Indiana University Athletics
Wrestling Season in Review
5/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
May 11, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - IU Wrestling finished the 2008-09 season ranked 22nd nationally with an overall dual-match record of 15-7-1. Angel Escobedo earned his third straight All-America recognition with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
RETURN TO THE STAND
With an overall record of 26-5, redshirt junior Angel Escobedo reached the All-America stand for the third time in as many seasons. The Griffith, Ind., native took fifth place in the 125-lbs. division to go along with his national championship in 2008 and a fourth-place showing as a freshman in 2007. Escobedo is the seventh Hoosier to earn three All-American honors and will look to become the first four-time All-American in school history next season.
SIX HEAD TO ST. LOUIS
Indiana earned six automatic bids to the NCAA Championships with their performance at the Big Tens. The half-dozen automatic qualifiers was the third most in the conference. Angel Escobedo snagged his second consecutive Big Ten title by defeating Northwestern's Brandon Precin in a 3-2 decision.
Kurt Kinser (157 lbs.), Paul Young (165 lbs.), Trevor Perry (174 lbs.), Eric Cameron (184 lbs.) and Nate Everhart (HWT) joined Escobedo in St. Louis for the national tournament. Perry made a run to the round of 12, coming up just one win shy of the All-America stand. Meanwhile, Kinser, Cameron and Everhart all picked up a victory at the NCAAs. The Hoosiers finished 24th as a team.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Three Hoosiers could be found in the final USA Today/Intermat/NWCA National Rankings, including: Angel Escobedo (#3), Kurt Kinser (#15) and Trevor Perry (#17).
BIG TEN RECOGNITION
Angel Escobedo and Kurt Kinser were each named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week once during the '08-'09 season. Kinser snagged the weekly honor following Indiana's first weekend of action. At the season-opening Michigan State Open, Kinser won the 157-lbs. division with a 5-0 record that included two pins and two wins over nationally-ranked opponents.
Escobedo won the award after his 3-0 effort at the IU Quad. His most impressive victory was a first-period pin of 20th-ranked Jay Ivanco.
ONE BOUT AWAY
The Hoosiers were just six points away from a 4-0 start in the Big Ten and a likely top-10 national ranking. Indiana's tie with Penn State combined with a pair of two-point losses to Ohio State and Michigan put IU at 1-2-1 in conference action, but just one bout or a few bonus points away from that 4-0 record.
KELLY PLACES AT MIDLANDS
Senior Scott Kelly earned a spot on the Midlands stand, placing eighth in the 141-lbs. division. Kelly faced four nationally-ranked opponents en route to his eighth-place showing. He not only defeated #17 Alex Krom of Maryland, 4-2, but also pushed #1 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) and #8 Ryan Williams (Old Dominion) to the limits by dropping 0-2 and 0-1 decisions to each, respectively.
SLAP OF THE MAT
Angel Escobedo increased his career pin total to 30 this season, placing him seventh all-time on the school career pin list. Trevor Perry also cracked the top-10 with his 24 career falls, slotting him in a tie with Pat Cassidy (1997-00) for 10th place all-time. Kurt Kinser and Nick Walpole put themselves right behind Perry on the list with 23 career pins, good for 11th most in IU history. Most impressive is the fact that all four of these Hoosiers are not done yet and still have at least one year of eligibility remaining to tack on to their totals (Kinser has two years remaining).
Walpole's 13 falls this season alone not only led the team, but also put his name in the records books as the 10th highest single-season total.
TAMING THE WILDCATS
The Hoosiers defeated #16 Northwestern on Feb. 15, 23-11. It marks the third straight win for IU over the Wildcats, and the Cream and Crimson's 10th victory in the last 11 meetings between the two schools. Indiana won seven of the 10 individual bouts on the night.
BOILER DOWN
Indiana defeated the archrival Boilermakers of Purdue 21-12 on Feb. 6. It marked IU's fourth win in the last five years against Purdue and increased the Hoosier lead to 52-31-3 in the all-time series. Redshirt freshman Matt Powless erupted the large crowd assembled at University Gym when his takedown with just four seconds left gave him a 3-1 decision over #13 Logan Brown and virtually sealed the team victory.
Players Mentioned
