Indiana University Athletics
Friday, November 10
Bloomington, Ind.
6:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Rider
Indiana Wrestling to Host Rider for Dual in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall
11/9/2023 9:00:00 AM | Wrestling
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Indiana Wrestling is set to begin their dual schedule this Friday with the team's home-opening match vs. Rider at 6 p.m. in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
This will be the second year in a row that Indiana wrestles a dual in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Last year, Indiana defeated No. 23 Princeton, 22-13, in the first dual in the historic venue since 2010.
Friday's match, like all home events for Indiana Wrestling, is free admission with first-come, first-served access to seating.
CITADEL SUCCESS:
-Indiana Wrestling began their season last weekend at The Battle at The Citadel invitational tournament on Sunday, Nov. 5.
-With its stellar performance in Charleston, the team set itself up well for a strong season.
-The Hoosiers came away victorious with a first-place finish and scoring 118.5 team points. Indiana competed against American, Appalachian State, Drexel, George Mason and The Citadel.
-Sixteen Hoosiers competed in the event across all weight classes. Each Indiana entrant at least advanced out of the first round.
-Seven Indiana wrestlers placed with three champions. Dan Fongaro (141), Graham Rooks (149) and Gabe Sollars (197) all won their brackets.
-Tyler Lillard (165) had a second-place finish. Cayden Rooks (133), Nico Bolivar (157) and Roman Rogotzke (184) all finished in third.
-Fongaro, Anthony Bahl (149), Aidan Torres (149) and Rogotzke all made their Indiana debut over the weekend.
BONUS-POINT BONANZA:
-Indiana put on quite a scoring display in Charleston, with a number of wins by major decision, tech fall or pin.
-Ten of Indiana's 16 entrants had at least one win that resulted in bonus points.
-Five different Hoosier wrestlers won by fall: Blaine Frazier, Cayden Rooks, Dan Fongaro, Roman Rogotzke and Gabe Sollars.
-Sollars had two pins and Rogotzke had three on the afternoon.
-Tyler Lillard posted two tech falls.
RIDER PREVIEW:
-Indiana will open with a tough test for its first dual in Rider.
-The Broncs enter the 2023-24 campaign coming off of a 9-5 season that included dual victories at Purdue and at Princeton.
-Rider finished in fifth place at the MAC Championships and had three NCAA qualifiers in 2023.
-Of Rider's three qualifers in 2023 –– McKenzie Bell, Quinn Kinner and Ethan Laird –– two return in Bell and Kinner.
-Laird was an All-American, taking sixth place at 197 lbs. at the 2023 NCAA Championships. He also won the MAC title at 197.
-The Broncs began this season with a second-place finish at the Princeton Open. The team had six placers iwth two second-place finishers in the tournament at their respective weight classes.
-Rider has four ranked wrestlers in the early portion of the season: No. 28 Richie Koehler (133), No. 25 McKenzie Bell (141), No. 20 Quinn Kinner (149) and No. 29 David Szuba (285).
-With Rider having that group of wrestlers ranked, it will create three matchups of ranked versus ranked wrestlers in the dual with Indiana, based on the probable starters.
-The ranked matchups will potenially occur at 141, 149 and 285:
No. 31 Dan Fongaro vs. No. 25 McKenzie Bell
No. 6 Graham Rooks vs. No. 20 Quinn Kinner
No. 33 Nick Willham vs. No. 29 David Szuba
-Koehler and Szuba both own a 3-1 record thus far while Bell and Kinner have yet to wrestle this season.
NEW FACES:
-Indiana has eight new wrestlers on the roster for this season.
-Of the newbies, five of them are freshmen while the other three are transfers.
-All five freshmen are from the state of Indiana. They include Bryce Lowery (Indianapolis), Joey Buttler (Greenwood), Cheaney Schoeff (Avon), Anthony Bahl (Crown Point) and Aidan Torres (Chesterton).
-Lowery, Buttler and Torres all won an IHSAA individual State Championship during their senior season. Bahl won a Team State Title with the Crown Point Bulldogs, the second in a row for the team, and their third in four years.
-Lowery won IndyStar's Most Outstanding Wrestler award for the best senior wrestler in the state for the 2022-2023 school year.
-Indiana's transfer class includes Dan Fongaro, Brayton Lee and Roman Rogotzke.
