Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Host #2 Iowa Friday Night
1/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 4, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Hoosier Wrestling's first home dual of 2012 brings the #2 Iowa Hawkeyes (6-0, 1-0) to University Gym Friday night (Jan. 6) for a 7 p.m. showdown. Indiana (6-1, 0-1) is coming off a 13th-place finish at the Southern Scuffle. It will be Military Appreciation Night on Friday.
IUHoosiers.com will be hosting an interactive live blog of the match. All bout results will be posted on Twitter as well (@IUWrestling1).
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
125 lbs - Zach Zimmer (8-6) vs. #2 Matt McDonough (15-1)
133 lbs - Joe Duca (6-10) vs. #4 Tony Ramos (15-1)
141 lbs - Matt Ortega (18-8) vs. #3 Montell Marion (14-1)
149 lbs - Taylor Walsh (18-6) vs. Mark Ballweg (8-3) or #11 Mike Kelly (11-3)
157 lbs - Ryan Konz (5-8) vs. Nick Moore (9-3)
165 lbs - Preston Keiffer (5-3) vs. #10 Mike Evans (14-2)
174 lbs - Cheney Dale (5-11) or Ryan LeBlanc (20-5) vs. #8 Ethen Lofthouse (8-2)
184 lbs - Luke Sheridan (9-8) vs. Jeremy Fahler (7-4) or Vinnie Wagner (4-4)
197 lbs - #4 Matt Powless (20-3) vs. #15 Grant Gambrall (6-2) or Tomas Lira (8-5)
285 lbs - Jowan Gill (4-10) or Adam Chalfant (0-0) vs. #7 Bobby Telford (14-1)
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Hawkeyes come to town winners of their last 83 dual matches with the last defeat coming back in 2008. As many as eight nationally-ranked wrestlers will take the mat donning a black singlet Friday night at University Gym.
HEAVYWEIGHT HOOSIER ADDED
Native Hoosier Adam Chalfant (Winchester, Ind.) has enrolled in classes and will join the IU Wrestling team for the spring semester after spending last season at Harper College in Illinois. At Harper, Chalfant posted a 24-2 mark and finished third at the JUCO Nationals as the HC Hawks won the non-scholarship National Championship.
Chalfant is expected to compete immediately for the starting heavyweight spot. He won an Indiana State Title in 2009 and compiled an overall high school record of 146-19.
SEVEN UP, SEVEN DOWN
Matt Powless and Taylor Walsh have started all seven duals; and have had their had raised in victory after each of those duals. Ryan LeBlanc is also perfect in dual competition this season, going 6-0 (sat out the Ohio state bout match due to injury).
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 249-128-5 (.658).
POWLESS APPROACHING TOP TEN
Returning All-American Matt Powless has racked up 109 wins thus far in his career, putting him just two victories away from IU's all-time top ten. Powless 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 nine falls for Walsh are four shy of the single-season top-10.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
A year after Matt Powless led the country with 13 major decisions in 2010-11, Taylor Walsh is making a run to top the NCAA in pins early on this season. Walsh's nine falls slot him sixth nationally and tied for most in the Big Ten.
Several Hoosiers are also amongst the Big Ten's leaders in conference statistical rankings:
• Big Ten Wins: LeBlanc/Powless - 20 wins, t-3rd; Ortega/Walsh - 18 wins, t-7th
• Big Ten Major Decisions: Ortega/Powless - 6 MDs, T-6th
Players Mentioned
