Indiana University Athletics
Get to the Podium – Hoosiers Seek All-America Wrestling Consistency
11/14/2024 7:00:00 PM | Wrestling
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Angel Escobedo paces the red Indiana wrestling mat to a country music beat, eyeing his practicing wrestlers like a sculptor evaluating his latest in-progress work.
"Keep it up," he shouts. "Keep up the intensity."
The takedown drills continue, three minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes of non-stop action. The music ends. The work does not.
"Get all the way up," Escobedo shouts. "Good technique!"
Energy and effort pour out of the wrestling room's double doors and into a Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall hallway. This is a rugged sport, a demanding sport, a sport requiring relentless physical and mental exertion, especially at the Big Ten level. The Hoosiers push for conference title contention, which means national championship contention given the firepower of defending national champion and top-ranked Penn State, No. 2 Iowa, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 10 Michigan, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 15 Rutgers and No. 17 Illinois.
The challenge is formidable considering IU hasn't finished better than fifth in the Big Ten since 2007. Once a wrestling power with a 1932 national team championship, the last of its 13 conference titles came in 1943.
Still, progress is noticeable. The Hoosiers are receiving national poll votes, although not enough to crack the top 25. Impressive season-opening road victories over Cal Baptist and Cal Poly (also receiving votes) suggest that is coming.
"We have a motto, keep climbing," says 157-pounder Bryce Lowery. "We're all doing things on and off the mat to do that."
Last year, IU climbed as high as No. 16 in the national polls, beat No. 21 Maryland and No. 21 Michigan State, and compiled a 7-5 dual meet record. Six wrestlers qualified for the NCAA tourney.
"This team can have multiple All-Americans, a lot of national qualifiers," Lowery says. "What we do in the room will translate well in the meets. We're putting in the work. "We talk about intentionality a lot, of being intentional when we're in (the wrestling room). Our minds are in the right places to grow and be really good."
Escobedo has spent the last seven seasons working to build a national power, and if the Hoosiers aren't quite there yet, just wait. Inspiration comes from football's remarkable success this season that has the once struggling program soaring into national playoff contention.
"We're doing it," Escobedo says. "This will be our best season yet. We brought in the 14th ranked recruiting class. Next year's class could be a top-10 class.
"Seeing what football is doing is helpful. They're making it a reality that it can happen here."
This is why 133-pounder Angelo Rini transferred from Columbia University for a final college season.
"When I'm in the locker room, I hear people say they want to be national champs, they want to beat top-ranked guys every weekend, they are excited to compete against the best guys," he says. "That fires me up. That's something I take pride in. I think that's really cool about this program."
*****
IU is building difference-making depth. At 165, No. 16 Tyler Lillard opened 2-0 after edging teammate Derek Gilcher, a former NCAA qualifier, 4-2 in preseason wrestle-offs. Gilcher came back with a second-place finish at the recent Michigan State Open.
At 174, Roman Rogotzke upset No. 11 Adam Kemp of Cal Poly after Nick South won his Cal Baptist match. Rogotzke won 38 matches over the previous two seasons.
"Derek and Tyler are both top-15 guys in the country," Escobedo says. "That's what you need at every weight class. We're starting to get there.
"At 174, we have Nick South. He won his first match. Then we threw in Roman, and he upset the No. 11 guy. "Having options forces these guys to put in the extra work. My philosophy is you earn your spot by the things you do in the room. Are you doing individuals? Are you watching film? Are you taking care of your grades? If you don't do those things, you don't wrestle. I'll put someone else in and they'll have the opportunity to win the spot. "If we continually do that, we'll have All-Americans all the time."
Escobedo says he will continue giving wrestlers regular-season opportunities to prove themselves before deciding on his post-season lineup.
"We talk about building a resume. What's your resume stacked up against the rest of the country? How many ranked wins do you have? What's your RPI? Will you earn an allocation spot for NCAAs? Whoever does that, they have the spot."
Every coach in every sport talks about wanting practice competition, that positions are earned, not given, that iron sharpens iron. That it comes with the 21st Century twist of analytics, so prevalent at the college and professional levels, is the new normal.
"We have a lot of metrics to see who will be the guy at the end of the year," Escobedo says. "This is what I tell them. At the end of the year, I will stack up your resume with the other guy's, put it in the database, and see what rank you would be in the Big Ten and NCAA if I wrestled you. Then, whoever comes out the best, that's the guy I will go with. It's about who will give me the most production."
*****
As a former Hoosier national champion at 125 pounds and a four-time All-America, the 37-year-old Escobedo is an example his wrestlers hope to emulate even as he remains a formidable on-mat presence. Rini jokes that his coach beats up on him a couple of times a week in practice.
It's all about preparing for a grueling schedule that includes dual meets against Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois and Rutgers, plus the prestigious Ken Kraft Midlands Championships.
"This is the year we need to break through," Escobedo says. "We're constantly pushing the message of confidence and ownership."
Add chemistry. When practice ends, wrestlers and coaches gather on the mat in a bonding session that, in a sport so fiercely competitive, could make all the difference.
