Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Set to Square Off with Ohio State
1/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 26, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE
Indiana enters its second weekend of Big Ten action on Jan. 28, when it travels to Ohio State for a crucial matchup with the Buckeyes. Indiana holds a 1-1 Big Ten record with a win over Purdue and a loss to No. 11 Illinois last weekend. The Buckeyes are 5-3 on the year with a win over the Boilers in their only Big Ten meet this season. OSU travels to Penn State on Friday, Jan. 26.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Indiana heads to Columbus, Ohio, for the 84th all-time meeting between the two programs. Indiana has won the last two battles with the Buckeyes, including a 31-7 victory over OSU last season in Bloomington. Indiana won eight of the 10 matchups on the day, with current Hoosiers Andrae Hernandez, Brandon Becker, Max Dean, Marc Bennett and Justin Curran taking victories. Becker earned a major decision to take bonus points, while Bennett earned a fall in the 174-pound matchup.
LAST TIME OUT
The 14th-ranked Indiana wrestling team suffered its first dual-meet defeat of the 2006-07 season, falling on the road to Big Ten foe Illinois, 22-9. Illinois moved to 6-0 (2-0 Big Ten), while the Hoosiers fell to 10-1 (1-1 Big Ten).
The Hoosiers held an early 6-3 lead on victories by No. 12 Marc Bennett and Josh Buuck, but Illinois rebounded by winning four of five matches that featured ranked wrestlers from both teams to earn its second Big Ten bout. The Fighting Illini topped No. 8 Northwestern, 21-13, on Friday, Jan. 19, while the Hoosiers topped Purdue 25-12. Trevor Perry earned points for the Hoosiers in the final matchup of the day with a 6-5, tiebreak victory over Matt Winterhalter at 174. Four of Illinois' seven wins in the meet were by one or two points.
MEDIA INFORMATION
Indiana Athletic Media Relations Staff Assistant Matt Brady is the primary media relations contact for the wrestling team. He can be reached at his office (812-856-0215), via cell phone (413-222-2788) or e-mail (mlbrady@indiana.edu).
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State enters this weekend winner of its last four matches, including three against teams that Indiana has beaten this season. After besting Purdue 28-6 in its Big Ten opener, OSU went to the Wendy's Duals and finished 3-0. The Buckeyes topped Ohio (26-10), Appalachian State (30-12) and Ashland (25-15) last weekend to move to 5-3 overall on the season. Four Buckeye starters are ranked, led by No. 3 Mike Pucillo at 184.
INSIDE THE MATCHUPS
The only matchup this season between Indiana and Ohio State starters came in the wrestleback of the Michigan State Open, when Matt Coughlin defeated Jason Johnstone with a 5-3 decision. However, Johnstone has moved up to the 157-pound class and will likely go up against Brandon Becker on Sunday.
Coughlin and No. 14 Max Dean will each look to break two-match losing streaks against ranked opponents against the Buckeyes. Coughlin is facing his third consecutive ranked wrestler, as he was defeated by No. 11 Jake Patacsil in a 4-3, tiebreak decision against Purdue, and was bested by No. 12 Troy Tirapelle on Sunday, Jan. 21. Three of Coughlin's six losses this season have been by a single point.
Dean lost each of his matches last weekend by a single point, the second of which came on a takedown in the final minute by then-No. 14 Roger Smith-Bergsrud. Dean, who has a 22-8 record on the year, will match up against senior Chris Vondruska, who is ranked 16th, on Sunday.
The 184-pound bout should prove an interesting one, as No. 12 Marc Bennett matches up with No. 3 Mike Pucillo. Bennett won both of his Big Ten matches last weekend, with a third-period pin of Purdue's Nick Skinner and an 8-6 decision over No. 15 John Dergo. Pucillo also pinned Skinner in the third period when the Boilers and Bucks met on Jan. 14.
