OSU, IU and Purdue Men Clash in Tri Meet, Buckeyes & Hoosiers Prevail

INDIANA V. OHIO STATE V. PURDUE – MEN

• February 6, 2021
• West Lafayette, IN
• Short course yards (SCY)
• Results
• Scores
  • Ohio State 159, Purdue 140
  • Indiana 154, Purdue 145
  • Ohio State and Indiana did not score against each other
• Notable absences
  • Ohio State: Jonah Cooper (has not raced this season), Ruslan Gaziev (has not raced this season)
  • Indiana: Bruno Blaskovic, Gabriel Fantoni

Ohio State joined the party in West Lafayette today, their match-up with Michigan falling through as the Wolverines are currently barred from all athletic training and competition per school COVID-19 guidelines until at least February 7.

It was the Buckeyes who emerged on top today, beating Purdue, as the Hoosiers just survived a feisty Boilermaker squad. OSU looked to have a better meet than IU, though their meet was unscored since they’d already matched-up this season (IU won, 185 to 115, in January).

After stumbling with a medley relay DQ, Ohio State was hot, capitalizing on Indiana switching distance stars Michael Brinegar and Mikey Calvillo from their usual 1000 free to the 200 free. The Buckeyes went 1-2-3 in the 1000, led by freshman Charlie Clark (9:07.08), while Paul Delakis posted a 1:37.50 in the 200 free as Calvillo, in T-fifth, was IU’s best finisher in the 200 (1:39.52).

Jason Mathews edged out 12th-ranked Trent Pellini of Purdue in the 100 breast, 53.19 to 53.41. It’s a new season-best for Mathews, who now moves to #27 nationally. He followed that up with a first-place finish in the 200 breast, going 1:57.48 to edge IU’s Brock Brown (1:57.54). Brown lunged forward on the third 50, out-splitting Mathews by about a full second, but Mathews came back hard to win in the final touch.

In a big 100 fly, one of the final individual events of the meet, OSU’s Sem Andreis skirted past IU’s Van Mathias, 47.91 to 47.98. IU freshman Tomer Frankel was also in the mix, taking third in 48.01.

Indiana’s Brendan Burns swept the backstroke events, taking the 100 in a season-best 47.17 and adding a 1:45.03 in the 200 back.

Purdue upset the field in the 200 medley relay, clocking a 1:26.27 to win by almost a second. Ryan Hrosik was 21.19 on the fly leg, Pellini 23.47 on breast and Nikola Acin 19.40 anchoring– they were all field-best splits. Indiana took second in 1:27.11, with Burns posting a 21.90 field-best lead-off, while OSU was DQ’d (Andreis was 18.71 anchoring, though he was called for an early take-off).

With their 1:26.00 in January, Purdue maintains the highest ranking nationally in the 200 medley relay from the conference, at 17th.

Star sprinter Nikola Acin was big for Purdue, collecting wins in the 50 free (19.79) and 100 free (43.52). Acin edged IU’s Jack Franzman in both; Franzman was 19.87 in the 50 and 44.02 in the 100. He’s been right-on his times from the 2020 Big Ten Champs this season, and no other Big Ten swimmer has been faster in the 50 or 100 this season than Acin.

Meanwhile, Nick Sherman chipped in another win for the Boilers, going 1:48.80 in the 200 IM to lead a 1-2-3 with Pellini (1:49.12) and Andrew Alders (1:49.45).

In the 400 free relay, OSU was dominant while securing the meet win, getting 42-high splits from Andreis and Delakis to combine for a 2:53.24. Purdue touched second in 2:55.80 ahead of IU’s 2:56.06, as Acin split a field-best 42.44 off of a 19.93 first 50 (and flip).

Since OSU DQ’d the 200 medley relay, they returned to do a time trial. Though no names appear on the results page, they posted a 1:26.01 to become the #2 relay in the Big Ten this season behind Purdue.