No. 18 Rutgers takes out No. 20 Purdue 22-15, Improve to 11-5 (4-3)

The weekend sweep is complete. A solid victory from Rutgers came in a second half flurry after being tied 9-9 at intermission.

After Matt Correnti battled No. 10 Christian Brunner but ultimately fell by pin, Rutgers was in a 9-3 hole. Then, five straight bout wins from the Scarlet Knights propelled them to a victory over another Big Ten opponent.

Here’s how it all went down:

Metzler was Key

Shane Metzler came in on a big losing streak but took on Purdue’s backup Marshall Craig. The opportunity was there and Metzler earned a nice 4-1 decision to tie up the dual at nine a piece heading into intermission. He followed up a tiebreak victory from Christian Colucci after Rutgers was put in a hole after Correnti got caught and pinned by Brunner.

Suriano and Ashnault took over

Nick Suriano technically lost to Thornton before, due to a medical forfeit when Suriano was still a member of Penn State’s squad. He didn’t hold back today and dominated his way to a 12-4 major decision.

Rutgers led 16-9 heading into Anthony Ashnault’s match with freshman Parker Filius. Ashnault figured it was about time to clinch the dual as he was able to lock up a cradle and get the pin to put the Scarlet Knights up 13 in the team score. It was a nice bounce back match for the No. 1 man at 149 after a close call on Friday.

Lipari slowly climbing in the Big Ten at 141

Peter Lipari earned a major on Friday and then a tiebreaker victory over Nate Limmex today to keep it rolling for the Scarlet Knights. With Mike Van Brill weighing in at 149 for the weekend, it looks like it’s Lipari the rest of the way and he’ll get his shot at the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis.

The last Big Ten rankings according to Flo Wrestling had Lipari No. 11 of 14 in the conference. He’ll at least move one spot up after today’s win.

Box Score:

174: Dylan Lydy (PUR) DEC Joe Grello (RU): 4-3

184: Nick Gravina (RU) DEC Max Lyon (PUR): 3-2

197: No. 10 Christian Brunner (PUR) FALL Matt Correnti (RU): 6:19

HWT: Christian Colucci (RU) DEC Jacob Aven (PUR): 3-2 TB1

125: Shane Metzler (RU) DEC Marshall Craig (PUR): 4-1

133: No. 4 Nick Suriano (RU) MD No. 15 Ben Thornton (PUR): 12-4

141: Peter Lipari (RU) DEC Nate Limmex (PUR): 5-4 TB1

149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (RU) FALL Parker Filius (PUR): 2:24

157: No. 11 Griffin Parriott (PUR) DEC No. 17 John Van Brill (RU): 3-2

165: Cole Wysocki (PUR) DEC Jake Benner (RU): 8-1

Final Score: Rutgers win 22-15

What’s Next?

Rutgers will return home next Sunday and host No. 4 Michigan at the RAC at noon. This one will be highlighted by a potential matchup at 133 between No. 4 Suriano and No. 1 Stevan Micic. Micic, against Northwestern, faced 125 No. 1 Sebastian Rivera, who bumped up, 10-4. I don’t foresee anyone ducking next week. Big Ten tournament seeding will be on the line.