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(11/01/12 3:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU wrestling season is just around the corner. With the first match scheduled for 7 p.m. today against Manchester, IU Coach Duane Goldman has put his team to hard work.“We’ve been working pretty hard, but this first match, making weight for the first time and all that, it’s kind of going to be a test to see just how they respond to just a few weeks of training and making weight for the first time,” Goldman said.Although the team has been training hard, it hasn’t had much time to do so, with NCAA rules banning training before Oct. 10. Because of this rule, players have had to change the way they train.Thursday’s match will be one of the determining factors in lineup composition for the rest of the season, given how little practice the team has had thus far.Along with less training time, the team is also extremely young, Goldman said.“Our team last year was pretty freshmen-dominated,” he said. “So this year, we are still young. We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen and some juniors. We are a fairly young team again, but with a lot of returning faces.”Along with the youth of the team, there is always the question of which athlete will fill each weight class. Goldman said he is prepared to use what will be the anticipated lineup. Based on the outcome and performance of the Manchester match and upcoming tournaments, Goldman said he will have a much better idea of where each athlete stands for each weight class.Another telling factor of the success of the team will be in the talent of newcomers, Goldman said. “We have one freshman that could potentially crack the lineup this year,” Goldman said. “We also have some freshmen that were redshirted last year that will potentially be in the lineup, with Eric Roach at 141 and Garret Goldman at 197.”Considering these factors, IU wrestling is expected to perform with vigor and purpose come the first match against Manchester, Goldman said. He said he expects each athlete to perform in a tough and aggressive manner.Goldman said he expects his team to show improvement from the previous year and maturity.Following the match against Manchester, IU wrestling will be on the road to compete in the Hokie Open in Blacksburg, Va.
(08/17/12 3:23pm)
Following the appearance of a gay slur on newly hired assistant wrestling coach Nick Simmons' Twitter page, both the Athletic Department and the Division of Student Affairs in the Office of the Dean of Students will investigate the incident.
(06/07/12 12:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Wrestling Coach Duane Goldman announced the appointment of Assistant Coach Nick Simmons. Simmons, a 2011 USA Wrestling World Team Member, served as director of wrestling operations at Oregon State University for the past three years.“He has been tremendously successful at every level of wrestling, not only as an athlete, but as a coach,” Goldman said in a press release. Simmons is the United States’ highest-ranked 55 kilogram freestyle wrestler and will serve as an alternate on the U.S. 2012 Olympic team in London. He finished second at April’s Olympic trials. He also served as an alternate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Simmons had an impressive collegiate career as a four-time All-American wrestler at Michigan State, having earned the second-most wins in Michigan State history.“I’m thrilled for the opportunity and looking forward to becoming a part of the Hoosier program,” Simmons said in a press release. “It’s exciting to be back in the Big Ten and work with some of the best wrestlers in the country.”— Colleen Sikorski
(03/19/12 3:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Four Hoosiers took the national stage this past Thursday and Friday as they competed in the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. Redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh (149 pounds) suffered a 10-9 loss in his first match of the day as he wrestled against Bryce Busler of Bloomsburg University. After receiving a bye for his first match of the wrestlebacks, Walsh came out strong against Dean Pavlou of Chattanooga, pinning him at 1:02. Walsh then advanced to the next round of consolations, where he was defeated by Oregon State’s Scott Sakaguchi with a score of 7-4. “His first match, he probably was looking ahead to later matches in the tournament,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “He needed to realize that at the national tournament, you need to take one match at a time. After that, he was a really tough individual, and he had a good learning experience.” Sophomore Ryan Leblanc (174 pounds) won his first match of the tournament against No. 10 Te Edwards of Old Dominion with a score of 4-1. He then lost his next match with a score of 6-1 against Illinois’ No. 7 Jordan Blanton. Leblanc fought long and hard in his first round of wrestlebacks to win in double overtime with a score of 5-3 against Patrick Martinez of Wyoming. Leblanc then went on to the next round of consolations, where he was pinned by Curran Jacobs of Michigan State at 4:47. “Leblanc showed a lot of improvement from last year,” Goldman said. “This year he not only qualified, but he won two matches. He won against someone who was seeded and against Martinez, who he lost to earlier in the season. He went 2-2, but he wrestled hard and did a good job.” Senior Matt Powless (197 pounds) entered the tournament seeded eighth for his weight class and won his first match of the day with a 12-8 decision against James Fox of Harvard. Powless then suffered a very close loss of 7-6 against Alfonso Hernandez of Wyoming, sending him to the wrestlebacks. Powless then pinned John Weakley of Campbell in 3:51 in his first round of consolations. Powless’ day and wrestling career then ended when he was pinned at 4:37 by Ohio State’s Andrew Campolattano. “He had a tough draw,” Goldman said. “He had a little lower seed than what we expected since he was ranked high all year. He lost his second match to a guy who won sixth place, which put him in the wrestlebacks, where he pinned his first opponent, but then in the next round he got caught and lost. “That was unfortunate, but he put in a great career. He was still an All-American and one of the winningest wrestlers in IU history. It’s unfortunate what happened, but he still had a really good career.” Sophomore Adam Chalfant (285 pounds) lost his first match of the tournament in overtime against the defending heavyweight national champion Zachery Rey of Lehigh with a score of 6-4. Chalfant then received a bye in his first match of wrestlebacks, leading him to face off against Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State. Chalfant put up a hard fight, but suffered a close loss in overtime with a score of 6-4.“He did really well considering he just came in at Christmas,” said Goldman. “His first match, he lost in overtime to the guy who was last year’s national champion. If he had won that match, that would have put him on a little easier path, but it put him in the wrestlebacks, where he lost another match in overtime. "He had two heartbreakers, but he wrestled really hard, and we would like to have him back for another couple years to see what he can do.”
