Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Hit Road for Final Two Duals
2/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 16, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE
Indiana wrestling finishes its regular season with a pair of road dual meets, at Michigan State on Friday, Feb. 16, and at Wisconsin on Sunday, Feb. 18. The Hoosiers are coming off a pair of dual victories last weekend to improve to 12-4 on the year and 3-3 in the Big Ten.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Hoosiers and Spartans will meet for the 66th time on Friday night, with Michigan State holding a 44-18-3 edge. MSU has gone 5-1-1 in its last seven meetings with Indiana, but the Hoosiers took the last meeting, 33-4, on Feb. 12, 2005. In that matchup, current Hoosiers Brandon Becker, Max Dean and Josh Buuck all scored victories, while No. 5 Joe Dubuque topped No. 3 Nick Simmons at 125. IU did not face the Spartans in 2006.
Indiana faces Wisconsin for the 50th time on Sunday afternoon, with the Badgers holding a 25-24 edge in the all-time series. IU did not face UW in 2006, but the Badgers topped Indiana 18-16 on Feb. 6, 2005. In that match, No. 15 Brandon Becker topped No. 10 Tyler Turner at 157. Before that dual, the Hoosiers had defeated Wisconsin six times out of the previous seven.
LAST TIME OUT
The Indiana wrestling team scored its second straight win, upsetting No. 12 Northwestern on Sunday, Feb. 11, 28-11. Redshirt freshman Trevor Perry scored the decisive victory at 174, pinning No. 15 Nick Hayes in 22 seconds to clinch the dual meet victory for the Hoosiers.
Indiana (12-4, 3-3 Big Ten) came fast out of the gate, with No. 7 Angel Escobedo and No. 20 Andrae Hernandez scoring victories at 125 and 133, respectively. Escobedo scored a takedown with 13 seconds remaining in the match to earn a 4-2 victory over No. 20 Brandon Precin, moving to 28-4 on the year.
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 SPARTANS
Michigan State enters the weekend with a 3-8 record in dual meets, including a 2-4 record in the Big Ten. MSU has bested conference opponents Purdue and Michigan this season. Last weekend, the Spartans lost a pair of duals, falling to No. 1 Minnesota, 35-4, and No. 10 Iowa, 33-9. Four Spartans are ranked, including three - No. 7 Franklin Gomez (125), No. 2 Nick Simmons (133) and No. 4 Andy Simmons (141) - in the top seven. Joe Williams is ranked 10th in the nation at 184.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS
Wisconsin is 18-2 in dual meets on the year, including a 4-2 record in conference action. The Badgers were bested by Illinois on Sunday, Feb. 11, 21-16 in Madison. The Illini won all three matchups between ranked wrestlers in the dual, including upset wins by Cassio Pero (141) and Patrick Bond (197). Six Badgers are currently ranked in the top 20, led by No. 5 Craig Henning at 157.
INSIDE THE MATCHUPS
Sophomore Andrae Hernandez has the tallest task of the weekend for the Hoosiers, as he is slated to square off with a pair of ranked wrestlers, including No. 1 Nick Simmons against Michigan State. Hernandez and Simmons faced off at the Midlands Championships (12/30), with Simmons taking a 2-0 decision. Hernandez will then face No. 14 Zach Tanelli on Sunday. Hernandez is 0-4 against ranked wrestlers this year, with all four of those losses coming to wrestlers in the top 10. Three of those four losses were by two points or fewer.
The tandem of Nick Walpole and Scott Kelly will take on No. 4 Andy Simmons and No. 10 Kyle Ruschell this weekend, respectively, in a pair of crucial matchups for the Hoosiers. Last weekend, Kelly went 0-2 for IU at 141, but put together a hard-fought effort in an 8-4 loss to top-ranked and undefeated Nick Lang of Northwestern.
Junior Marc Bennett (184) faces two ranked wrestlers for the second straight weekend, as he is scheduled to match up with No. 10 Joe Williams and No. 17 Trevor Brandvold. The good news for Bennett is that he has already faced, and defeated, each of his weekend opponents this season. Bennett topped Williams 8-3 at the Michigan State Open (11/12) and bested Brandvold 9-6 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (12/2). Over his last five matches, Bennett has faced the top four wrestlers in the nation, posting an 0-4 record against them. Bennett is 5-5 this season against ranked wrestlers.
Bennett is not the only Hoosier who has seen his weekend opponents before. Matt Coughlin (149) bested Tim Hammer, 4-3, in the opening round of the MSU Open (11/12) and topped UW's Tyler Turner, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (12/1).
