Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Host #15 Illinois Sunday Afternoon
1/27/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 27, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University wrestling team (6-5) hosts a 2 p.m. EST dual meet with #15 Illinois (11-2) on Sunday (Jan. 29) inside University Gym.
Both BigTenNetwork.com and IUHoosiers.com will be providing coverage of the Indiana vs. Illinois dual meet on Sunday. A live video stream can found at BigTenNetwork.com (fee) while a interactive live blog is ran by IUHoosiers.com, free of charge. In addition, match results will be posted on Twitter, @iuwrestling1.
PROBABLE LINEUPS
125 lbs - Zach Zimmer, r-Fr. (9-9) vs. #5 Jesse Delgado, Fr. (22-3)
133 lbs - Joe Duca, r-Fr. (6-14) vs. #5 BJ Futrell, r-Jr. (19-3)
141 lbs - Matt Ortega, r-Sr. (20-9) vs. Daryl Thomas, r-Jr. (10-8) or Tucker Armstrong, r-Fr. (7-10)
149 lbs - Taylor Walsh, r-Fr. (21-7) vs. #16 Eric Terrazas, Sr. (17-5)
157 lbs - Sawyer Morris, r-Fr. (4-9) vs. Jackson Morse, So. (8-7) or Kyle Dooley, r-Jr. (4-5)
165 lbs - Preston Keiffer, r-Fr. (5-7) vs. #10 Conrad Polz, r-Jr. (13-1)
174 lbs - Ryan LeBlanc, r-So. (21-8) vs. #10 Jordan Blanton, r-Jr. (16-3)
184 lbs - Luke Sheridan, Fr. (11-10) vs. Tony Dallago, r-So. (14-7)
197 lbs - #3 Matt Powless, r-Sr. (23-3) or Joe Fagiano, r-Sr. (0-1) vs. #16 Mario Gonzalez (15-4)
285 lbs - Adam Chalfant, r-So. (14-8) vs. Pat Walker, r-Jr. (11-11)
SERIES INFO
The all-time series between the Indiana and Illinois wrestling programs is a tight one with the Fighting Illini holding a slim 40-38-1 advantage, including a 23-12 win in Champaign a year ago. The Hoosiers were victorious in the last Bloomington meeting, topping UI 22-13 in 2010.
POSSIBLE RUBBER MATCH
Sunday marks the first time IU will have seen Illinois this season, having not competed in any common open tournaments this season. In addition, there is little history of repeat match-ups in previous seasons.
The one exception is IU's Matt Ortega vs. Daryl Thomas. They split a pair of meetings during the 2009-10 season when both were competing at 133 pounds. Thomas took the first bout 18-12 in the Las Vegas Invitational before Ortega earned some revenge in the dual meet, posting a 7-4 winner of Thomas. The two may meet again this Sunay in the 141-pound bout.
GOLDMAN SEEKING WIN #250
Duane Goldman, the all-time winningest coach in school history, will reach a milestone with IU's next dual victory. It will be the 250th of his career. His career coaching record is 249-132-5 (.652).
COACHES PANEL RANKINGS
The NCAA released the first of three Coaches Panel Rankings this week. Earning a spot in the top-33 of your weight class goes a long way towards advancing to the NCAA Championships in March as the Coaches Panel Rankings are one of three criteria used to determine automatic bid allocations for each conference tournament.
Five Hoosiers have the inside track to qualifying for the NCAAs with their inclusion in the rankings first release:
• Matt Powless (197 lbs.) - #3
• Taylor Walsh (149 lbs.) - #20
• Ryan LeBlanc (174 lbs.) - #24
• Matt Ortega (141 lbs.) - #27
• Adam Chalfant (285 lbs.) - #28
POWLESS CRACKS TOP-10
With 112 career wins, Matt Powless has etched his name into the school's all-time record books, cracking the top-10 for career wins. By season's end, Powless has a legitimate shot at entering the top-five and is also in range of surpassing assistant coaches Pat DeGain (115) and Joe Dubuque (114); and volunteer coach Brandon Becker (119) on the all-time wins list.
Matt Ortega and Taylor Walsh are within striking distance of the record books as well. Ortega's 24 career pins place him seven away from cracking the top-10 while 10 falls for Walsh are three shy of the single-season top-10.
WALSH BUILDING A SOLID RESUME
Redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh has picked up some impressive wins this season and Intermat had noticed in their national rankings last week, slotting Walsh at #20 in the 149-pound division. Oddly, he dropped out of this week's rankings despite a 15-0 tech fall in his lone bout last week.
In addition to a 13-match winning streak, Walsh has wins over #5 Eric Grajales (Michigan), #11 Dan Kelly (Iowa) and a pair over #18 Dan Osterman (Michigan State), including a first-period fall in the most recent meeting.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
A year after Matt Powless led the country with 13 major decisions in 2010-11, Taylor Walsh is making a run to finish in the NCAA top-10 for pins this season. Walsh's 10 falls slot him seventh nationally and are tied for second-most in the Big Ten.
Several Hoosiers are also amongst the Big Ten's leaders in conference statistical rankings:
• Big Ten Wins: Powless - 23 wins, t-5th; LeBlanc/Walsh - 21 wins, t-10th;
• Big Ten Major Decisions: Ortega/Powless - 7 MDs, t-6th; LeBlanc - 6 MDs, t-10th
Players Mentioned