(03/14/12 9:03pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Four Hoosiers will make one last journey of the season as they travel to St. Louis to compete in the NCAA Championships. The action will start at noon on Thursday and will end with the last session starting at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.Redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh (149 pounds), sophomore Ryan Leblanc (174 pounds), senior Matt Powless (197 pounds) and sophomore Adam Chalfant (285 pounds) will all represent IU in the tournament.After finishing fourth at the Big Ten Championships, Walsh is seeded 11th going into the NCAA meet.Walsh is currently one pin away from having the tenth most falls in a season in IU history.Powless is seeded No. 8 for the championships. Powless finished the regular season ranked third by the Coaches Panel and finished second in the Big Ten Championships. Powless is ranked sixth in all-time career wins at IU.This is Powless’ third time competing in the NCAAs after finishing in eighth place at last year’s tournament.Coverage for the event can be found through ESPN and the official IU Wrestling Twitter page (@iuwrestling1).
(03/05/12 5:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers tied the Spartans for 10th place overall this past weekend at the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, Ind. After entering the tournament with five wrestlers seeded, the IU had three wrestlers place.“I think most of our guys wrestled pretty well,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. Redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed for the 149-pound weight class. After winning his first match, Walsh fell to No. 3 seed Dylan Ness of Minnesota. Walsh earned fourth place overall.“Walsh did really well, considering he hadn’t been on the mat in over a month,” Goldman said. Senior Matt Powless was the No. 2 seed for the 197-pound weight class. After winning his first three matches, he made his way into the championship round against Mario Gonzalez of Illinois.After an early lead by Gonzalez, Powless fought to regain the lead. However, despite multiple takedown attempts and stalling by Gonzalez, Powless ultimately finished second by a score of 10-4. “I wrestled well yesterday, but obviously I didn’t wrestle well today,” he said. “I was not wrestling the same way I do in practice, and I was not moving the way I needed to. Overall, I’m not happy.”Adam Chalfant was seeded No. 7 in the 285-pound weight class. Chalfant lost his first round, but wrestled back four times and won his final match to finish in fifth place. “He did really well,” Goldman said. “He beat a couple of highly-seeded wrestlers, including the fourth-seeded wrestler who is also ranked 10th in the country. He has really improved a lot. He’s in a tough weight class, and he’s someone who deserves to be in the NCAAs.” The Hoosiers now have four of their wrestlers guaranteed to compete in the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, including their three placers and sophomore Ryan LeBlanc at 174 pounds.Looking ahead to the NCAAs, the coaches are going to continue to work more individually with the wrestlers. “We’re going to keep them healthy and keep up the conditioning,” Goldman said. “We’re also going to look individually on the mistakes they made at this tournament and clean up those mistakes.”
