No. 28 Indiana to Host Rival Purdue

Saturday, January 27

Bloomington, Ind.

7:00 PM

Indiana University

Purdue

1/25/2024 11:30:00 AM | Wrestling

Match Notes (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– No. 28 Indiana is back at home this weekend, as it is set to host rival Purdue for a Saturday night dual at Wilkinson Hall.

The Hoosiers are coming off an exciting 21-15 victory over No. 21 Maryland that came down to heavyweight to determine a winner. The win over Maryland put Indiana's season dual record at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten.

This year's in-state showdown with the Boilermakers is set for more fireworks as the past two matchups have been extremely close, as each dual finished with a 17-16 final score. Indiana took the dual last year in West Lafayette, while Purdue won the battle in Bloomington in 2022.

PURDUE PREVIEW:
-Indiana is set for an exciting renewal to their rivalry series with Purdue this weekend. The Hoosiers will host the Boilermakers on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. in Wilkinson Hall.

-Indiana enters the dual with a 4-2 (1-2, B1G) record while Purdue is 5-6 (0-3, B1G).

-No matter what the records are, this matchup is always close with plenty of intense bouts. Each of the last two seasons the winner has won by a score of 17-16 with IU winning in West Lafayette last year and Purdue winning in Bloomington the year prior.

-Indiana's win a season ago snapped a 12-year losing streak in the rivalry. Indiana does lead the all-time series, 54-43-3.

-Purdue is led by Matt Ramos, the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 125 lbs. Ramos owns a 17-3 record and was the national runner-up at 125 lbs. in the 2023 NCAA Championships.

-The Boilermakers also boast three other ranked guys in No. 33 Greyson Clark (141), No. 16 Joey Blaze (157) and No. 32 Brody Baumann (174).

-Blaze, a freshman, notably upset No. 3 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) in a win by fall last weekend.

MARYLAND MADNESS:
-Indiana picked up a major victory last Sunday over No. 21 Maryland in Wilkinson Hall.

-The team bested the Terrapins, 21-15, in a dual that came down to heavyweight.

-Indiana trailed 12-4 going into the bout at 157 lbs. before winning five of the remaining six matches to win the dual.

-Heading into the 285 lbs. bout, Indiana led 18-15. If Maryland would've won by the bout by decision, the Terrapins had the advantage in tiebreaker criteria scenarios, making it a must-win match for Indiana.

-Indiana graduate student Nick Willham broke through on a 1-1 tie with a takedown in the final 50 seconds and ended up winning by decision, 4-2, over No. 23 Seth Nevills in order to seal the dual victory.

KING PIN:
-Indiana redshirt freshman Gabe Sollars has been racking up the pins all season claiming 11 by the point of matches through January 22.

-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).

RANKINGS & RECORDS:
-The Hoosiers have made appearances all over different rankings services throughout the season. In the most recent set of rankings from InterMat and FloWrestling, six Hoosiers found themselves in the national distinctions.

-Redshirt Freshman Gabe Sollars (197) earned his first collegiate ranking at No. 33 on InterMat.

-This week, the NCAA released the season's first edition of the Coaches Rankings, as well. Five Hoosiers made the lists: Dan Fongaro (141 - No. 21), Graham Rooks (149 - No. 9), Tyler Lillard (165 - No. 22), DJ Washington (174 - No. 8) and Gabe Sollars (197 - No. 33).

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.