2005 NCAA Wrestling Championship Notes

8/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

March 16, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - - Indiana is sending seven wrestlers to the 2005 NCAA Championships March 17-19 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis. This marks just the third time in the last 15 years that the Hoosiers have had at least seven national qualifiers in the same season.

Indiana arrives in St. Louis fresh off its best Big Ten Championship performance in 11 years. IU finished fifth in the March 5-6 league championship in Iowa City, Iowa. To gauge the strength of Big Ten Conference wrestling, the four teams that finished ahead of the Hoosiers are all ranked among the top 11 nationally.

Hoosier Report

Four of Indiana's seven national qualifiers are making a return trip to the NCAA Championship. Senior heavyweight Pat DeGain is making his third consecutive trip to nationals and his first at heavyweight. DeGain brings a 30-5 record to the championship after taking second in the league meet.

Junior 125-pounder Joe Dubuque aims for his second straight All-American honor after taking eighth at last year's NCAA meet. Dubuque's 24-3 record includes a third-place finish at the league meet.

Junior 174-pounder Brady Richardson is also making a return appearance at the NCAA meet. Richardson also took third at the Big Ten meet and brings a 23-6 ledger to the Savvis Center.

Andy Rios (184 pounds) is also back in St. Louis for the Big Ten Championship. Due to a knee injury to 141-pound national qualifier Mike Simpson, Rios will represent the Hoosiers as a first alternate. Rios just missed earning an automatic bid as the Cleveland native took eighth at the Big Ten Championship and owns a 24-17 overall record.

Redshirt freshman Brandon Becker (157 pounds) is among the trio of Hoosiers making their NCAA Championship debut. Becker turned in a fifth place finish at the Big Ten Championships and is 27-11 overall.

Fellow redshirt freshman Max Dean picked up a fifth place finish and NCAA bid at 165 pounds. Dean enters the NCAA Championship with a 24-13 record.

Sophomore Isaac Knable rounds out the IU contingent. Knable took sixth place at the Big Ten Championship and owns a 9-14 record.

2005 Big Ten Championship Recap

The Indiana University wrestling team closed out the 2005 Big Ten Championships on March 6 at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, in a fifth-place tie with Wisconsin after tallying 89 points over the two-day competition. Overall, the Hoosiers advanced seven grapplers to the NCAA Championship in St. Louis, Mo. Illinois captured the team title with 130 points, while Minnesota finished second with 123.5 points and Michigan placed third with 118 points. Additionally, the Hawkeyes took fourth with 94.5 points.

The fifth-place performance matched the best team finish for the Hoosiers under Indiana head coach Duane Goldman's reign. The 1994 Cream and Crimson contingent placed fifth for Goldman in his second season at the helm of the Indiana wrestling program.

In the heavyweight class, senior Pat DeGain came up just short against No. 1-seed Cole Konrad of Minnesota in the championship bout. In the title match, DeGain took a 4-1 loss. Remarkably, however, DeGain went 3-1 at the tournament without falling to the consolation bracket and finished in second place. Additionally, he improved his overall record to 30-5 and secured a spot at the NCAA Championship.

In the 125-pound division, junior Joe Dubuque strung together a pair of victories to finish in third place in the class. Dubuque opened up the third session with a 4-1 decision over No. 4-seed John Velez of Northwestern before rolling through No. 6-seed Adam Smith of Penn State, 7-2, to win the consolation bracket. With the triumphs, Dubuque closed the tournament with a 24-3 record for the season and 3-1 at the tournament.

In the 174-pound class, junior Brady Richardson seized third place with a pair of third-session conquests to advance to the NCAA Championships. In his first bout, Richardson picked up a 5-2 decision over No. 6-seed Kelly Flaherty of Wisconsin. Richardson then followed that victory with a medical forfeit win over No. 3-seed R.J Boudro of Michigan State. With the victories, Richardson moved to 3-1 at Big Tens and 23-6 on the season.