"We want to get guys on the (NCAA tourney podium)," Escobedo says. "We've been close. A couple years ago, we had two guys lose in the All-American round. Last year, two guys were two rounds away. Now it's time to get on the podium and consistently have guys be All-Americans every year."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Angel Escobedo paces the red Indiana wrestling mat to a country music beat, eyeing his practicing wrestlers like a sculptor evaluating his latest in-progress work.
"Keep it up," he shouts. "Keep up the intensity."
The takedown drills continue, three minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes of non-stop action. The music ends. The work does not.
"Get all the way up," Escobedo shouts. "Good technique!"
Energy and effort pour out of the wrestling room's double doors and into a Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall hallway. This is a rugged sport, a demanding sport, a sport requiring relentless physical and mental exertion, especially at the Big Ten level. The Hoosiers push for conference title contention, which means national championship contention given the firepower of defending national champion and top-ranked Penn State, No. 2 Iowa, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 10 Michigan, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 15 Rutgers and No. 17 Illinois.
The challenge is formidable considering IU hasn't finished better than fifth in the Big Ten since 2007. Once a wrestling power with a 1932 national team championship, the last of its 13 conference titles came in 1943.
Still, progress is noticeable. The Hoosiers are receiving national poll votes, although not enough to crack the top 25. Impressive season-opening road victories over Cal Baptist and Cal Poly (also receiving votes) suggest that is coming.
"We have a motto, keep climbing," says 157-pounder Bryce Lowery. "We're all doing things on and off the mat to do that."
Last year, IU climbed as high as No. 16 in the national polls, beat No. 21 Maryland and No. 21 Michigan State, and compiled a 7-5 dual meet record. Six wrestlers qualified for the NCAA tourney.
"This team can have multiple All-Americans, a lot of national qualifiers," Lowery says. "What we do in the room will translate well in the meets. We're putting in the work. "We talk about intentionality a lot, of being intentional when we're in (the wrestling room). Our minds are in the right places to grow and be really good."
Escobedo has spent the last seven seasons working to build a national power, and if the Hoosiers aren't quite there yet, just wait. Inspiration comes from football's remarkable success this season that has the once struggling program soaring into national playoff contention.
"We're doing it," Escobedo says. "This will be our best season yet. We brought in the 14th ranked recruiting class. Next year's class could be a top-10 class.
"Seeing what football is doing is helpful. They're making it a reality that it can happen here."
This is why 133-pounder Angelo Rini transferred from Columbia University for a final college season.
"When I'm in the locker room, I hear people say they want to be national champs, they want to beat top-ranked guys every weekend, they are excited to compete against the best guys," he says. "That fires me up. That's something I take pride in. I think that's really cool about this program."
*****
IU is building difference-making depth. At 165, No. 16 Tyler Lillard opened 2-0 after edging teammate Derek Gilcher, a former NCAA qualifier, 4-2 in preseason wrestle-offs. Gilcher came back with a second-place finish at the recent Michigan State Open.
At 174, Roman Rogotzke upset No. 11 Adam Kemp of Cal Poly after Nick South won his Cal Baptist match. Rogotzke won 38 matches over the previous two seasons.
"Derek and Tyler are both top-15 guys in the country," Escobedo says. "That's what you need at every weight class. We're starting to get there.
"At 174, we have Nick South. He won his first match. Then we threw in Roman, and he upset the No. 11 guy. "Having options forces these guys to put in the extra work. My philosophy is you earn your spot by the things you do in the room. Are you doing individuals? Are you watching film? Are you taking care of your grades? If you don't do those things, you don't wrestle. I'll put someone else in and they'll have the opportunity to win the spot. "If we continually do that, we'll have All-Americans all the time."
Escobedo says he will continue giving wrestlers regular-season opportunities to prove themselves before deciding on his post-season lineup.
"We talk about building a resume. What's your resume stacked up against the rest of the country? How many ranked wins do you have? What's your RPI? Will you earn an allocation spot for NCAAs? Whoever does that, they have the spot."
Every coach in every sport talks about wanting practice competition, that positions are earned, not given, that iron sharpens iron. That it comes with the 21st Century twist of analytics, so prevalent at the college and professional levels, is the new normal.
"We have a lot of metrics to see who will be the guy at the end of the year," Escobedo says. "This is what I tell them. At the end of the year, I will stack up your resume with the other guy's, put it in the database, and see what rank you would be in the Big Ten and NCAA if I wrestled you. Then, whoever comes out the best, that's the guy I will go with. It's about who will give me the most production."
*****
As a former Hoosier national champion at 125 pounds and a four-time All-America, the 37-year-old Escobedo is an example his wrestlers hope to emulate even as he remains a formidable on-mat presence. Rini jokes that his coach beats up on him a couple of times a week in practice.
It's all about preparing for a grueling schedule that includes dual meets against Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois and Rutgers, plus the prestigious Ken Kraft Midlands Championships.
"This is the year we need to break through," Escobedo says. "We're constantly pushing the message of confidence and ownership."
Add chemistry. When practice ends, wrestlers and coaches gather on the mat in a bonding session that, in a sport so fiercely competitive, could make all the difference.
"We want to get guys on the (NCAA tourney podium)," Escobedo says. "We've been close. A couple years ago, we had two guys lose in the All-American round. Last year, two guys were two rounds away. Now it's time to get on the podium and consistently have guys be All-Americans every year."
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