Indiana University Athletics
#IUWR Preview: vs. #17/18 Northwestern
1/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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Live Blog - Indiana vs. Northwestern
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Hoosiers (2-4, 0-3 B1G) and Midlands Most Outstanding Wrestler Taylor Walsh (165 lbs) will face the Wildcats of Northwestern (8-4, 0-3 B1G) this Sunday, January 18. Competion begins at 1pm at University Gymnasium. The match will consist of one ranked bout when #4/5 Taylor Walsh takes on #7/6 Pierce Harger in the 165-pound weight class. This will be their third match-up of the season -- Walsh has won both. You can follow along with the action on Twitter @IUWrestling1, the live blog on IUHoosiers.com or watch on BTN Plus (btn2go.com). All rankings are InterMat/WIN Magazine.
Projected Lineups |
INDIANA
HOOSIERS |
Year |
Record |
NORTHWESTERN
WILDCATS |
Year |
Record |
125 |
- |
- |
- |
Garrison White |
Jr. |
10-9 |
133 |
Jr. |
2-10 |
#19/- Dominick Malone |
Jr. |
15-10 |
|
141 |
r-Fr. |
8-12 |
Jameson Oster |
Jr. |
14-6 |
|
149 |
r-So. |
6-10 |
#1/1 Jason Tsirtsis |
r-So. |
23-0 |
|
157 |
r-Fr. |
11-11 |
Ben Sullivan |
r-So. |
5-8 |
|
165 |
#4/5 Taylor Walsh |
r-Sr. |
24-2 |
#7/6 Pierce Harger |
Sr. |
18-3 |
174 |
#17/14 Nate Jackson |
r-So. |
17-8 |
- |
- |
- |
184 |
So. |
9-11 |
Mitch Sliga |
r-Fr. |
8-11 |
|
197 |
Sr. |
17-10 |
#10/9 Alex Polizzi |
Sr. |
19-5 |
|
285 |
r-Jr. |
6-8 |
#4/6 Mike McMullan |
Sr. |
16-2 |
NORTHWESTERN SERIES
Sunday marks the 81st time the Hoosiers and Wildcats will face each other in a dual meet. Indiana leads the series 45-31-4. The first meeting in the series dates back to 1923, when Indiana defeated Northwestern 16-9. Indiana won the first six meetings and didn't lose for the first 18 matches (17-0-1). Although the series started heavily in IU's favor, Northwestern has won the last four matches.
THE 2014-15 MATCH-UP
The Wildcats have five wrestlers ranked in at least one poll, while Jason Tsirtsis is ranked No. 1 in maojr polls. There will only be one bout consisting of two ranked wrestlers -- #4/5 Taylor Walsh (24-2) will take on #7/6 Pierce Harger (18-3). This marks the third time this season that the two grapplers have faced off. Walsh has been victorious on both accounts -- the most recent was to claim the 165-pound Midlands Championships.
NATIONALLY-RANKED HOOSIERS
Two Hoosiers are ranked amongst the country's elite this week (InterMat/WIN Magazine):
#4/5 Taylor Walsh (165 lbs)
#17/14 Nate Jackson (174 lbs)
BTN PLUS
The Hoosier wrestlers will appear six times on BTN Plus (formerly Big Ten Digital Network) for the 2014-15 season.
BTN Plus programming includes non-televised games and events available on BTN2Go with a purchase of a BTN Plus subscription. BTN Plus content features live games produced by students at Big Ten universities. A subscription to BTN Plus on BTN2Go does not require a Big Ten Network TV subscription with a TV provider (from BTN website).
You can subscribe for a school pass for $9.95/month ($79.95/year) or for all of BTN Plus content for $14.95/month ($119.95/year) (Note: All options automatically renew).
PIN KING
Redshirt senior Taylor Walsh is continuting his impressive pinning ways. After leading the country last season and settng an Indiana single-season school record with 26 pins, Walsh is already well on his way with 18 pins this season. With 18 pins on the year, Walsh is in a tie for third most in a Hoosier season and the NCAA leader for the 2014-15 season. He is tied with Kurt Kinser - 18 (2008) and only trails Rod Chamberlin - 19 (1981) and himself - 26 (2014).
After picking up five wins at the Midlands Championships, Walsh now has 118 career wins. This moved the 165-pounder into eighth place on the all-time Indiana wins list. He needs nine more to break into the top-five.
This season Walsh became Indiana's all-time pin leader. At the end of the 2013-14 season, Walsh was tied with Viktor Sveda (1999-2002) with 47 pins. In his first bout of this season, Walsh captured the record and is only expanding his lead in the record books. Currently he has 65 pins in his career.
SHER SOME LOVE, TAYLOR
Luke Sheridan has joined teammate Taylor Walsh in the top-ten all-time pins list. Sheridan is currently in a tie for tenth with 31 career pins.
The senior has 10 pins thus far in the 2014-15 season. He only needs four more to jump into the top-ten single-season pins list. His 10 pins are tied for fourth in Division I for the 2014-15 season. He has an average pin time of 1:19, which is the best average for any wrestler with seven or more pins.
SOPHOMORE SENSATION
Nate Jackson is having an outstanding (redshirt) sophomore season -- he has earned podium spots in three tournaments. The 174-pounder was champion at the Keystone Classic (Penn.), runner-up at the Harold Nichols Open (Iowa State) and finished in eighth at the Midlands Championships (Northswestern).
In nearly half of Jackson's victories (7-of-17), he has won by major decision, outscoring opponents 100-38 in such matches.
In the national rankings, he is ranked as high as No. 14 (WIN Magazine) for the 174-pound weight class. He is also ranked No. 17 for InterMat and 19th in The Open Mat polls.
SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE
Hoosier wrestling is active in the social media world. Up-to-the-minute news, team notes, live match results and much more can be found by following @IUWrestling1 on Twitter. In addition, `like' the team's official Facebook page by searching "Indiana University Wrestling" and check for news on IUHoosiers.com.
Four-time IU All-American & national champion Angel Escobedo's pursuit for Olympic Gold in Rio (2016) can be tracked on the Twitterverse as well, follow @driven2dominate.
Media Contact: Riley Greene, rigreene@indiana.edu
Players Mentioned
