Technical falls from 125-pounder Ethan Lizak, 197-pounder Brett Pfarr and heavyweight Michael Kroells powered the Gophers wrestling team to a 29-12 Big Ten victory over Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.

The 13th-ranked Gophers also received major decisions from Jake Short at 157 and Nick Wanzek at 165 to improve to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten. Winning by decision for Minnesota were Tommy Thorn at 141 and Bobby Steveson at 184.

"We have really stressed to the team how important it is to score bonus points when the opportunity is there,'' Gophers coach Brandon Eggum said. "At Big Tens and NCAAs, bonus points can make a huge difference for the team. Some of the guys saw the opportunity to score bonus points today and they pushed to get those points. That's exactly what we need to do."

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