Indiana University Athletics
Hoosier Grapplers Host Pair of Conference Duals
2/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 8, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
SETTING THE SCENE
Indiana wrestling hosts its final two events of the year at University Gym this weekend, as the Hoosiers play host to Big Ten foes Michigan and Northwestern. IU is 10-4 in dual-meet action on the season, including a 1-3 mark in the conference. The Hoosiers are 6-2 in home duals this season, including a 1-2 record at University Gym.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Hoosiers and Wolverines will meet for the 79th time on Friday, with Michigan leading the all-time series 55-21-2. Michigan has won eight straight over IU, including a 31-9 victory last year in Ann Arbor. In that meet, IU held an early 6-3 lead after Andrae Hernandez pinned Jim Schutich with 15 seconds remaining in their match, but Michigan won seven of the remaining eight bouts to take a 31-9 victory.
Indiana faces Northwestern on Sunday for the 73rd time, and the Hoosiers hold an edge in the all-time series, 41-27-4. The Hoosiers have won seven of the last eight matchups and nine of the last 11, but the Wildcats won last year's meeting 19-15. In that meet, the key battle was between Jake Herbert and Marc Bennett at 174, with second-ranked Herbert pinning Bennett at the 1:32 mark. Each squad won five matchups in the dual.
LAST TIME OUT
The Indiana wrestling team was defeated by NC State 22-18 on Saturday, Feb. 3, at University Gym. No. 8 Angel Escobedo earned his 12th pin of the season in the match, while Brandon Becker, Max Dean, Trevor Perry and Marc Bennett also earned victories. NC State earned a pair of pins and a major decision to take the upset victory. That followed a defeat at the hands of top-ranked Minnesota, 29-7, on Friday, Feb. 2. Perry and true freshman Nathan Everhart scored wins for the Hoosiers in that dual.
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 WOLVERINES
Michigan enters the weekend with a 1-7-1 mark overall and an 0-4 mark in conference action. The Wolverines, though, have faced some of the toughest competition in the country, facing nine opponents in the NWCA/Intermat Top 25 and six ranked in the top 10. Michigan defeated current No. 23 Lehigh in November and tied No. 5 Hofstra on Jan. 6. Josh Churella (149), Eric Tannenbaum (165), Steve Luke (174) and Tyrel Todd (184) are currently ranked in the nation's top five in their weight classes.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Northwestern enters the weekend with an 11-7 mark, including a 1-4 record in the Big Ten. The Wildcats went 0-2 last weekend, falling on the road to Penn State (25-8) and Ohio State (18-16). The Wildcats' lone conference victory is a 19-18 triumph over Wisconsin on Jan. 26, when they rallied to win the last four bouts to score a resounding victory. NU boasts two of the top wrestlers in the country, as both Jake Lang (141) and Jake Herbert (184) are the top-ranked grapplers in their classes and both are undefeated on the season. Mike Tamillow is ranked second at 197 and Dustin Fox is fourth at heavyweight.
INSIDE THE MATCHUPS
Junior Marc Bennett (184) faces the toughest task of the weekend, as he is slated to go head-to-head with two of the top four wrestlers in the nation in Michigan's Tyrel Todd (No. 4) and Northwestern's Jake Herbert (No. 1).
Bennett has already faced the second- and third-ranked wrestlers in the nation in Minnesota's Roger Kish and Ohio State's Mike Pucillo.
Nathan Everhart (197) is also slated to take on two ranked opponents this weekend, as he will face Michigan's Nick Roy (No. 19) and NU's Mike Tamillow (No. 2). Everhart faced Roy in the semifinals of the Michigan State Open on Nov. 12, with Roy winning 5-3.
This weekend's matches at 141 pounds will be a case of two extremes, as the tandem of Nick Walpole and Scott Kelly will face winless Justin Czrzanowski on Friday and undefeated Ryan Lang on Sunday. Kelly has started the last three duals for the Hoosiers, and has a 1-4 dual mark on the year. Walpole is 16-9, 6-3 in duals, in his first season for IU.
The road gets no easier for Matt Coughlin (149), who will face No. 3 Josh Churella on Friday night, as he tries to get back on the winning track. Max Dean (165) broke a four-match winless streak against NC State's Obie Simpson in the second tiebreak period, but will face the task of trying to hand No. 2 Eric Tannenbaum (17-0) his first loss of the season.