(03/02/12 3:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The wrestling postseason has officially started, as the Hoosiers will soon be set to wrestle in the Big Ten Championships. Wrestlers Matt Ortega (141 pounds), Taylor Walsh (149 pounds), Ryan LeBlanc (174 pounds), Matt Powless (197 pounds) and Adam Chalfant (285 pounds) will lead the team as it travels to West Lafayette to compete Friday and Saturday. “It puts the season in accumulation with the NCAAs,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “We’re just seeing who’s going to get through to nationals. Hopefully the guys that can get in there can get some good seeds and some good draws.”The wrestlers said they have been preparing for this weekend in a different way than they prepared for their previous matches.“Last week we had a really hard week in practice,” Powless said. “We’ve been working on conditioning and getting in the best shape possible.” The Big Ten tournament is more individually based by determining seeds for the NCAA Championships, so the team has taken an alternative approach to its practices.“Everyone has their own thing they’ve been working on,” Powless said. “This week has been different because we all have our own tools and assets that we work on and improve upon.” Goldman said they are also making sure they’re not getting ahead of themselves. “We’re working with individuals and their draws,” he said. “We’re looking primarily on their first round, and we’re not looking too far ahead.”The team has been practicing a little differently and still remains focused on staying healthy going into the tournament. “We’re having them stay healthy,” Goldman said. “We don’t want anyone getting hurt. We’re going hard while trying to be careful in practice and not over practice.” Powless, seeded No. 2 for his weight class, said he has been particularly focusing on his personal technical skills.“I’ve been working on my motion and not being too flatfooted for my weight class,” Powless said. Powless said he has also been working on handling his emotions as his lifelong wrestling career comes closer to an end. “I have every feeling in the world going on,” Powless said. “I’m anxious and nervous and excited for the postseason to start. That’s what you train for. You train for what everyone’s going to remember you by. It’s weird to think my senior year has gone by so quickly. I’ve got about a million emotions going through me right now.” While there are five Hoosiers set to compete, their seeds will not be official until later Friday. The seeds remain standing until Friday’s Big Ten Championship coaches’ meeting, where each staff is able to challenge any of the pre-seeding results before the official tournament brackets are drawn. The final brackets are expected to be released by 2 p.m. Friday.The action will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday in Mackey Arena with the start of the first session, and the second session of the day will begin at 5 p.m. The tournament will continue at 1 p.m. Saturday with the third session, and the fourth and last session of the tournament will begin at 3 p.m. For those who are unable to attend the championships, the event will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
(02/20/12 4:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU wrestling team closed out its regular season after suffering a 27-7 loss against Northwestern when it traveled to Evanston, Ill., on Friday. Many matches were close, but the Hoosiers could not hold onto their early lead. The team started strong with freshman Luke Sheridan (184 pounds) defeating Robert Kellogg with a 4-3 victory.No. 3 senior Matt Powless (197 pounds) put more points on the board for the Hoosiers as he defeated longtime competitor John Schoen with a 10-2 major decision. This was Powless’s ninth major decision of the season, as well as his 119th career victory, tying him with Brandon Becker for sixth place in Indiana’s all-time rankings for career wins. IU heavyweight senior Adam Chalfant went head-to-head with No. 13 Mike McMullan, ending with a loss of 5-4.The Wildcats continued to defeat the Hoosiers for the rest of the meet with very close wins. “Zach Zimmer wrestled a ranked kid, and it was a really tough match,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “Sawyer Morris also gave a really good effort.”IU senior Matt Ortega (141 pounds) lost by one point to Colin Shober with a score of 4-3. The meet ended with a close match at the 174-pound weight class between IU sophomore Ryan LeBlanc and No. 12 Lee Munster. After three periods of barely scoring, Leblanc forced extra time against Munster, ultimately losing by a sudden victory of 3-1.“We started off well,” Goldman said. “Adam Chalfant and Ryan Leblanc both wrestled really good matches against their opponents. Unfortunately, they came up just a little short, but they wrestled really hard.” After Friday’s meet, the team is now looking ahead to the Big Ten Championships.“We’ll be focusing on things more independently with our guys, depending on our seed and depending on whom we draw,” Goldman said. The Big Ten Championships will be March 3 and 4 at Purdue University.Goldman will also continue to work with No. 18 redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh to get him back and ready to wrestle after suffering a knee injury while wrestling against Purdue. “We need to focus on getting him healthy,” Goldman said. “He’s close to being where he needs to be, but we still need to work on sharpening up on some personal skills.” Powless has also continued to work with his knee injury through practice and treatment. “It’s definitely better,” Powless said. “I’m pretty much 100 percent.”
(02/17/12 5:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU wrestling team will travel to Evanston, Ill., to compete in its last meet of the regular season today.The team will wrestle at 7 p.m. against Northwestern.“This weekend, we’re looking forward to drawing an end to our regular season,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “We’ve been working really hard in tying up all the loose ends. Hopefully, we can do well and have a solid performance from all our guys and see what we can do with a ranked team.”Northwestern is currently ranked No. 18 and has a season record of 10-4. Indiana has a season record of 11-7, but it is still looking for its first conference win. The wrestlers said they stand a good chance of winning and are pretty evenly matched. “We’re looking forward to this meet,” senior Matt Powless said. “They have some pretty tough guys, and this is a good opportunity. We’re matched up pretty well. We just need to seize the moment and get some wins.” No. 3 Powless will wrestle against senior John Schoen. The two have wrestled against each other throughout their college careers. At their most recent meeting, Schoen held onto a 5-1 lead before falling in sudden victory to Powless with a score of 10-8.“I’m a little nervous,” Powless said. “We’ve been wrestling each other since our freshman year, and we know each other pretty well. I know I’m going to have a tough opponent coming up, and it’s going to be at his gym. I’ve just got to be ready.” After wrestling three meets this past Sunday, team members said they have been working hard to stay focused and get the most out of every practice. “We had a long weekend and a short week,” Powless said. “We’ve been having practices that have been hard and to the point. We have to stay focused.” The wrestlers said they are also keeping the Big Ten tournament in mind as they head into the meet against Northwestern. “This meet is important for Big Ten seeds,” Powless said. “We’ve come so far this season, and you want to end on a good note to get the seed you want.” Goldman said he has also been focusing on getting the team in shape for the Big Ten tournament. “We’re going to try and get through the meet with a good performance and stay healthy so we can prepare for what’s ahead of us in the Big Ten championships,” Goldman said. This will be the last regular-season meet for seniors Matt Ortega and Powless before they head into the Big Ten tournament.“Personally, it’s weird. It’s really weird realizing I’ve only got one month left in my career,” Powless said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without wrestling, but right now, it’s just about living in the moment.” And that’s just what the team plans to do as it wrestles Northwestern, Goldman said.“These guys seem to be doing well,” Goldman said. “Their attitudes are good, and they’re working hard, so hopefully we’ll go to Northwestern and give a good effort.”
