Wrestlers open dual season with 44-0 shutout

The streak continues.

For the fourth consecutive year, the IU wrestling team opened its dual season with a shutout of Wabash, winning Thursday’s meet, 44-0.

“They wrestled well,” IU coach Duane Goldman said. “Obviously, it was a team that we should beat. We had some starters out. We had some younger guys who wrestled really well.”

Junior Matt Ortega, true freshman Mitchell Richey and senior Ricky Alcala recorded pins at 133 pounds, 141 pounds and heavyweight respectively, with the latter two making their dual debuts for IU.

Junior Matt Powless recorded a tech fall for IU, winning 27-10 with 12 takedowns. Powless is now 5-0 on the season.

“We push him to stay aggressive,” Goldman said. “When he slows down, he’s not as good, so we push him to keep the pace up. He’s in really good condition. He needs to force it.”

The team now turns its attention to Saturday when it will head to Orlando, Fla., for the D1 Disney Duals. The Hoosiers will face The Citadel and Columbia.

Seniors Kurt Kinser at 149 pounds and Paul Young at 157 sat out tonight but will return Saturday. Team members said they expect to field the normal lineup except for freshman Ryan LeBlanc, who is out for a month with a knee injury. Sophomore Ryan Konz will fill in at 165 pounds.

“We’ll need to be better on Saturday than we were today,” Goldman said. “We need to build on this and get better. The season is young.”

IU is favored in both matches Saturday, but Goldman said he will stress aggression on the mat so the team can avoid the upset.

“I just want them to wrestle aggressively,” Goldman said. “The winning and losing will take care of themselves. I hope we can wrestle up to our potential.”