Big Ten Opener vs. Wisconsin This Friday

1/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

Jan. 23, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University wrestling team (11-2, 0-0) begins the Big Ten schedule this weekend with a pair matches against conference foes. Friday night's contest versus No.13 Wisconsin (9-2-1, 0-1) will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network, beginning at 7 p.m. Just hours later, the Hoosiers will begin their trip to University Park, Pa. for a Sunday showdown with No. 8 Penn State (8-3, 0-1).

The Nittany Lions have been ranked as high as No. 1 this season and currently have eight grapplers ranked in their individual weight classes. There are seven Badgers present in the individual rankings.

Wisconsin/Penn State Match Notes

KINSER's KRUISING, PERRY's NOT FAR BEHIND
Redshirt freshman Kurt Kinser is on a roll to start this season, racking up a Big Ten-high 25 wins and 17 pins thus far. His 17 pins are the most in Division-I wrestling. During a 13-match winning streak he put together earlier this season, Kinser stuck 12 of his adversaries in that stretch. The Bloomington, Indiana native needs just three more falls to surpass Rod Chamberlin's (1981) school record for most pins in a season.

Redshirt sophomore Trevor Perry is also on the brink of putting his name into the all-time record books with his current 11-pin total (ranks 11th nationally), only one slap of the mat away from the top ten.

ANGEL REMAINS PERFECT
18 up, 18 down for Angel Escobedo in his undefeated 2007-08 campaign. He won his second consecutive Midlands championships and has earned bonus points in 12 of 13 dual matches this season, recording six pins, a tech fall, three major decisions and two forfeits.

GOOSE EGGS
The Hoosiers have posted five shutouts this season in dual matches. They began the season with a 44-0 drubbing at Wabash and picked up their second shutout at the Hoosier Duals, a 50-0 win over the University of the Cumberlands. Indiana then went to the F.I.T.E. Duals and downed Harper College and SIU-Edwardsville 49-0 and 51-0, respectively. Most recently was a 46-0 triumph over Gardner Webb at the Hoosier Quad.

PLAY 2?
After "playing 13" with the Hoosier football team in the fall, John Sandberg will compete in his second sport of the year, joining the wrestling team in early January following his final football game. Sandberg played in all 25 games the past two seasons with football, starting 24 of those contests at guard or center.

The Hoosiers' newest addition nearly pulled off a "hat trick" of sorts at the Hoosier Quad. After pinning his first two opponents, he nailed a throw that sent his third foe to his back in the opening minute, but the roles were reversed moments later as Sandberg was flipped over to end the threat of his third pin.

18 WINS, 3 (OR MORE) PINS AND A TITLE
Redshirt sophomore Matt Coughlin and true freshman Joe Fagiano have each compiled eighteen wins, three or more pins and a tourment title. Coughlin won five matches at the Michigan State Open for the 165-pound crown while Fagiano arose victorious in four matches at the Missouri Open for the Freshman/Sophomore division championship at 197-lbs.

BUILDING A RESUMÉ
As can be seen in the table to the right, there are four Hoosiers currently present in the NWCA/Intermat.com national rankings. Kurt Kinser, however, may be joining them soon as he leads the country with 17 pins and is tops among Big Ten wrestlers with 25 wins on the year. His biggest "resume builder" is a first period pin of Missouri's Josh Wagner, who is currently ranked No. 16 nationally.

HOOSIER QUAD SWEEP
Indiana had little trouble sweeping the competition at the Hoosier Quad, downing their trio of opponents by a combined score of 119-12.

Redshirt sophomore Angel Escobedo remained undefeated, improving to 18-0 with three pins on the day. Redshirt freshman Kurt Kinser moved within two pins of the all-time school record for most pins in a season, tallying his 17th fall on the year.

In addition to Escobedo and Kinser going 3-0 at the event, Matt Coughlin, Trevor Perry and Eric Cameron also earned a victory in each of the three dual matches.

Two-time All-American Brandon Becker arose victorious in both of his matches at 157-pounds while Paul Young pinned his foe in the first 157-lb. contest. The duo of Andrae Hernandez and Wesley Fike did the same in the 133-pound class as Fike took care of business in the first dual match while Hernandez grabbed the `W' in the next two.