-Lee, a known commodity around NCAA Wrestling, returns to his home state after spending five years at Minnesota.
-The two-time All-American (2020, 2021) is seeking to recapture his momentum after entering last season as the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 157 lbs. in the country.
-Lee's 2022-23 season was cut short due to injury at The Big Ten Championships.
-Fongaro comes to Indiana after five years at Columbia where he competed at 141 and 149 lbs. He will wrestle at 141 lbs. for the Hoosiers.
-Fongaro owns fifth and sixth place finishes at the EIWA Championships in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
-Rogotzke, a transfer at 184 lbs., from South Dakota State, enters his redshirt sophomore season with plenty of momentum.
-Last year, Rogotzke racked up 17 wins and took first place at two open tournaments.
SEASON OUTLOOK:
-Indiana's 2023-2024 schedule features 12 dual matches and four invitational tournaments in the regular season.
-Indiana's dual slate features eight Big Ten matches and four non-conference duals.
-Indiana will compete at Southern Scuffle for the first time this season.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS:
-The Indiana Wrestling team had a number of wrestlers compete in offseason competiton to get better and compete on the world stage.
-Senior Jacob Moran competed for Team Puerto Rico at 57 kg in Freeestyle and took third place at the Central American and Caribbean Games while also competing at the 2023 U23 World Championships in Albania.
-Derek Gilcher took fifth place at the 2023 U.S. Open at the Senior Level at 74 kg.
-Gabe Sollars earned sixth place at the 2023 U.S. Open in the U20 divsion in Freestyle at 92 kg. He also had a sixth-place finish at the U20 World Team Trials in the same weight class and divison.
-DJ Washington finished in second at 86 kg in the U23 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Nick Willham had a fourth-place finish at 92 kg in the U23 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Tyler Lillard earned 7th place at 74 kg in the U20 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Cole Rhemrev took 7th place at 67 kg in Greco-Roman at the U20 World Team Trials. Magnus Kuokkanen got 7th in the same division, but at 77 kg.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSION:
-Indiana's roster features wrestlers everywhere across the country.
-Fifteen wrestlers on the team are home grown, in-state Hoosiers, including all of the freshmen.
-Of the 30 wrestlers on the team, there are 13 different states represented.
-The states represented on Indiana's roster include Indiana, New Mexico, Illinois, New Jersey, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Minnesota, Kansas and Kentucky.
This will be the second year in a row that Indiana wrestles a dual in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Last year, Indiana defeated No. 23 Princeton, 22-13, in the first dual in the historic venue since 2010.
Friday's match, like all home events for Indiana Wrestling, is free admission with first-come, first-served access to seating.
CITADEL SUCCESS:
-Indiana Wrestling began their season last weekend at The Battle at The Citadel invitational tournament on Sunday, Nov. 5.
-With its stellar performance in Charleston, the team set itself up well for a strong season.
-The Hoosiers came away victorious with a first-place finish and scoring 118.5 team points. Indiana competed against American, Appalachian State, Drexel, George Mason and The Citadel.
-Sixteen Hoosiers competed in the event across all weight classes. Each Indiana entrant at least advanced out of the first round.
-Seven Indiana wrestlers placed with three champions. Dan Fongaro (141), Graham Rooks (149) and Gabe Sollars (197) all won their brackets.
-Tyler Lillard (165) had a second-place finish. Cayden Rooks (133), Nico Bolivar (157) and Roman Rogotzke (184) all finished in third.
-Fongaro, Anthony Bahl (149), Aidan Torres (149) and Rogotzke all made their Indiana debut over the weekend.
BONUS-POINT BONANZA:
-Indiana put on quite a scoring display in Charleston, with a number of wins by major decision, tech fall or pin.
-Ten of Indiana's 16 entrants had at least one win that resulted in bonus points.
-Five different Hoosier wrestlers won by fall: Blaine Frazier, Cayden Rooks, Dan Fongaro, Roman Rogotzke and Gabe Sollars.
-Sollars had two pins and Rogotzke had three on the afternoon.
-Tyler Lillard posted two tech falls.
RIDER PREVIEW:
-Indiana will open with a tough test for its first dual in Rider.
-The Broncs enter the 2023-24 campaign coming off of a 9-5 season that included dual victories at Purdue and at Princeton.
-Rider finished in fifth place at the MAC Championships and had three NCAA qualifiers in 2023.
