"It was a great event with a lot of intense matches," head coach Duane Goldman said. "We competed hard and came out with a winning attitude. Our guys are working hard and they are continuing to progress well. It was a good thing to get through the first part of our season healthy and now we are ready to face the rest of our remaining schedule."
The Hoosiers posted 11 pins, one technical fall, three major decisions and a forfeit to take more than half of its scheduled bouts by bonus points.
Defending national champion Joe Dubuque took care of business in his first two bouts, dismissing Sean Mead (SIUE) and Pat Castillo (NIU). Top-rated Dubuque posted a technical fall, 17-0, against Mead before pinning Castillo at the 5:39 mark. Redshirt freshman Jose Escobedo finished the sweep at 125 pounds, defeating UW-W's Joe Van Wetering 8-2.
Andrae Hernandez went 3-0 on the day, posting two falls against SIUE's Chuck Patten (4:17) and UW-W's Kyle Hazelwood (4:48) to get the event rolling. Against Northern Illinois, Hernandez took the match 5-3 in sudden victory against Andy Hiatt to give the Hoosiers the early 9-0 lead against NIU.
The Hoosiers mixed-up the lineup at 141 pounds with freshman Scott Kelley making two starts to go 1-1 on the day, while senior Nick Spatola lost a hard-fought match to No. 9 Josh Wooton of Northern Illinois. Wooton posted the Huskies first points against the Hoosiers, but Spatola did well to keep one of the top wrestlers in the nation from bonus points in the 5-0 decision. Kelley dropped his first bout to Tyler Swearingen (SIUE), 8-4, before defeating Wisconsin-Whitewater's Nate Closen, 7-5.
Juniors Isaac Knable and Matt Cooper shared the load at 149 pounds, with Knable tallying a pin and decision to go 2-0. Cooper had his hands full against No. 8 Mike Grimes (NIU), taking the bout into sudden victory. Cooper looked poised to make his first big statement against a top-10 opponent, but Grimes used a late takedown to sneak away with the 3-2 decision.
All-American Brandon Becker took care of business at 157 pounds pinning all three of his opponents. After pinning Northern Illinois' Kalen Knull at the 2:18 mark, third-ranked Becker gave the Hoosiers a 15-6 lead over the Huskies in his most impressive showing of the day.
Sophomore Max Dean collected a major decision over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's John Ficht to open the competition, following the victory with a 3-1 decision over NIU's Alex Nelson. Freshman Hunter Hughes made his first start of the dual season pinning Shannon Bohleman of Wisconsin-Whitewater at 6:02 to wrap up the IU sweep at 165.
Sophomore Marc Bennett swept the competition at 174 pounds in commanding fashion, dismissing by fall SIUE's Chris Midgett (2:30) and UW-W's Scott Moe (3:32). Against NIU's 19th-ranked Danny Burke, Bennett needed extra periods before using a takedown to defeat Burke 9-7 in the first overtime period. Freshman Louis Gouletas made his first start for the Hoosiers at both 184 and 197 pounds, going 0-2 in his first dual outings.
Two-time NCAA qualifier Brady Richardson cleaned house at 197 pounds, dropping only five points across two matches. After opening the event with a 10-1 major decision over SIUE's Sean Tyus, eighth-ranked Richardson took a 10-4 decision over Dave Herrera (NIU).
Dave Herman closed out the IU effort going 3-0. Herman met a forfeit win against Southern Illinois before taking the mat against 20th-ranked Joe Sapp of NIU. Sapp looked beat as Herman forced the sudden victory; however, Sapp used a reversal late in the third period to steal the 3-2 victory. Herman rebounded to post a decision over Derrick Johnson of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 9-2.
The Hoosiers will take the next two weeks off before traveling to Evanston, Ill., to compete at the Midlands Invitational on Dec. 29-30. Hosted by Northwestern University, the competition will be a Big Ten preview for the Hoosiers who could meet conference powerhouses Iowa, Illinois and Michigan in a pre-conference showdown.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now