Trevor Perry has won five matches in a row for IU, and will try to improve his stock as he squares off with No. 15 Nick Hayes on Sunday. Michigan's third-ranked Steve Luke is unlikely to start for the Wolverines on Friday at 174, so Perry will face redshirt freshman Jordan Sherrod in trying to move to 5-0 in conference action.
In his final home meet as a Hoosier, heavyweight Josh Buuck will square off with No. 4 Dustin Fox on Sunday. Buuck narrowly missed knocking off No. 10 Jainor Palma of NC State on Saturday, Feb. 3, falling by a score of 4-3.
BUUCK IS BACK
Senior Josh Buuck (HWT) will participate in his final two home meets this weekend. Buuck saw his first action of the season as an attached wrestler at Midlands (12/29-30), going 2-2 and coming up one win shy of earning a place at the prestigious tournament. Buuck currently holds a 2-1 conference record and an 8-4 record overall, and nearly pulled off a strong upset on Saturday, Feb. 3. Facing No. 10 Jainor Palma of NC State, Buuck was topped 4-3 on a takedown in the final 10 seconds and nearly registered both a takedown and an escape in the final minute of the match. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native has a 46-28 record over his four seasons for Indiana.
PERRYING HIS OPPOSITION
Redshirt freshman Trevor Perry (174) is the lone Hoosier that remains undefeated in conference action this year. Perry is 4-0 in Big Ten bouts after posting a 12-7 decision over Jeremy Larson, who entered the match ranked 20th in the 165-pound class. Perry added an 11-6 victory over NC State's Rick Brownlee on Saturday afternoon, extending his winning streak to five matches. Perry will face another tough conference weekend, as he faces Michigan's Jordan Sherrod and Northwestern's Nick Hayes, who is ranked 15th in the nation. The Davison, Mich., native is now 16-6 on the season with a 8-2 mark in dual meets.
ANGEL IS A DEVIL
Redshirt freshman Angel Escobedo (125) bounced back from a 3-1 loss to No. 4 Jayson Ness on Friday, Feb. 2, by posting his 12th pin of the season, against NC State's Taylor Cummings, on Saturday, Feb. 3. Escobedo is tied with Pat Cassidy (2000) and Chip Elderkin (1987) for eighth on the all-time single-season pins list. The Griffith, Ind., native needs two more pins to move into a tie for sixth on the list with Roger Chandler (1997) and Bill Paxton (1986). Escobedo, who is now 26-4 on the year, needs seven more pins to tie all-time leader Rod Chamberlin (1981).
MAKING HIS MARC
Junior Marc Bennett (184) has been a standout for the Hoosiers so far this season, posting a 28-6 record. Bennett started the year by taking the Michigan State Open title (11/12), 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, but has blossomed at 184 this year. Bennett is 5-3 on the year against ranked wrestlers, including two wins over grapplers who were ranked in the top seven. Bennett is looking to become the first Hoosier to win 30 matches in a season since Pat DeGain (HWT) in 2004.
TEN AGAIN
The Hoosiers tallied win number 10 of the season against Purdue, as Indiana now owns a 10-4 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.
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.
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.
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 three of his last five matches, with his defeats coming at the hands of No. 1 Mike Poeta, 9-4, and No. 3 C.P. Schlatter, 6-2. Becker defeated No. 19 Kody Hamrah on Saturday, Feb. 3, 9-4. Becker has a 21-5 record on the season, 10-2 in dual-meet competition, 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.
HAVE AN EVERHART
True freshman Nate Everhart has put together a solid debut campaign at 197, posting an 18-11 record overall and a 5-4 mark in dual meets. Against Minnesota on Friday, Feb. 2, Everhart earned his first Big Ten victory, posting a major decision over Yura Malamura.
The Tinley Park, Ill., native has been a pleasant surprise for the Hoosiers since traveling to Las Vegas on Dec. 1 for the Cliff Keen Invitational. There, he nearly knocked off No. 1 Max Askren in a 5-4 decision. Six of Everhart's 11 losses have come to ranked wrestlers this season. He earned places at both Michigan State (11/12) and Missouri (11/19) this season.