-Of Rider's three qualifers in 2023 –– McKenzie Bell, Quinn Kinner and Ethan Laird –– two return in Bell and Kinner.
-Laird was an All-American, taking sixth place at 197 lbs. at the 2023 NCAA Championships. He also won the MAC title at 197.
-The Broncs began this season with a second-place finish at the Princeton Open. The team had six placers iwth two second-place finishers in the tournament at their respective weight classes.
-Rider has four ranked wrestlers in the early portion of the season: No. 28 Richie Koehler (133), No. 25 McKenzie Bell (141), No. 20 Quinn Kinner (149) and No. 29 David Szuba (285).
-With Rider having that group of wrestlers ranked, it will create three matchups of ranked versus ranked wrestlers in the dual with Indiana, based on the probable starters.
-The ranked matchups will potenially occur at 141, 149 and 285:
No. 31 Dan Fongaro vs. No. 25 McKenzie Bell
No. 6 Graham Rooks vs. No. 20 Quinn Kinner
No. 33 Nick Willham vs. No. 29 David Szuba
-Koehler and Szuba both own a 3-1 record thus far while Bell and Kinner have yet to wrestle this season.
NEW FACES:
-Indiana has eight new wrestlers on the roster for this season.
-Of the newbies, five of them are freshmen while the other three are transfers.
-All five freshmen are from the state of Indiana. They include Bryce Lowery (Indianapolis), Joey Buttler (Greenwood), Cheaney Schoeff (Avon), Anthony Bahl (Crown Point) and Aidan Torres (Chesterton).
-Lowery, Buttler and Torres all won an IHSAA individual State Championship during their senior season. Bahl won a Team State Title with the Crown Point Bulldogs, the second in a row for the team, and their third in four years.
-Lowery won IndyStar's Most Outstanding Wrestler award for the best senior wrestler in the state for the 2022-2023 school year.
-Indiana's transfer class includes Dan Fongaro, Brayton Lee and Roman Rogotzke.
-Lee, a known commodity around NCAA Wrestling, returns to his home state after spending five years at Minnesota.
-The two-time All-American (2020, 2021) is seeking to recapture his momentum after entering last season as the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 157 lbs. in the country.
-Lee's 2022-23 season was cut short due to injury at The Big Ten Championships.
-Fongaro comes to Indiana after five years at Columbia where he competed at 141 and 149 lbs. He will wrestle at 141 lbs. for the Hoosiers.
-Fongaro owns fifth and sixth place finishes at the EIWA Championships in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
-Rogotzke, a transfer at 184 lbs., from South Dakota State, enters his redshirt sophomore season with plenty of momentum.
-Last year, Rogotzke racked up 17 wins and took first place at two open tournaments.
SEASON OUTLOOK:
-Indiana's 2023-2024 schedule features 12 dual matches and four invitational tournaments in the regular season.
-Indiana's dual slate features eight Big Ten matches and four non-conference duals.
-Indiana will compete at Southern Scuffle for the first time this season.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS:
-The Indiana Wrestling team had a number of wrestlers compete in offseason competiton to get better and compete on the world stage.
-Senior Jacob Moran competed for Team Puerto Rico at 57 kg in Freeestyle and took third place at the Central American and Caribbean Games while also competing at the 2023 U23 World Championships in Albania.
-Derek Gilcher took fifth place at the 2023 U.S. Open at the Senior Level at 74 kg.
-Gabe Sollars earned sixth place at the 2023 U.S. Open in the U20 divsion in Freestyle at 92 kg. He also had a sixth-place finish at the U20 World Team Trials in the same weight class and divison.
-DJ Washington finished in second at 86 kg in the U23 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Nick Willham had a fourth-place finish at 92 kg in the U23 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Tyler Lillard earned 7th place at 74 kg in the U20 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Cole Rhemrev took 7th place at 67 kg in Greco-Roman at the U20 World Team Trials. Magnus Kuokkanen got 7th in the same division, but at 77 kg.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSION:
-Indiana's roster features wrestlers everywhere across the country.
-Fifteen wrestlers on the team are home grown, in-state Hoosiers, including all of the freshmen.
-Of the 30 wrestlers on the team, there are 13 different states represented.
-The states represented on Indiana's roster include Indiana, New Mexico, Illinois, New Jersey, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Minnesota, Kansas and Kentucky.
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