Minnesota Uses Second-Half Storm to Beat Purdue, 20-12
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 11 Gophers kept their home record unblemished inside Maturi Pavilion on Sunday afternoon, as they claimed six of the afternoon’s ten bouts to defeat Purdue, 20-12.
It was a slow start in the first half for the Gophers, as they only claimed two of the first five matches, resulting in a 9-7 deficit at the break. However, the “U” would come out of the break firing as they rattled off four straight wins to clinch the dual for Minnesota.
The dual kicked off at 125 pounds, where Minnesota would fall via decision, but Jake Gliva put Minnesota on the board first with a 4-2 decision over Dustin Norris. Gliva’s first-period takedown was the difference in the contest, as well as a tough ride to give him the riding time point.
Michael Blockhus had a nice showing at 149 pounds, as he put on a takedown clinic in his 13-4 major decision win. Blockhus really turned it on in the back half of the match, as he secured a reversal and four takedowns in the last two frames to get bonus points.
Out of the halftime break, Andrew Sparks claimed a 4-0 win over Stoney Buell, as Sparks extended his lead with a second-period takedown, then rode out the entire third period en route to the win.
Bailee O’Reilly and Isaiah Salazar continued the Gophers’ match win streak with decision wins of their own. O’Reilly outclassed his opponent with three methodical takedowns throughout his bout, while Salazar used an early flurry with two takedowns and a four-point turn en route to his 10-3 win.
At 197 pounds, Michial Foy turned in a 13-5 major decision as he collected three takedowns in the match, including a nice duck-under in the closing seconds, to secure the bonus points and clinch the dual for Minnesota.
Following the win, the Gophers will jump to 10-2 on the season and 3-2 in Big Ten competition. A rough start to the conference season for the Boilermakers continues as they fall to 0-4 in Big Ten play, dropping their overall record to 4-7 on the year.
The Gophers will now prepare for the back stretch of their regular season schedule as they will compete in three more duals in the final three weeks of the year, beginning first with a home contest against a ranked Illinois squad on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1:00 p.m. CST live on Big Ten Network.
January 22, 2023 | Maturi Pavilion | Minneapolis, MN | Attendance: 3,278
#11 Minnesota 20, Purdue 12
125: #10 Matt Ramos (PUR) dec. #5 Patrick McKee (MINN), 4-2
133: Jake Gliva (MINN) dec. Dustin Norris (PUR), 4-2
141: #15 Parker Filius (PUR) dec. #11 Jake Bergeland (MINN), 5-2
149: #16 Michael Blockhus (MINN) dec. Jaden Reynolds (PUR), 13-4
157: #3 Kendall Coleman (PUR) dec. #16 Brayton Lee (MINN), 5-2
165: #26 Andrew Sparks (MINN) dec. Stoney Buell (PUR), 4-0
174: #15 Bailee O’Reilly (MINN) dec. Cooper Noehre (PUR), 8-3
184: #11 Isaiah Salazar (MINN) dec. Ben Vanadia (PUR), 10-3
197: #27 Michial Foy (MINN) maj. dec. Hayden Filipovich (PUR), 13-5
HWT: Hayden Copass (PUR) dec. #27 Garrett Joles (MINN), 5-3
Note: InterMat Rankings
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