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The Indiana Daily Student

sports wrestling

Wrestlers succeed at Clarion Open

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Junior Taylor Walsh, the No. 9 wrestler in the country at 157 pounds, opened IU’s 2013-14 wrestling season with a first-place finish at the Clarion Open on Sunday in Clarion, Pa.

“Taylor really dominated the matches,” IU wrestling Coach Duane Goldman said.” I think he is taking it to heart this year to put guys away.”

Walsh pinned his first four opponents before facing Ohio State’s Randell Languis in the finals. In the final match, Walsh gave up his first point in a 7-1 victory against Languis.

Walsh was the lone IU wrestler to win first place, but three other IU wrestlers placed in the top three of their weight class, and an additional five wrestlers finished 3-2 for the day.

Sophomore Ethan Raley, a transfer student from Lincoln College, excelled in his IU debut.

Raley was victorious in his first five matches as a Hoosier. He suffered his first defeat in the 141-pound finals to Laike Gardner of Lehigh University to end the day with a second-place finish.

“We haven’t really been in his corner yet.” Goldman said. “We were really happy to see him compete at a high level and beat some really good wrestlers.”

Junior Luke Sheridan came into the Clarion Open ranked 29th in the nation in the 184-pound weight class.

After losing his first match Sunday to Lehigh’s Zach Diekel by one point, Sheridan fought back to win his next five matches and set up a rematch with Diekel. Sheridan defeated Diekel with a 6-1 decision to place third.

Senior Ryan LeBlanc also won four straight bouts in wrestle backs, the loser’s bracket for wrestlers to fight for third place, to become one of three Hoosiers to place third. LeBlanc is ranked 14th in the country in the 165-pound division.

At 149 pounds, freshman Neal Molloy and sophomores Eric Roach and Alex Gregory all went 3-2 for the day.

“We had several guys do well there,” Goldman said. “Neal Molloy, Alex Gregory and Eric Roach all did a great job. Eric Roach I think stood out amongst those three. I would say he definitely has the nod at the spot right now, but we are very happy to have some depth there.”

Freshman Matt Irick (174 pounds) and sophomore Garret Goldman (197 pounds) also went 3-2 Sunday.

As the opener to the season, the Clarion Open provided some insights to how the team will perform this year.

“The team as a whole I think we competed really well,” Coach Goldman said. “We had several guys do a really good job. It gave us a lot of opportunity to see where we stand, and I think we look pretty good for the beginning of the year.”

Follow reporter Brody Miller on Twitter @BrodyMillerIDS.

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