No. 21 Indiana wrestling celebrated senior night with a 20-16 victory against rival Purdue in a dual meet that featured 13 ranked wrestlers and five lead changes. As Purdue entered the meet losers of three straight contests, Indiana hoped to bounce back after a 34-5 loss to No. 5 Nebraska on Feb. 15 , the Hoosiers’ only home loss of the season.
Following his senior day celebration, Indiana’s No. 17 graduate student Jacob Moran put on a show for his last time in front of the home fans. Four takedowns in the first period and three in the second were all Moran needed to put Purdue’s redshirt sophomore Ashton Jackson away in the 125-pound bout. With a 21-5 technical fall victory, Moran left the mat in Bloomington for the final time, giving his team a 5-0 lead.
“We talk a lot about consistency,” Moran said after the meet. “When the lights are the brightest and the moment’s really big, I don't have to be somebody different.”
Indiana’s redshirt junior Blaine Frazier and Purdue’s redshirt senior Blake Boarman remained scoreless for most of the first period in the 133-pound match. Boarman earned a takedown in the final ticks of the opening period, taking a 3-0 lead into the second. Frazier earned a riding time point in the second period and an escape in the third before a Boarman takedown secured a 6-2 victory for the Boilermakers.
In the first of five ranked matchups of the evening, No. 31 junior Greyson Clark gave Purdue its first lead of the meet, routing No. 25 redshirt junior Henry Porter 8-0 in the 141-pound bout. Clark earned six points in the first period via a takedown, near fall and stall point. He finalized his victory by major decision with an escape in the final period after a lack of scoring in the second period, giving Purdue a 7-5 lead.
Purdue’s No. 30 redshirt junior Gavin Brown took a 3-2 lead before the final period of the 149-pound bout against Indiana’s redshirt sophomore Joey Buttler. Following an escape by Brown and an overturned Buttler takedown, Buttler remained in a 4-2 hole inside the final minute. With Wilkinson Hall on its feet, Buttler took a 5-4 lead with less than 10 seconds remaining by way of a takedown. As the final buzzer sounded, Buttler regained the Indiana lead with a 5-4 victory by decision.
The advantage was once again Purdue’s going into halftime, following No. 28 redshirt senior Stoney Buell’s 10-9 victory by decision over Indiana’s redshirt sophomore Bryce Lowery. Buell notched a takedown and a near fall in the first period and two escapes and a riding time point in the third. Lowery chipped into the lead with two takedowns and a stall point in the third but was unable to overcome the deficit. The Boilermakers led 10-8 after five matches.
Coming out of the break, Purdue’s No. 3 junior Joey Blaze led Indiana’s No. 17 redshirt junior Tyler Lillard 3-2 after one period. Lillard knotted the bout at three with an escape early in the second but was unable to pull off the upset in the 165-pound bout as an escape for Blaze in the final period resulted in a 4-3 victory by decision for the top-ranked Boilermaker.
No. 28 graduate student Derek Gilcher narrowed the margin with a 9-2 victory by decision over No. 16 redshirt junior Brody Baumann in the 174-pound bout. Gilcher tallied a takedown in the first and third period and held Baumann to just two escapes, cutting the lead to 13-11 with three matches remaining.
With a 7-1 victory by decision, No. 22 redshirt freshman Sam Goin retook the lead for Indiana, prevailing over No. 26 redshirt junior James Rowley in the 184-pound bout. After a scoreless first period, Goin took a 3-1 lead into the final two minutes after his takedown countered Rowley’s escape. Goin found an escape of his own in the third period and added a takedown with just over 30 seconds remaining. This victory gave the Hoosiers a 14-13 lead, their first of the second half.
The Hoosiers secured the dual meet victory ahead of the heavyweight bout, with No. 22 redshirt junior Gabe Sollars pinning Purdue’s No. 30 redshirt senior Ben Vanadia less than a minute into the 197-pound match. Sollars held a 3-0 lead with a takedown before ending the bout early with the pin. This victory by fall saw Indiana ahead by seven points, putting the meet out of reach for Purdue.
“Sollars icing that dual meet just speaks to his leadership,” Indiana head coach Angel Escobedo said after the meet. “Got to get out there and get bonus points.”
An escape and a riding time point was all that was scored in the heavyweight bout as Purdue’s redshirt senior Hayden Filipovich defeated Indiana’s freshman Matt Kowalski 2-0 in the final match of the day, as the Hoosiers solidified the 20-16 win.
Indiana wrestling will conclude its regular season Feb. 22 at the Last Chance Open in Fairfax, Virginia, ahead of the Big Ten Championships, which are slated to take place March 7-8 in University Park, Pennsylvania.
“It’s always great to beat Purdue,” Escobedo said. “We walked away with a win right before Big Ten’s which is great for our momentum.”
