Eastern had an idea of what it was getting into when it was scheduled to wrestle No. 15 Purdue. Saturday at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility, the team got it.

The Boilermakers (15-5) commanded a 37-3 victory over the Panthers (4-13) in Eastern’s final dual meet of the season before it hosts the NCAA West Regional March 8.

Purdue featured five ranked wrestlers including senior 165-pound Oscar Santiago and junior 174-pound Ryan Lange both ranked in the top five nationally.

Eastern head coach Ralph McCausland said he realized the competition they were facing, but believes there were opportunities to turn the meet in the opposite direction.

“In this dual meet there were several things that could have gone our way,” he said. “We just need to make the match point.”

One of those close decisions came with the Panthers lone ranked wrestler junior 165-pound Matt Veach. Veach held a 1-0 lead going into the final period. Santiago took advantage of an escape and a takedown to take a 4-2 decision.

“Matt has not wrestled a weak opponent in about two months,” McCausland said. “He has been within one situation of beating them.”

It took overtime for Purdue freshman Adam Moreno to defeat Eastern sophomore Dexter Wright in the 125-pound dual.

Wright was in front 6-3, but Moreno was able to land a takedown with 1:00 remaining to force the extra period. Moreno made the winning takedown 16 seconds into the overtime to take a 9-7 decision.

The high note for the Panthers was senior Frank DeFilippis’ decision over No. 25 Brad Harper in the 157-pound dual. Both wrestlers had gained one point on escapes before DeFilippis was awarded the winning point when Harper was given a one-point stalling penalty with 11 seconds remaining.

“It’s good for him because that’s his first match in several weeks,” McCausland said. “Wrestling at Purdue, and in those situations, he kept a good head throughout the entire match.”

McCausland believes this is good preparation for his senior going into regionals.

“He understands what it takes, it’s just a matter of him picking it up one more notch,” McCausland. “He has got to be on and he has got to be ready.”

As a team, McCausland is looking for the Panthers to be more consistent and plans on getting his wrestlers rested up before March 8.

“We just have to work on our consistency,” he said. “It will be a day in and day out thing.”