Big 10 power and 17th ranked Purdue handed the Panther wrestlers another loss in their final dual meet of the season.

The Boilermakers (9-6) got off to a huge 25-0 lead early over the Panthers (3-9) and never looked back, winning 28-9.

“It’s tough when you get down by that much, that fast,” Eastern head coach Ralph McCausland said. “Joe Gleissner didn’t have it, (heavyweight) B.J. (Bertelsman) gets pinned, we forfeit 125 and boom, boom, bam, we’re down by a lot.”

It would get worse, however, as freshman 133-pounder Mike Stanley would lose 17-3, 141-pounder Shawn Slenczka dropped his match 8-1 and 149-pounder Joe Gassen lost 12-5.

Things would get better for Eastern, however.

Sophomore Frank DeFillipis (157) got the Panthers on the board with a 6-2 win over Purdue’s Oscar Santiago, who had a 13-6 record coming in.

“Frank wrestled very well and individually made some good decisions,” McCausland said. “He did a good job of capitalizing on opportunities and was prepared for his match.”

Louis Taylor lost a close match at the 174-pound weight class, as he was defeated 3-1 by Boilermaker freshman Ryan Lange, who is ranked 14th in the nation individually.

“Louis didn’t have the feel in this match,” McCausland said. “It was a tough match for him, and I’m not sure he was feeling well, but match preparation is something he needs to work on a little more.”

Kyle Bracey (184) defeated his opponent 13-7 and had a couple of opportunities to come away with a pin.

“Kyle had a couple of opportunities to put his guy away and couldn’t do it,” McCausland said. “He wrestled well, but those are the opportunities he needs to jump on.”

The highlight of the day was the final home match of Eastern’s lone senior Mike Kelly. The 27-year-old former Marine had enough to defeat Purdue’s Kirk Moore 12-10.

“Mike Kelly hit a wall in the third period but hung on to get the win,” McCausland said. “He’s really done a nice job for us in his two years here.”

“It was nice to get a win in the las one,” Kelly said. “I never thought I’d finally get around to my last match because I’ve been wrestling so long.

“It was reallyn nice to go out with a win and especially beating a guy from a Big 10 school,” he said. “Hopefully this will carry on and get me past the regionals and on the to nationals.”

Kelly and the Panthers will have the next couple weeks to prepare before traveling to Laramie, Wyo. on Mar. 3 for the NCAA West Regional.