MAKING HIS MARC
Junior Marc Bennett (184) has been a standout for the Hoosiers so far this season, posting a team-leading 27 wins on the year. Bennett started the year by taking the Michigan State Open title, and has also placed in Las Vegas (12/2) and at Midlands (12/30) this season. A year ago, the Martinsville, Ind., native finished his year with a 12-16 record, including a 2-6 mark in the Big Ten, while competing at 174. Last weekend, Bennett opened his 2006-07 conference campaign 2-0, the same as he did in 2005-06 at 174.
Bennett has already given the Hoosiers more wins at 184 in conference meets than they had all of last season - IU was 1-7 at 184 a year ago. The class is a stacked one for the conference, as the top four wrestlers in the nation - Northwestern's Jake Herbert, Minnesota's Roger Kish, Ohio State's Mike Pucillo and Michigan's Tyrel Todd - are all Big Ten grapplers. Three others from the Big Ten, in addition to Bennett, are ranked in the top 20.
BUUCK IS BACK
Senior Josh Buuck saw his first action of the season as an attached wrestler at the Midlands Championships (12/29-30), going 2-2 and coming up one win shy of earning a place at the prestigious tournament. Buuck's loss in the championship bracket came at the hands of No. 4 Matt Fields of Iowa.
Since then, Buuck is one of just two Hoosier wrestlers (Marc Bennett is the other) to have posted a 3-0 record in the last three dual meets. Buuck took victories over David Pisarcik and John Wise last weekend to bring IU three dual points in each meet. In his Hoosier career, the Fort Wayne, Ind., native has a 46-26 record with 16 pins. He is expected to face Corey Morrison on Sunday as he looks to extend his season record to 9-2 and his dual record to 4-0.
PERRYING HIS OPPOSITION
Redshirt freshman Trevor Perry had a successful weekend in his first two matches in conference competition, going 2-0 with decisions over Jason Martin on Friday, Jan. 19, and Matt Winterhalter on Jan. 21. Perry will look to make it 3-0 in his Big Ten career when he squares off with junior Tommy Priestly on Sunday.
Perry won his first four matches at the Michigan State Open on Nov. 12, including a fall and a major decision, to advance to a finals matchup with Penn's Matt Herrington. The second-ranked Herrington took a close, 5-2 decision in the finals after recording two major decisions and two falls in his first four matches. Perry, who went 17-7 as a redshirt a year ago, defaulted Ohio State's Blake Maurer in the semifinals to face Herrington in the final match. The Davison, Mich., native is now 13-6 on the season with a 6-2 mark in dual meets.
ANGEL IS A DEVIL
Redshirt freshman Angel Escobedo (125) has posted an impressive debut season for the Hoosiers in 2006-07, carding a 24-3 record and a team-leading 11 pins on the season. With his victory at Midlands (12/30), he became the first Hoosier to take the title since Pat DeGain (HWT) in 2004 and the first freshman to win at Midlands since Mark Perry of Iowa and Jake Herbert of Northwestern won in 2004. It was the first title for Escobedo as an attached wrestler, though the redshirt freshman notched top-three finishes at both the Michigan State Open (11/12) and the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (12/2).
Escobedo has gained national recognition for his performance this year, and is now ranked in the top 12 in all of the five major polls, with two publications ranking the Griffith, Ind., native seventh. Escobedo's 11 pins place him tied for 10th in the IU record book for a single season. Escobedo, who went 1-1 last weekend, tallied a technical fall of junior Brandon Tucker on Friday bu was topped by undefeated sophomore Gabe Flores (16-0), who is currently ranked eighth in the nation. The redshirt freshman will face freshman Will Livingston (13-10) this weekend as he looks to get back in the win column.
TEN AGAIN
The Hoosiers tallied win number 10 of the season against the Boilers, as Indiana now owns a 10-1 dual meet record on the year. IU has won 10 or more meets in each of the last nine years dating back to 1998-99. 2006 also marks the second straight season that Indiana entered the Big Ten schedule 9-0. The 2005-06 Hoosiers also won their first two duals of conference action to begin the season 11-0, including a 31-7 victory over the Buckeyes.