Likewise, Brandon Becker (157) dealt UW's Craig Henning his only loss at the Las Vegas Invitational (12/1) with a 4-2 victory in the semifinals. Max Dean (165) defeated Michigan State's Rocky Cozart and Nate Everhart (197) bested Nick Palmieri at the Michigan State Open.
In possibly the most intriguing match of the weekend, No. 9 Angel Escobedo faces No. 7 Franklin Gomez in a matchup between two of the top redshirt freshmen in the country. Ironically, Gomez and Escobedo both competed in the Michigan State Open (11/12) and the Midlands Championships (12/29-30), but have not gone head-to-head this season. Gomez won the MSU Open, while Escobedo finished third, while Escobedo won Midlands and Gomez finished third. Likewise, each grappler is 4-2 in conference action this year and all four of his losses this season have come to ranked opponents.
PERRY IMPRESSIVE
Redshirt freshman Trevor Perry (174) is the lone Hoosier that remains undefeated in conference action this year. Perry is 6-0 in Big Ten bouts after garnering wins over Michigan's Jordan Sherrod and Northwestern's 15th-ranked Nick Hayes. Perry clinched IU's victory over Northwestern by pinning Hayes just 22 seconds into the bout. Perry, who is now 18-6 on the season, is looking to become the first IU grappler since Viktor Sveda (1998-99) to go 8-0 in conference. The Davison, Mich., native is slated to face unranked wrestlers in both his matches this weekend, as Michigan State's John Murphy and Greg Goidosik are each hovering near .500, while Wisconsin's Matt Maciag, a junior, is 10-4 on the year. Perry has already faced Goidosik this season, posting a 10-2 major decision over the junior at the Michigan State Open (11/12), where Perry placed second.
BOUNCE BACK BECKER
After injury defaulting out of the Midlands Championships, No. 7 Brandon Becker sat out Indiana's meet against Eastern Illinois. Since then, Becker has won five of his last seven matches, with his defeats coming at the hands of No. 1 Mike Poeta, 9-4, and No. 3 C.P. Schlatter, 6-2. Last weekend, Becker earned 10 dual points for IU, pinning Braden L'Amoreaux of Michigan and posting a major decision over Northwestern's Dominic Marella. He is slated to face rival Craig Henning on Sunday in a rematch of the semifinals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (12/2). Becker gave fifth-ranked Henning his only loss of the season with a 4-2 decision to advance to the finals.
Becker has a 21-5 record on the season, 10-2 in dual-meet competition, with seven major decisions, four technical falls and four pins. He is looking to become the fourth wrestler in IU history to earn three straight All-America selections.
ANGEL IS A DEVIL
Redshirt freshman Angel Escobedo (125) went 2-0 over the weekend, and earned his 13th pin of the season against Michigan's Michael Watts. Escobedo is now all alone in eighth on the all-time, single-season pins list. The Griffith, Ind., native needs one more pin to move into a tie for sixth on the list with Roger Chandler (1997) and Bill Paxton (1986). Escobedo needs seven more pins to tie all-time leader Rod Chamberlin (1981).
Against Northwestern (2/11) Escobedo earned a 4-2 decision over No. 20 Brandon Precin to move to 28-4 on the season. He is looking to become the first Hoosier since Pat DeGain, in 2004, to eclipse the 30-win mark. Escobedo is now 3-4 against ranked wrestlers this season.
TEN AGAIN
The Hoosiers tallied win number 10 of the season against Purdue, as Indiana now owns a 12-4 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.
OFF THE MATT
After suffering close defeats in each of his first five Big Ten duals, redshirt freshman Matt Coughlin got his first conference win with a 5-3 decision against Marty Gould of Northwestern. After starting the season 21-2, Coughlin has gone just 3-8 over his last 11 matches, with six of those losses coming to ranked wrestlers. Of Coughlin's 34 matches this season, 19 have been decided by two points or fewer, with six going to overtime.
Coughlin is now 24-10 on the season and is ranked 19th by Intermat/NWCA. He has faced 12 ranked opponents so far this season and has a 4-8 record against opponents in the top 20.
BUUCK IS BACK
Senior Josh Buuck (HWT) will participate in his final two dual meets this weekend. Buuck currently holds a 3-2 conference record and an 9-5 record overall, and nearly pulled off a strong upset on Sunday, Feb. 11. Facing No. 4 Dustin Fox of Northwestern, Buuck was topped 3-2 and came up just short of scoring a last-minute takedown to win. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native has a 47-29 career record for Indiana.
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 is the only Hoosier to earn the honor this season and he became the first IU wrestler to garner WOW honors since Joe Dubuque (125) won the award on Dec. 22, 2004.
HOOSIERS INK THREE RECRUITS
The Indiana wrestling team has signed three grapplers to National Letters of Intent. 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 2006-07 season.
"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.
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.
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.
