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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports wrestling

Hoosiers fall against Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.— The Crimson and Gold cup point will remain in West Lafayette with an Indiana loss Monday night. 

While the Hoosiers came in with a clear mindset and the return of junior starter Ryan LeBlanc, Indiana could not best the Boilermakers on their home mat. The Hoosiers dropped the match against in-state rival Purdue with a final score of 28-13, moving to 0-7 in the Big Ten.

With a switch in the order of the weight classes, the Hoosiers started off with sophomore Luke Sheridan’s match at the 184 weight class.

“That was probably the biggest match of the night, so that was a big win for us, so that worked to our advantage,” IU head coach Duane Goldman said. “To some extent, it put us on a little bit of a role.”

After already boasting three straight Big Ten victories, Sheridan hit the mat in full force.

Faced with a physical match full of hand-fighting, Sheridan fought for every point and earned his fourth straight Big Ten win against Purdue’s Patrick Kissel. Sheridan’s hard-fought win put the first Hoosier points on the board, with a 7-6 win by decision.

The Hoosiers continued their roll with another win by decision, dished out by junior Adam Chalfant. Chalfant controlled the match, earning a 10-4 victory against Purdue’s Alex White. With Chalfant’s victory, the Hoosiers proceeded to tie up the match score with Purdue after losing 6 points due to the 197 weight class forfeit.
 
After the last weight classes earned their victories, it was back to the beginning of the lineup with sophomore Joe Duca battling in the 125 weight class. Though Duca wrestled a hard-fought match, he was unable to bring in the win, losing by decision 10-3. The Hoosiers proceeded to drop the 133 position, losing by the largest margin of the night, 22-9.

The Hoosiers would go on to lose the next two weight classes to the Boilers, giving up two point takedowns around every turn. Indiana picked it up again with yet another win by sophomore Taylor Walsh, taking him to 6-1 in the Big Ten.

The match of the day came at the 165 weight position with the return of LeBlanc, Indiana’s starter.

“At this point in the season, we’ve been without so many guys for so long that the team is now what it is — getting (LeBlanc) back sort of completed the team,” Goldman said. “It was good to have his leadership.”

Moving to an early victory, only taking 17 seconds for his first takedown, LeBlanc looked as if he had never been gone.

“It feels great,” LeBlanc said.  “The last three weeks watching from the sidelines has been killing me. It’s a lot of weight off of my shoulders to be back on the mat and moving forward.”

Giving Purdue’s Pat Robinson a run for his money, LeBlanc dished out his first win after coming back from injury, winning 10-3 by decision.

With two forfeits, one at the 174 due to sickness and a constant forfeit at the 197 position, Goldman said the Hoosiers are still not battling to their full capability. Two regular season matches remain for the Hoosiers to turn it around before the Big Ten championships.

“It isn’t necessarily about what the scoreboard says, but their competitive spirit, and they need to compete harder,” Goldman said.

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