HOOSIERS INK THREE RECRUITS
The Indiana wrestling team has signed three grapplers to National Letters of Intent, head coach Duane Goldman announced on Friday, Dec. 8. The Hoosiers will add Joe Fagiano (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick), Matt Ortega (Rio Rancho, N.M./Rio Rancho) and Reece Freeman (Bloomington, Ind./South) for the fall of 2007.
"All three of these individuals are great wrestlers and exceptional students," Goldman said. "They are dedicated, hard-working student-athletes with high goals - exactly the kind of people who we want representing Indiana."
Fagiano was the 2006 Illinois state champion at 215 pounds in 2006 and will be gunning for his second straight championship in 2007. He was named the 2006 East Suburban Catholic Conference Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning the conference title, and was is currently ranked 10th in the nation at 215 by Wrestling International Newsmagazine.
Ortega is a three-time New Mexico state champion and will seek a school-record fourth title in as many years in 2007. He helped Rio Rancho to a fourth-place finish at the Reno Tournament of Champions in December 2005, finishing seventh at 119 pounds in the event. Ortega won his first championship at 103 pounds and his second at 112 before moving up to 119 for his junior campaign. Ortega is currently the 12th-ranked wrestler by W.I.N.
Freeman was a teammate of current Hoosier freshmen Paul Young and Kurt Kinser at Bloomington South, helping the team to two sectional, regional and semi-state championships in his first three years. Freeman is the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 119 after going 46-2 and placing fifth in Indiana last year. He entered his senior campaign with a career record of 134-10 over three weight classes.
TOUGH DRAWS
Redshirt freshman Matt Coughlin had a tough opening weekend in conference action, as the Evansville, Ind., native faced No. 11 Jake Patacsil on Friday night and No. 12 Troy Tirapelle on Sunday. Coughlin lost each match by a single point, with the loss to Patacsil coming in the tiebreak period. Against Tirapelle, Coughlin entered the third period down 1-0, but scored a takedown early in the frame to go up 2-1. Tirapelle escaped, though, and a takedown with 37 seconds to go sealed the match.
Coughlin is now 23-6 on the season and is ranked 12th by Intermat/NWCA. Coughlin has faced nine ranked opponents so far this season and has a 4-5 record against opponents in the top 20. His only loss this season to a non-ranked opponent was in the semifinals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 2, when J.P. O'Connor took a 2-1 decision. O'Connor is currently ranked sixth in the nation after winning the SKLV Invite. Coughlin placed fifth at the prestigious event.
EARNING WOWS
Redshirt freshman Angel Escobedo was named Big Ten Co-Wrestler of the Week on Wednesday, Nov. 29, after going 5-0 at the Hoosier Duals on Nov. 25. Escobedo became the first IU wrestler to garner WOW honors since Joe Dubuque (125) won the award on Dec. 22, 2004.
BOUNCE BACK BECKER
After injury defaulting out of the Midlands Championships, No. 7 Brandon Becker sat out Indiana's meet against Eastern Illinois, but returned to action by splitting his first two matches of conference action, topping Jacob Murphy of Purdue by major decision, then being topped 9-4 by top-ranked Mike Poeta of Illinois.
Becker has a 19-4 record on the year wth six major decisions, four technical falls and three pins. He is looking to become the fourth wrestler in IU history to earn three straight All-America selections.
ANDRAE THE GIANT
In an up-and-down year for the returning NCAA qualifier, sophomore Andrae Hernandez (133) had a solid opening weekend of Big Ten action against Purdue and Illinois. He began the weekend with a 12-1 major decision over Purdue's Sean Schmaltz to help IU jump out to an early 9-0 lead over the rival Boilers. He followed that with an epic battle against No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy on Sunday, with Kennedy taking a 5-4 decision on a takedown with eight seconds remaining in the match.
Hernandez now sits at 19-9 with a 9-2 record in dual meets on the year. He will look to improve to 2-1 in the Big Ten with junior T.J. Enright on the horizon for Saturday's meet. Hernandez is tied for the team lead with six major decisions and leads the squad with five technical falls.