In the 157-pound class, redshirt freshman Brandon Becker claimed fifth place by blanking Purdue's Colton Salazar, 8-0, to close out the session. In earlier action, Becker suffered a 4-2 loss to No. 7-seed C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota. On the strength of a 2-2 record at the meet, Becker improved to 27-11.

In the 165-pound division, redshirt freshman Max Dean also picked up fifth-place honors by edging No. 5-seed Donny Reynolds of Illinois, 3-2. In his previous bout, Dean could not overcome No. 4-seed Jake Donar of Wisconsin to fall, 3-0. Dean fashioned a 4-2 ledger at the championships to move his overall record to 24-13.

In the 141-pound class, senior Mike Simpson suffered a pair of defeats. However, his earlier efforts helped him to a sixth place to qualify for NCAAs. In his first bout of the day, Simpson took a default loss to No. 3-seed Cassio Pero of Illinois before losing due to a medical forfeit against No. 5-seed Alex Tsirtsis of Iowa in the fifth-place tilt. With a record of 1-3 at the championships, Simpson moved his season ledger to 25-10.

In the 149-pound division, sophomore Isaac Knable picked up sixth place for the Hoosiers. Despite falling to No. 5-seed Darren McKnight of Michigan State in a major decision, 13-5, and a pinfall loss to Minnesota's Quincy Osborn at 6:16, Knable secured a spot at the NCAA Championships by virtue of his overall performance.

In the 184-pound class, junior Andy Rios took an 8-5 defeat by Joshua Weitzel of Michigan to finish in eighth-place. Overall, Rios went 1-3 at the tournament and fell to 24-17 on the season.

NCAA Championship Television

ESPN will broadcast live three sessions of this year's championships. The quarterfinals will be shown on ESPNU, the semifinals will be regionally syndicated, and the finals will broadcast live on ESPN Saturday at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

Goldman And The NCAA Championship

\With seven national qualifiers this season, Duane Goldman has 58 NCAA qualifiers during his head coaching tenure. The seven qualifiers this year are the most since the 1994 Hoosiers sent eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships en route to a 33rd place overall finish. Here is a breakdown of the Hoosiers' national qualifiers that season. 118 pounds: Derek Moscovic
126 pounds: Chris Russo (All-American)
142 pounds: Andy Trevino
150 pounds: Scott Petche (All-American)
158 pounds: Jonathan McClain
167 pounds: Ryan Edmundson (qualified by finishing 6th in the Big Ten, but did not wrestle due to injury)
190 pounds: Brady Harrison
HWY: Vito Maurici

DeGain Returns to Form

Third-ranked heavyweight Pat DeGain suffered a shoulder injury against Ohio State that sidelined him through the Feb. 13 Illinois match. Since his return, he has gone 5-1 and placed second in the Big Ten Championship. His 110 career wins are seventh on the Hoosiers' all-time list, and his 34 career pins are tied for fourth on the all-time charts.

The Pat DeGain Watch
Career Wins
1. Viktor Sveda (1997-2002) - 149
2. Roger Chandler (1994-97) - 134
3. Brian Dolph (1987-90) - 127
4. Coyte Cooper (2000-04) - 123
5. Sam Komar (1975-78) - 114
6. Kevin Stanley (1997-2001) - 111
7. Pat DeGain (2000-present) - 110
8. Jim Pearson (1987-90) - 107

Career Pins Wrestler Pins
1. Viktor Sveda (1997-2002) - 47
2. Roger Chandler (1994-97) - 40
3. Coyte Cooper (2000-04) - 37
t-4. Rod Chamberlin (1980-81) - 34
t-4. Trevor Elliot (1994-97) - 34
t-4. Pat DeGain (2000-present) - 34

Becker Surging Ahead

Redshirt freshman Brandon Becker earned his second win over a top-10 opponent as he defeated eighth-ranked Joe Johnston of Iowa, 13-12 on Feb. 20.

The redshirt freshman enters the NCAA Championship having won eight of his last 11 matches, including wins over eighth ranked Joe Johnston of Iowa and 10th-ranked Tyler Turner of Wisconsin.

