Gophers Defeat Purdue for Fifth Consecutive Big Ten Victory
The No.7 Gopher wrestling team took down their fourth straight Big Ten opponent with a 24-11 dual victory over the Purdue Boilermakers where they won seven out of ten bouts, including the first six.
It’s the Gophers 12th victory of the season and fifth overall in conference play. The Gophers previous high under head coach Brandon Eggum was 10 overall wins and five conference wins last season.
Heavyweight Gable Steveson continued his historic start to his college career with a major decision for his 24th straight victory, moving up to 19th in the Gophers all-time winning streak records. Steveson is now tied with Bobbe Lowe and Scott Schiller and head assistant Luke Becker now only three wins away at 27.
Steveson quickly got on the board in the first with a takedown and scored 11 points in the first two periods. The Apple Valley, Minnesota, native finished things off with continued domination for the 16-6 major.
125-pound Sean Russell returned to action after missing three consecutive duals with injury and started fast with a first period that included a takedown and subsequent ride out of the clock for over 1:09 in riding time. Russell finished off his major decision with takedowns and ride outs in the final two periods as well to amass eight points plus over three minutes of riding time.
133-pound Ethan Lizak notched his fourth straight win with a critical two-point nearfall in the third period proving to be the ultimate winning points. Lizak and Ben Thornton traded takedowns in the first two stanzas, so Lizak’s turn after choosing top provided the riding time point as well as the nearfall points.
After nearly notching yet another pin, 141-pound McKee settled for the four-point nearfall to take a 6-1 lead after the first period. McKee added to his lead with an escape and takedown for the Gophers third victory to start the dual.
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McKee’s former high school teammate 149-pound Tommy Thorn continued the winning ways. Thorn secured his fourth straight victory due in large part to a great first period that saw him turn his opponent twice after securing a takedown after only 20 seconds. Thorn continued his attacks until the very end of the match to finish with a 16-3 decision including riding time for over half the match.
157-pound Steve Bleise took the Gophers into intermission pitching a shutout after his fourth ranked win of the season. Bleise took down No.13 Griffin Parriott in sudden victory with an electric takedown that threw the 2,908 in attendance into a frenzy.
Coming out of intermission, 165-pound Carson Brolsma got the takedown after less than ten seconds to continue the Gophers momentum. Brolsma got a bookend takedown in the third period to add cushion and clinch the riding time point.
174-pound Devin Skatzka dropped his second match to No.14 Dylan Lydy this season. The two remained close throughout the entirety of the bout and entered overtime tied at four. In the extra stanza the pair engaged in a wild scramble at the edge of the mat where Lydy came out on top with the takedown.
184-pound Owen Webster dropped a close bout to Purdue’s Max Lyon where a last minute scramble takedown from Lyon gave the Boilermakers another individual victory.
197-pound Dylan Anderson started off well but suffered the Gophers lone bonus point loss of the day when he fell by technical fall to No.12 Christian Brunner after repeated nearfall counts.
Minnesota 24, Purdue 11
125: No. 6 Sean Russell major dec. No. 19 Devin Schroder (9-0) | Minnesota 4-0
133: No. 8 Ethan Lizak dec. No. 14 Ben Thornton (5-3) | Minnesota 7-0
141: No. 10 Mitch McKee dec. Nate Limmex (9-3) | Minnesota 10-0
149: No. 19 Tommy Thorn major dec.Parker Filius (16-3) | Minnesota 14-0
157: No. 8 Steve Bleise SV-1 No. 13 Griffin Parriott (5-3) | Minnesota 17-0
165: Carson Brolsma dec. Cole Wysocki (5-3) | Minnesota 20-0
174: No. 14 Dylan Lydy SV-1 No. 11 Devin Skatzka (6-4) | Minnesota 20-03
184: Max Lyon dec. Owen Webster (5-2) | Minnesota 20-6
197: No. 12 Christian Brunner tech. fall (18-1) Dylan Anderson | Minnesota 20-11
HWT: No. 1 Gable Steveson major dec. Jacob Aven (16-6) | Minnesota 24-11
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