Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Southern Scuffle (Dec. 29-30)
Escobedo and Everhart Do It Again, Bring Back Titles
12/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 30, 2009
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Two champions, three finalists, seven placers and a third-place finish in the team standings ... That is what the No. 13 Indiana University wrestling team accomplished the last two days at the 2009 Southern Scuffle.
Angel Escobedo, ranked second nationally at 125 lbs., concluded his individual title run by avenging his loss to No. 1 Troy Nickerson (Cornell) in last season's NCAA semifinals, defeating the defending national champion when Nickerson suffered an injury in the early goings and could not continue. Escobedo has run his undefeated season record to 19-0, and is all but assured to be slotted as the nation's top-ranked 125-pounder next week. The Griffith, Ind., native also defeated No. 3 Zach Sanders, 8-2, in the semifinals.
Escobedo began the championship round by putting IU on top of the podium, and Nate Everhart ended the evening the same way by earning the heavyweight crown. Everhart tallied five victories en route to his championship, inflating his flawless season mark to 21-0. He topped Scott Steele of the U.S. Naval Academy, 3-2, in the finals.
It marks the second time this season in which both Escobedo and Everhart have won individual championships at a nationally-prominent tournament, having each done so earlier this year at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Kurt Kinser made a splash as well, advancing to the 157-pound championship match. The Bloomington High School South product's biggest win came over Bloomsburg's Matt Moley, who is ranked third nationally. With a 1-1 score late in the third period, Kinser garnered a takedown in the final seconds to earn a 3-1 triumph. He then came up just shy of snagging Indiana's third individual title, falling to No. 7 Thomas Scotton (North Carolina), 2-1, in the fourth tiebreaker.
Paul Young and Trevor Perry each placed fourth in the competition. They combined for five pins during the two-day tournament. Young's season pin total is now a team-high nine falls while Perry has stuck 28 opponents in his career, the eighth most in school history.
Eric Cameron and Matt Powless could also be found on the medals stand, both going out with a win in the seventh place match. Cameron and Powless each racked up five victories the last two days.
The Cream and Crimson receive little rest after their stellar performance at the Southern Scuffle, returning to action just three days later with a dual match at West Virginia on Jan. 2 at Noon EST.
DAY ONE RECAP
Six Hoosiers advanced to the quarterfinals during day one of the 2009 Southern Scuffle. Angel Escobedo and Nate Everhart each remain undefeated on the season following Tuesday's action at 16-0 and 18-0, respectively.
Kurt Kinser, Paul Young, Trevor Perry and Eric Cameron are also quarterfinalists in their respective weight classes. As a team, Indiana is slotted 3rd out of 33 teams competing, including seven squads ranked in the national top-25.
Each team was allowed to enter 15 wrestlers into the competition, receiving team points from the top performer in each of the 10 weight classes.
For the Hoosiers, Escobedo tallied a pair of easy victories to place himself in the quarterfinals. The second-ranked 125-pound wrestler in the country began his day with a first-period pin of Andrew Zwirlein of Air Force. He followed that up with a 9-1 major decision in the round of 16.
The Bloomington High School South duo of Kinser (157 lbs.) and Young (165 lbs.) each picked up a two wins as well en route to their quarterfinals appearances. Kinser posted back-to-back major decisions while Young pinned both of his opponents, running his season total to a team-high nine falls.
Perry (174 lbs.) also made quick work of his foes, sticking them both for his fifth and sixth pins of the year. Meanwhile, Cameron (184 lbs.) had to get by three adversaries to reach the quarterfinals as he had a pigtail match. The Cincinnati, Ohio native just got past that pigtail match with a 3-1 decision in sudden victory. He then completed his day with two more decisions, 6-0 and 9-6.
Everhart rounds out the IU quarterfinalists by adding bonus points to the IU team total in both of his bouts, majoring his opponents in consecutive matches. Everhart is the top-seeded wrestler in the heavyweight bracket.
Geno Capezio (133 lbs.), Matt Coughlin (149 lbs.) and Matt Powless (197 lbs.) also garnered multiple wins on Tuesday. Capezio and Coughlin each went 2-2 on the day and are done while Powless split his two matches and is still in contention for third place. Click on the link above (will be provided soon) for complete results of how all the Hoosiers fared.
Wrestling is slated to get back going at 9 a.m. on Wednesday with the championship finals tentatively scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start. www.d1collegewrestling.net is covering the event with a live blog, while www.uncgspartans.com provides live results.
UPDATED SEASON RECORDS AND STATISTICS 
Players Mentioned
