Nate Everhart is expected to man the heavyweight position for the Hoosiers |
#19 Indiana Draws #2 Iowa State in Opening Round of National Duals
Jan. 7, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The #19 Indiana University wrestling team heads north to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals on Jan. 10-11. Indiana's opening round opponent is #2 Iowa State. The all-time series with the Cyclones is tied at 6-6. If IU were to advance to the second round, they would then face the winner of the #9 Wisconsin/#16 Boise State bout. The first round is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. central time.
Indiana enters the weekend winners of their last 11 dual matches, a winning streak that dates back to the 2007-08 regular season finale at Northwestern. The Hoosiers have begun the `08-'09 campaign by sweeping the tri-meet at Wabash, the Hoosier Duals and the F.I.T.E. Duals.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING!!!
As mentioned on page 1, the Hoosiers have won their last 11 dual matches, including their final dual match from last season. In 2008-09, Indiana has reached 10-0 in dominating fashion, limiting each foe to single-digit team points. Rutgers' nine points in a 29-9 loss at the Hoosier Duals are the most scored by an opponent thus far.
ANGEL REMAINS FLAWLESS
Defending 125-pound national champion Angel Escobedo remains undefeated in the `08-'09 campaign with a perfect 9-0 record. Escobedo began last season much the same, winning his first 24 matches of the year before suffering his lone defeat in his 34-1 overall mark.
KELLY PLACES AT MIDLANDS
Senior Scott Kelly earned a spot on the Midlands stand, placing eighth in the 141-lbs. division. Kelly faced four nationally-ranked opponents en route to his eighth place showing. He not only defeated #17 Alex Krom of Maryland, 4-2, but also pushed #1 Alex Tsirtis (Iowa) and #8 Ryan Williams (Old Dominion) to the limits by dropping 0-2 and 0-1 decisions to each, respectively.
HEY DJ, S(PIN) THAT RECORD
By season's end, upto four current Hoosiers have a good chance of all being in the all-time top-10 for career pins in IU history. Angel Escobedo and his 26 career falls are already there, tied for fifth all-time. A trio of Hoosiers in Kurt Kinser, Trevor Perry and Nick Walpole are each just four pins away from also cracking the top-10 with 21 career falls apiece. If any or all of them were to reach 24 pins, they would pull even with Patt Cassidy (1997-2000) for 10th place all-time.
Eleven of Walpole's 21 career falls have come this season, putting him just one pin shy of the single-season top-10 list. The all-time record is 19, set by Rod Chamberlin in 1981.
RECRUITING CLASS RANKED #17
Head Coach Duane Goldman and his staff inked a pair of highly-touted recruits in the early signing period. W.I.N. Magazine tabbed Indiana's recruiting class No. 17 in their early recruiting rankings.
Max Ortega, projected in the 141-149 lbs. range, is a four-time New Mexico state champion from Rio Rancho High School. Sound familiar? That's because Max's older brother, Matt, was also a four-time New Mexico state champion and is currently a redshirt freshman on the Hoosier wrestling squad. Goldman also snagged a big-time recruit from the Empire State, signing two-time New York state champion Ryan LeBlanc. LeBlanc hails from Morrisville-Eaton High School.
HOOSIERS: RELOADED
Indiana returns six of eight NCAA Qualifiers from a year ago, including defending 125-lbs. national champion Angel Escobedo and former All-Americans Andrae Hernandez and Matt Coughlin. Trevor Perry, Kurt Kinser and Nate Everhart are also back for the Cream and Crimson this season after advancing to the national tournament in `08.
Escobedo is a two-time All-American, finishing in fourth place as a freshman before climbing to the top of the stand to end his sophomore campaign. Hernandez notched an eighth place showing as a sophomore while Coughlin came in at seventh that same season as a freshman.
WE ARE FAMILY
The Ortega brothers will be reunited next season, but the 2008-09 Hoosier Wrestling Family also has a few relatives on the roster. Two former All-Americans Angel Escobedo and Andrae Hernandez are first cousins hailing from Griffith, Ind., while the Samuels, Kyle and Cooper, are brothers out of Floyds Knobs, Ind.
CLOSE-KNIT GROUP
In addition to the tightness already established by the family relations mentioned above, many of the current Hoosiers were also high school teammates.
Bloomington South High School and Glenbard North High (Illinois) lead the way with three representatives each. Kurt Kinser, Paul Young and Nick Viterisi are all former South Panthers while a trio of true freshmen in Geno Capezio, Danny Monaco and Vince Ramos are each `08 graduates of Glenbard North.
Also, 125-pounders Wesley Fike and Chris Tanner are both products of Penn High School in South Bend, Ind.
HOOSIERS HIT 'TRIPS' IN VEGAS
Three Hoosiers placed at the Las Vegas Open, leading Indiana to a 9th-place showing (out of 44 teams). IU finished in front of Big Ten foes Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Trevor Perry won five of six matches to earn third place with his only defeat coming by the hands of the event champion. Kurt Kinser and Matt Powless each grabbed four `W's in the competition, finishing in seventh and eighth, respectively.
FRESHMAN EXCEL AT MISSOURI
The freshmen showed why they were such a highly-touted recruiting class at the Missouri Open as four different first-year Hoosiers placed in the freshman/sophomore divisisions.
Vince Ramos (2nd), Nick Cook (3rd), Nick Viterisi (5th) and George Malone (6th) each found their way to the stand at the Missouri Open.
IU LAUNCHES IN EAST LANSING
Eleven Hoosiers found their way into the top-six at the season-opening Michigan State Open in early November. Kurt Kinser highlighted the group by winning the open division by pinning his finals opponent in just 56 seconds. Nick Cook also came out on top, taking the freshman/sophomore heavyweight division to begin his collegiate career.
Nate Everhart and Nick Walpole joined them in the championship matches of their respective open weight divisions, finishing as runner-ups.
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