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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports wrestling

IU blanked by No. 1 Penn State

Both the wrestlers and IU Coach Duane Goldman knew the match against the No. 1 Nittany Lions would be no easy feat.

The Hoosiers went into Happy Valley to compete against the two-time NCAA defending champ, wrestling in the first conference rivalry dual in front of an estimated 6,000 fans.

Although the team trained to the best of its ability, the Hoosiers could not deliver, losing 52-0 without a single weight class pulling through to gain a win for the team.

The Hoosiers suffered six pins, causing the team to fall behind. In addition, the Hoosiers lost in the other four weight classes by decision and had to forfeit the 197 weight class match.

Goldman said he feels that the momentum was not what it could have been, playing a large part in the defeat.

“It’s hard to try to win when you come off nine matches with no momentum,” said Goldman. “You have 6,000 people cheering, and it’s hard to come off when your teammates haven’t really given you any momentum.”

While the Hoosiers battled hard, they faced some of the best wrestlers in the country, including the nation’s No. 1 in the 184 weight class, Ed Ruth.

Goldman said while the Hoosiers had good showings, the Penn State wrestlers had a better performance.

Facing its first Big Ten loss, IU now looks to improve and address problems that were seen in the match.

“They’ve got to be tougher mentally and step up to the plate,” Goldman said. “They let the crowd get to them and were intimidated.”

In upcoming practices, Goldman said he wants to focus on the things the team has been addressing for the last couple of weeks, such as being more aggressive and going after the win.

“They need to wrestle more in the way that they want to compete,” Goldman said. “You have to practice at a high level if you want to compete at a high level.”

The mentality of competing at a higher level needs to be present in every practice, Goldman said. This mindset will bring the wrestlers the success they are after.

Along with this, the Hoosiers are also looking to see what they did wrong in the match and improve themselves based on the mistakes they made.

“We need to make sure that we are working harder,” junior Ryan LeBlanc said. “We need to look at the things we did wrong this weekend, going back to the drawing board a little bit so that we can keep moving forward.”

Up next for the Hoosiers is a match against Eastern Michigan at 1 p.m. Dec. 16 in Ypsilanti, Mich.

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