Indiana University Athletics

No. 29 Indiana to Host No. 21 Maryland on Sunday
1/19/2024 1:00:00 PM | Wrestling
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––––– After two duals on the road to start the conference season, No. 29 Indiana will open their home portion of the Big Ten slate with No. 21 Maryland on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Wilkinson Hall.
This will be the first of three home duals in a row for the Hoosiers.
MARYLAND MATCHUP:
-Indiana is set to host No. 21 Maryland on Sunday for their Big Ten home opening dual.
-It will be the Hoosiers' first home dual since Dec. 9 when they defeated Central Michigan, 25-15.
-The matchup with Maryland looks to be a very exciting one that could make up for a close finish. Both teams are 3-2 with a pretty even number of ranked wrestlers who are projected to see the mat on Sunday.
-The Hoosiers currently own a 7-0 record all-time against Maryland, but many of them have been tight battles.
-Last year's dual at Maryland was the closest to date, with Indiana winning, 17-16, by tie-breaker criteria.
-Both Indiana and Maryland have seen major strides in their programs the past few seasons through rapid improvement of talent and roster depth which has resulted in bigger wins and national rankings.
-The Terrapins boast six ranked wrestlers in their lineup, but it is not determined how many will wrestle.
-If the probable lineups hold true, there will be ranked matchups at 141, 149 and 157 lbs. Those will feature No. 22 Dan Fongaro (IU) vs. No. 14 Kal Miller (UMD) at 141 lbs., No. 14 Graham Rooks (IU) vs. No. 17 Ethen Miller (UMD) at 149 lbs. and No. 20 Brayton Lee (IU) vs. No. 30 Michael North (UMD) at 157 lbs.
-Maryland's top pound-for-pound grappler is Jaxon Smith; the redshirt sophomore slots at No. 5 nationally at 197 lbs.
RUTGERS/PENN STATE REWIND:
-It was a tough opening weekend in the Big Ten season for the Hoosiers who fell on the road to both No. 14 Rutgers, 30-11, and No. 1 Penn State, 46-0.
-Indiana's No. 22 Dan Fongaro (141), No. 14 Graham Rooks (149) and No. 22 Tyler Lillard (165) all picked up wins at Rutgers.
-Fongaro won his bout over Max Hermes by tech fall, 19-3 (6:41) in his homecoming match as a New Jersey native. Fongaro hails from Lincoln City, N.J. which is just a little under an hour away from Rutgers.
KING PIN:
-Indiana redshirt freshman Gabe Sollars has been racking up the pins all season claiming 11 by the point of matches through January 15.
-The NCAA recently released their mid-season award standings for Most Falls and Most Tech Falls and Sollars currently leads the NCAA with the most wins by fall.
-There's currently a three-way tie for second in the most falls race between Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force), Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) and Ty Watters (West Virginia). All of them currently have nine pins to their name. Ryder Rogotzke is the brother of Indiana's Roman Rogotzke.
-Sollars has won 64.7% of his matches by fall this season (11-of-17 wins).
OLIVER RETURNS:
-Maryland Volunteer Assistant Coach Elijah Oliver joined the Terrapins' staff prior to the 2021-22 season.
-Oliver wrestled at Indiana and was coached under Angel Escobedo through Escobedo's time as an assistant and his first year as head coach (2018-19).
-Oliver was a four-time NCAA qualifier in his time as a Hoosier. He is one of seven Hoosiers to ever achieve that feat.
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 competed at Southern Scuffle for the third time ever this season and had the best finish in program history.
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.
This will be the first of three home duals in a row for the Hoosiers.
MARYLAND MATCHUP:
-Indiana is set to host No. 21 Maryland on Sunday for their Big Ten home opening dual.
-It will be the Hoosiers' first home dual since Dec. 9 when they defeated Central Michigan, 25-15.
-The matchup with Maryland looks to be a very exciting one that could make up for a close finish. Both teams are 3-2 with a pretty even number of ranked wrestlers who are projected to see the mat on Sunday.
-The Hoosiers currently own a 7-0 record all-time against Maryland, but many of them have been tight battles.
-Last year's dual at Maryland was the closest to date, with Indiana winning, 17-16, by tie-breaker criteria.
-Both Indiana and Maryland have seen major strides in their programs the past few seasons through rapid improvement of talent and roster depth which has resulted in bigger wins and national rankings.
-The Terrapins boast six ranked wrestlers in their lineup, but it is not determined how many will wrestle.
-If the probable lineups hold true, there will be ranked matchups at 141, 149 and 157 lbs. Those will feature No. 22 Dan Fongaro (IU) vs. No. 14 Kal Miller (UMD) at 141 lbs., No. 14 Graham Rooks (IU) vs. No. 17 Ethen Miller (UMD) at 149 lbs. and No. 20 Brayton Lee (IU) vs. No. 30 Michael North (UMD) at 157 lbs.
-Maryland's top pound-for-pound grappler is Jaxon Smith; the redshirt sophomore slots at No. 5 nationally at 197 lbs.
RUTGERS/PENN STATE REWIND:
-It was a tough opening weekend in the Big Ten season for the Hoosiers who fell on the road to both No. 14 Rutgers, 30-11, and No. 1 Penn State, 46-0.
-Indiana's No. 22 Dan Fongaro (141), No. 14 Graham Rooks (149) and No. 22 Tyler Lillard (165) all picked up wins at Rutgers.
-Fongaro won his bout over Max Hermes by tech fall, 19-3 (6:41) in his homecoming match as a New Jersey native. Fongaro hails from Lincoln City, N.J. which is just a little under an hour away from Rutgers.
KING PIN:
-Indiana redshirt freshman Gabe Sollars has been racking up the pins all season claiming 11 by the point of matches through January 15.
-The NCAA recently released their mid-season award standings for Most Falls and Most Tech Falls and Sollars currently leads the NCAA with the most wins by fall.
-There's currently a three-way tie for second in the most falls race between Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force), Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) and Ty Watters (West Virginia). All of them currently have nine pins to their name. Ryder Rogotzke is the brother of Indiana's Roman Rogotzke.
-Sollars has won 64.7% of his matches by fall this season (11-of-17 wins).
OLIVER RETURNS:
-Maryland Volunteer Assistant Coach Elijah Oliver joined the Terrapins' staff prior to the 2021-22 season.
-Oliver wrestled at Indiana and was coached under Angel Escobedo through Escobedo's time as an assistant and his first year as head coach (2018-19).
-Oliver was a four-time NCAA qualifier in his time as a Hoosier. He is one of seven Hoosiers to ever achieve that feat.
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 competed at Southern Scuffle for the third time ever this season and had the best finish in program history.
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.
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