Monday, January 1
Chattanooga, Tenn.
All Day
Indiana University
at
Southern Scuffle
Indiana Wrestling to Compete in Southern Scuffle
12/30/2023 1:00:00 PM | Wrestling
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Indiana Wrestling heads into its final non-conference test ahead of the Big Ten season as it is set to compete in the prestigious Southern Scuffle tournament.
The Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear, will take place from Jan. 1-2 at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The tournament's opening day will start with the pigtail round and championship round of 32 and progress through the championship quarterfinals and fourth round of consolations.
Day two will begin with the fifth round of consolations and the championship semifinals and advance to the tournament's finish.
HEADING SOUTH:
-The Hoosiers' trip to Chattanooga marks the program's third time ever competing in the Southern Scuffle and first since 2012.
-Despite it being its third tournament appearance in Chattanooga, Indiana has battled with the host Mocs in duals many times in recent years.
-Indiana and Chattanooga have competed in dual matches against one another in four of the last five seasons. Most recently, Indiana won at Chattanooga, 32-3, last year on Feb. 19, 2023.
-The two squads will face off again this season on Feb. 23, 2024 in Bloomington.
-The 2024 Southern Scuffle will feature 20 total teams including the following: App State, Army, Bloomsburg, Bucknell, Cal State Bakersfield, host Chattanooga, Clarion, Drexel, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Indiana, Little Rock, Morgan State, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma, Queens, Stanford, The Citadel and Virginia Tech.
-No. 11 Virginia Tech, No. 19 Stanford and No. 22 Indiana are the three ranked teams competing.
-Indiana will have 14 wrestlers compete in the tournament.
SHERIDAN REWIND:
-Indiana's last time out, it competed in the Sheridan Tournament on Dec. 22 in Bethlehem, Pa.
-There were nine other teams who entered wrestlers in the event, but there was no team scoring recorded.
-The Hoosiers finished with six placers, including two individual champions.
-Redshirt freshman Tyler Lillard won the title at 165. It was his first career collegiate tournament championship.
-Redshirt senior DJ Washington won the Sheridan Tournament's 174 bracket.
-Blaine Frazier (125) finished in second, Nico Bolivar (157) took fourth, Roman Rogotzke (184) took fourth and Gabe Sollars (197) got third.
DOMINANT DJ:
-No. 10 DJ Washington (174) is in the midst of another great season.
-The redshirt senior currently holds a 7-0 record heading into the Southern Scuffle.
-Six of Washington's wins have been bonus-point victories. The wins include five tech falls and one major decision.
-Perhaps the most impressive part of Washington's roaring start is his scoring. The Portage, Ind. native holds a plus-90 point differential over his opponents thus far.
LOOKING AHEAD:
-While the Southern Scuffle is on the forefront, the always grueling Big Ten dual schedule awaits.
-Following the Southern Scuffle, Indiana will have a week off before beginning the conference slate.
-Indiana will open the Big Ten calendar with a road weekend at Rutgers on Jan. 12 and two-time defending NCAA champion Penn State on Jan. 14.
-The Hoosiers will be back in Bloomington for their first Big Ten match against Maryland on Jan. 21.
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 Outsanding 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 third time ever this season.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS:
-The Indiana Wrestling team had a number of wrestlers compete in offseason competition to get better and compete on the world stage.
-Senior Jacob Moran competed for Team Puerto Rico at 57 kg in Freestyle 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 division in Freestyle at 92 kg. He also had a sixth place finish at the U20 World Team Trials in the same weight class and division.
-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.
The Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear, will take place from Jan. 1-2 at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The tournament's opening day will start with the pigtail round and championship round of 32 and progress through the championship quarterfinals and fourth round of consolations.
Day two will begin with the fifth round of consolations and the championship semifinals and advance to the tournament's finish.
HEADING SOUTH:
-The Hoosiers' trip to Chattanooga marks the program's third time ever competing in the Southern Scuffle and first since 2012.
-Despite it being its third tournament appearance in Chattanooga, Indiana has battled with the host Mocs in duals many times in recent years.
-Indiana and Chattanooga have competed in dual matches against one another in four of the last five seasons. Most recently, Indiana won at Chattanooga, 32-3, last year on Feb. 19, 2023.
-The two squads will face off again this season on Feb. 23, 2024 in Bloomington.
-The 2024 Southern Scuffle will feature 20 total teams including the following: App State, Army, Bloomsburg, Bucknell, Cal State Bakersfield, host Chattanooga, Clarion, Drexel, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Indiana, Little Rock, Morgan State, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma, Queens, Stanford, The Citadel and Virginia Tech.
-No. 11 Virginia Tech, No. 19 Stanford and No. 22 Indiana are the three ranked teams competing.
-Indiana will have 14 wrestlers compete in the tournament.
SHERIDAN REWIND:
-Indiana's last time out, it competed in the Sheridan Tournament on Dec. 22 in Bethlehem, Pa.
-There were nine other teams who entered wrestlers in the event, but there was no team scoring recorded.
-The Hoosiers finished with six placers, including two individual champions.
-Redshirt freshman Tyler Lillard won the title at 165. It was his first career collegiate tournament championship.
-Redshirt senior DJ Washington won the Sheridan Tournament's 174 bracket.
-Blaine Frazier (125) finished in second, Nico Bolivar (157) took fourth, Roman Rogotzke (184) took fourth and Gabe Sollars (197) got third.
DOMINANT DJ:
-No. 10 DJ Washington (174) is in the midst of another great season.
-The redshirt senior currently holds a 7-0 record heading into the Southern Scuffle.
-Six of Washington's wins have been bonus-point victories. The wins include five tech falls and one major decision.
-Perhaps the most impressive part of Washington's roaring start is his scoring. The Portage, Ind. native holds a plus-90 point differential over his opponents thus far.
LOOKING AHEAD:
-While the Southern Scuffle is on the forefront, the always grueling Big Ten dual schedule awaits.
-Following the Southern Scuffle, Indiana will have a week off before beginning the conference slate.
-Indiana will open the Big Ten calendar with a road weekend at Rutgers on Jan. 12 and two-time defending NCAA champion Penn State on Jan. 14.
-The Hoosiers will be back in Bloomington for their first Big Ten match against Maryland on Jan. 21.
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 Outsanding 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 third time ever this season.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS:
-The Indiana Wrestling team had a number of wrestlers compete in offseason competition to get better and compete on the world stage.
-Senior Jacob Moran competed for Team Puerto Rico at 57 kg in Freestyle 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 division in Freestyle at 92 kg. He also had a sixth place finish at the U20 World Team Trials in the same weight class and division.
-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.
Players Mentioned
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