Indiana University Athletics
2004-05 Season Review
9/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Sept. 22, 2005
IU also had one of its best performances under Goldman at the Big Ten Championships, tying for fifth (89). Goldman's 2005 Big Ten finish tied his best feat set in 1993, when he led the Hoosiers to a fifth-place finish one year after taking the reins of program.
Seniors Pat DeGain (HWT) and Mike Simpson (141), juniors Dubuque (125), Andy Rios (184) and Brady Richardson (174), sophomores Josh Buuck (197) and Isaac Knable (149) and redshirt freshmen Brandon Becker (157), Max Dean (165) and Brian Dyer (133) made up the starting lineup for the Hoosier squad that brought Indiana one of its best seasons under Goldman.
Indiana's success started at the Missouri Open (11/21), when the Hoosiers finished the competition with seven top-five finishes. Buuck (fifth), Dean (second), DeGain (first), Andrae Hernandez (fourth) and Richardson (fourth) led the Hoosier accolades.
IU continued its winning fashion at the Mat Town Invitational (11/27), where Richardson claimed his first collegiate title at the 174-pound division. The Vincennes, Ind., native led the Hoosiers to a third-place finish overall in the 13-team field, with Becker (fourth), Buuck (eighth), redshirt freshman Justin Curran (sixth), Dean (fifth) and Dubuque (second) rounding out the Hoosier honors.
December's events slated the start of dual competition, with Eastern Illinois opening the schedule. Indiana kicked off its dual schedule with a 42-6 victory over Eastern Illinois before ousting Garner Webb (31-6), Cumberland (50-0), Kent State (23-13) and James Madison (39-4) to wrap up the month's opponents. IU's defeat of Cumberland witnessed the most dual points posted since 2001 when Indiana manhandled SIU-Edwardsville, 52-6. Then-No. 8 Dubuque recorded his third victory over a ranked opponent downing then-No. 19 Drew Opfer of Kent State in the Hoosiers' 5-0 month.
IU then took a break from its dual competition to compete at the Midlands Championships (12/29-30). IU finished eighth among a talented 63-team field, with DeGain earning medalist honors to be the Hoosiers' first champion since 2001 and third to win the championship.
Indiana's success continued in January, as the Hoosiers posted wins over Lock Haven (32-4), then-No. 25 Edinboro (23-13), UT-Chattanooga (30-14), then-No. 20 Northwestern (22-15), McKendree (40-6), Missouri Baptist (45-6), Indianapolis (48-0), Ohio State (24-9) and Virginia (28-10) to finish the month 9-2.
The heart of the Big Ten schedule still awaited the Hoosiers in February, as Indiana faced the likes of the conference's strongest programs in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. While the Hoosiers finished February, 2-3, the individual performances of Dubuque, Becker and DeGain highlighted the Hoosier effort. Then-No. 5 Dubuque garnered a victory over his highest-ranked competitor on the season in then-No. 3 Nick Simmons of Michigan State, while Becker defeated then-No.19 Tyler Turner of Wisconsin (6-2) and Richardson bested then-No. 16 Kelly Flaherty of Wisconsin (11-10).
IU's 4-4 mark in the Big Ten set the stage for its best run at the conference championships since 1993. Indiana grapplers 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 (Becker, Dean, DeGain, Knable, Dubuque, Richardson and Rios) to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo.
To gauge IU's Big Ten effort, the four teams (Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa) that finished ahead of the Hoosiers were all entering NCAAs ranked in the top-11 in the country -
In the heavyweight class, DeGain came up just short against No. 1-seed Cole Konrad of Minnesota in the championship bout. Remarkably DeGain went 3-1 at the tournament without falling to the consolation bracket to finish in second place.
In the 125-pound division, Dubuque strung together a pair of victories to finish in third place. 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.
In the 174-pound class, Richardson seized third place with a pair of third-session conquests. 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.
In the 157-pound class, Becker claimed fifth place by blanking Purdue's Colton Salazar, 8-0, to close out the session.
In the 165-pound division, Dean also picked up fifth-place honors by edging No. 5-seed Donny Reynolds of Illinois, 3-2. In the 141-pound class, senior Mike Simpson suffered a pair of defeats. However, his earlier efforts helped him to a sixth-place finish and qualified for NCAAs. Unfortunately, due to a knee injury, IU's first alternate Rios took his place on the IU NCAA-qualifier roster.
In the 149-pound division, Knable picked up sixth place for the Hoosiers. In the 184-pound class, Rios took an 8-5 defeat by Joshua Weitzel of Michigan to finish in eighth-place.
The Hoosiers were now groomed for what turned out to be their best NCAA performance in over 50 years. Indiana sent seven grapplers to the championships, making it only the third time in the last 15 years it had seven or more competitors sporting the Cream and Crimson in the postseason.
At the Championships, Dubuque, DeGain and Becker all earned All-America accolades for finishing in the top-eight of their class, the first time that the Hoosiers had three grapplers garner the honor since they had four in 1946. It also was the first time since 1946 that three IU wrestlers finished in the top-five at the same championship.
Dubuque won the national title at 125-pounds with a victory over Illinois' Kyle Ott in the championship bout, a grappler that took the first two matches from Dubuque before falling in the two's third meeting.
It was the best placement for Goldman's charges since they tied for 16th in 1997. The last time IU finished in the top 10 was an eighth-place showing in 1990. It is only the second time since 1953 that IU closed a championship in the top 10.
"This is really incredible for us to finish this high," Goldman said. "At the beginning of the year, we didn't get ranked by any of the polls. We had some young guys and some new guys, but they all came together this year. Pat, Joe, Brandon and the entire team all responded well."
Off the mat, Curran, Dean and Rios all earned Big Ten All-Academic team recognition, while Dubuque earned Indiana's first Big Ten Wrestler of the Week accolade on Dec. 21 since former All-American and four-year NCAA qualifier Coyte Cooper garnered the honor in 2003.
Indiana concluded its season ninth in the country with a dual record of 16-5 and a Big Ten effort of 4-4 (fifth).
