The Hoosiers are now 13-4 with a 4-3 record in the Big Ten, clinching their second season of .500 or better in the conference in the last three years. MSU moved to 3-9 (2-5) on the season. IU won six of the 10 individual matchups on the night.
The match started at 197 pounds, and true freshman Nathan Everhart held a late 2-0 lead, but MSU's Nick Palmieri picked up a point on stalling, then added a takedown in the final 10 seconds to take a 3-2 victory and earn the Spartans three points. Josh Buuck followed by posting a major decision over MSU's Alan O'Donnell with a 13-3 victory. Buuck allowed only three escapes to his opponent in posting three takedowns.
The Hoosiers entered the most anticipated match of the night up 4-3, as Escobedo squared off with Gomez at 125. Gomez scored a takedown in the final seconds of the first period to go up 2-0. Escobedo started on top in the second, but Gomez scored a reversal 30 seconds in. Escobedo scored an escape of his own, but Gomez escaped to enter the third up 5-2. Then in the third, Escobedo started down and scored a reversal and a two-point near fall. After Gomez scored a reversal of his own to go up 7-6, Escobedo posted a reversal and a three-point near fall in the final 10 seconds to notch an 11-7 victory for the Hoosiers.
At 133, No. 20 Andrae Hernandez squared off with Clint Frutiger, who started in place of top-ranked Nick Simmons. Hernandez notched a 16-1 technical fall using three near falls to put the Hoosiers up 12-3. Simmons moved up to 141 in place of his injured brother, Andy, and earned the Spartans six points after Scott Kelly was disqualified for stalling to make the score 12-9 heading into the break.
At 149, Matt Coughlin scored a 3-1 victory over Tim Hammer with a third-period takedown to push the Hoosier edge to six points. Brandon Becker followed by jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first period and never looking back in a 10-1 major decision to make the score 19-9 heading into the 165-pound match.
Max Dean clinched the victory for the Hoosiers with a major decision over Rocky Cozart at 165. Dean scored a third-period near fall to clinch the major. Following the match, Michigan State was penalized one point for unsportsmanlike conduct, making the score 23-8.
At 174, John Murphy handed Trevor Perry his first Big Ten loss with an 8-4 decision. Perry scored the first points of the match with a first-period takedown, but Murphy escaped and scored a takedown of his own, then rode Perry for all of the second to put himself in position for the victory. Perry is now 6-1 in conference action on the year.
At 184, Nick Avery wrestled in place of No. 11 Marc Bennett for his first career Big Ten action. No. 10 Joe Williams scored the victory for the Spartans, knocking off the true freshman with an 18-6 major decision to make the final score 23-15 in favor of the visitors.
Indiana returns to action on Sunday, Feb. 18, at No. 7 Wisconsin at 2 p.m. in Madison, Wis. It will be the final dual meet for the season for the Hoosiers, who are seeking their best Big Ten record in 11 years.
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