Dubuque's Streak Stopped

Third-ranked Joe Dubuque lost his first match since a 4-2 setback to Bobbe Lowe of Minnesota on Nov. 27 to Brandon Tucker of Purdue, 4-3 on Feb. 18. The loss snapped the junior's winning streak at 17 matches.

Dubuque rebounded to post a 10-3 win over Charlie Falack of Iowa on Feb. 20. He enters the NCAA Championship with a 24-3 mark and a 7-2 ledger against ranked opponents.

Facing Ranked Opponents

Against ranked teams, the Hoosiers compiled a 3-5 record this year, taking several top teams to the limit. The Hoosiers defeated then-No. 25 Edinboro, 26-10 on Jan. 14, then-No. 20 Northwestern, 22-14 on Jan. 21 and then-No. 12 Michigan, 33-4 on Feb. 12.

The Hoosiers have suffered a one-point loss to No. 9 Iowa, 17-16 on Feb. 20 and a two-point loss to then-No. 13 Wisconsin, 18-16 on Feb. 6.

IU has also suffered a 25-9 setback to then-No. 5 Nebraska on Jan. 15 and a 21-12 loss to then-No. 20 to Penn State, 21-12.

IU Individuals Results vs. Ranked Opponents
125-Joe Dubuque... 7-2
133-Brian Dyer... 0-7
133-Andrae Hernandez... 0-1
141-Mike Simpson... 3-8
141-Cameron Sakon... 0-2
149-Issac Knable... 2-3
149-Ryan Pribble... 0-1
157-Brandon Becker... 3-9
157-Max Dean... 1-10
165-Tim Scarl... 0-2
165-Marc Bennett... 0-1
174-Brady Richardson... 5-5
184-Andy Rios... 1-11
197-Josh Buuck... 0-10
HWT-Pat DeGain... 6-3
HWT-David Herman... 2-1

Hoosiers Take Five

Despite falling 17-16 to ninth-ranked Iowa on Feb. 20, the Hoosiers won five individuals matches against Iowa, the most since 1967.

The 16 dual points are also the most against Iowa since recording 19 in 1967.

In fact, the five duals are equal the total number of individual wins against Iowa in the previous three duals.

DeGain Joins the 100-Win Club

With his 5-3 win over Joe Hennis of Edinboro in the second round of the Virginia Duals, senior heavyweight Pat DeGain became the 11th wrestler in school history to record 100 career wins. DeGain now owns a career record of 110-30, with four straight 20-win seasons.

To date, DeGain is 30-5 on the year with eight falls and three major decisions.

DeGain Joins Elite Hoosier Group: Part IU

With his 5-3 decision over fourth-ranked Matt Feast of Penn, senior heavyweight Pat DeGain was the first Hoosier since Viktor Sveda in 2001 and the third ever to claim an individual championship at the prestigious Midlands Championship on Dec. 29.

Former Hoosier National Champion and All-American Brian Dolph was the other Hoosier to garner this honor.

Dubuque Dominates on the Mat

Entering this weekend's Big Ten Championship, junior All-American Joe Dubuque has a 24-3 record, which leads the Hoosiers in winning percentage. Of Dubuque's 24 wins, 12 have earned the Hoosiers bonus point victories. He has added four major decision, three falls and two technical falls.

The Bloomfield, N.J., native finished last season with a 34-9 record. With another top-eight finish, Joe Dubuque will become the 15th wrestler in IU history to garner All-American status two or more times and the first Hoosier to accomplish the feat since Viktor Sveda (1999, 2001).

Hoosiers Reach 600 All-Time Dual Wins

With a 23-13 win over Kent State, the IU wrestling program became one of 19 Division I-A schools to record 600 dual wins.

IU's all-time record now stands at 614-478-27 in 95 seasons.

Dubuque Earns Big Ten Honor

Junior All-American Joe Dubuque was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Wednesday, Dec. 23 in recognition of his performance on Dec. 14-21.

Dubuque became the first Hoosier to earn this honor since former Hoosier All-American Coyte Cooper received this award on Dec. 23, 2003.