Ben Vanadia also saw the sun set on his Boilermaker career, dropping an 11-2 major decision to Binghamton’s Mikey Squires. After surrendering the opening takedown, Vanadia rallied with a reversal. But that was all the Purdue senior could muster as he finished his season at 15-12.
UP NEXT
Friday’s third session of the NCAA Championships is scheduled to start at noon ET and will feature one championship round of quarterfinals and two rounds of consolation matches. Blaze will face No. 10 seed Will Denny of North Carolina State with All-America status on the line, while Baumann takes on No. 12 seed Carter Schubert of Oklahoma in a rematch of the Missouri Tiger Style finals in November.
A win in Session III for Blaze would make him the 13th multiple-time All-American in Purdue history.
RESULTS
133 | #24 Blake Boarman (R-Sr.) - DNP
Round 1: #9 Dominick Serrano (Northern Colorado) – L, D 16-14
Conso. Round 1: #25 Will Betancourt (Rider) – L, SV 4-1
165 | #2 Joey Blaze (Jr.)
Round 1: #31 Jared Kesler (Pittsburgh) – W, D 5-0
Round 2: #15 Connor Euton (Iowa State) – W, MD 10-1
UP NEXT - Quarterfinals: #10 Will Denny (North Carolina State)
174 | #22 Brody Baumann (R-Jr.)
Round 1: #11 M.J. Gaitan (Iowa State) – L, Fall 2:41
Conso. Round 1: #27 Collin Carrigan (North Carolina) – W, D 15-8
UP NEXT - Conso. Round 2: #12 Carter Schubert (Oklahoma)
197 | #26 Ben Vanadia (R-Sr.) - DNP
Round 1: #7 Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State) – L, TF 18-3 (6:01)
Conso. Round 1: #23 Mikey Squires (Binghamton) – L, MD 11-2