(02/14/12 3:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers won all three of their dual meets Sunday when they traveled to North Carolina, improving their record to 11-7. The wrestlers said they were excited to take to the mat against some new competition.“It was a good day,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “It was good to wrestle some competition aside from the Big Ten we’ve been doing.”The team first wrestled against North Carolina State, winning 31-19. Freshman Luke Sheridan (184 pounds), senior Matt Powless (197 pounds) and sophomore Adam Chalfant (285 pounds) all came out strong, pinning their opponents.The Hoosiers then went on to defeat Virginia Military Institute with a score of 39-6 for their second team win of the day.The team continued to earn points as redshirt freshmen Joe Duca (133 pounds) and Preston Keiffer (165 pounds), as well as Powless, all won their matches with a pin.“I thought I did all right today,” Powless said. “It took me a little too long to get started, and I was a bit sluggish at times, but those are all things I’m going to work on in practice this week.”IU then traveled from Raleigh, N.C., to Boiling Springs, N.C., to compete against Gardner-Webb. The Hoosiers won with a score of 36-6, making them undefeated for the day.Ortega and Chalfant both pinned their opponents. Chalfant was also the team’s leading scorer for the day with a total of 16 points earned for the Hoosiers. Sophomore Ryan LeBlanc (174 pounds) scored big for the Hoosiers, earning a 21-6 tech fall against Erin O’Dell.“I thought we did well,” Powless said. “It’s great we won three dual meets. Our guys wrestled really hard and really well to the best of our ability.” The Hoosiers finished the day by scoring a combined total of 106 points against the three teams.“The scores were lopsided, but our guys had to compete hard to get them,” Goldman said. “Altogether, it was good competition and good for our guys to come through with the results that they did.”
(02/10/12 4:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers will face three teams Sunday in North Carolina.The team will first travel to Raleigh, N.C., to compete against North Carolina State at 9 a.m. The team will then wrestle Virginia Military Institute at 11 a.m. The team will have a short break as it travels to Boiling Springs, N.C., to finish the day with a match against Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.“We’ll be taking a break from Big Ten competition,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “But we’ll be meeting a good ACC school with North Carolina State.” North Carolina State has a season record of 4-6 and the No. 11 Darrius Little in the 141-pound weight class. “I have a pretty tough match coming up with NC State,” senior Matt Ortega said. “I’m going to be wrestling against a guy who’s ranked pretty high. I’m definitely excited to wrestle him.” The wrestlers said they hope to gain experience as they wrestle VMI and Gardner-Webb. “We’re looking to also have other good matches to continue to give our guys some national exposure and help them become ready for the Big Ten tournament and qualify for nationals,” Goldman said. The Hoosiers have an all-time series record of 3-0 with VMI, dating back to their first meeting in 1929. IU also has an all-time series record of 6-0 with Gardner-Webb, dating back to 2003. To prepare for the weekend ahead of them, the team focused on endurance and earning points in practice.“We’re wrestling hard in practice and just really paying close attention to finishing as well as earning riding time,” Ortega said.Ortega said the team has had some slight problems in the past with letting its opponents up instead of taking advantage of earning points for riding time. The team is also using this weekend to set itself in the right direction for the future. “We’ve been wrestling pretty well lately, and we’ve had some tough losses, but we’ve been wrestling better,” Goldman said. “I’ve been pushing them a little more to continue down the line to be more aggressive and wrestle with more confidence.”After this weekend, IU’s season will near a close. IU will face Northwestern for its final meet before the Big Ten Championships on March 3 and 4. Following the Big Ten Championships, those eligible will go to the NCAA Championships. “I think this weekend will be a good confidence booster with our meet with Northwestern,” Ortega said. “I think we’re matched up really well with them, and I think we’re going to win if we wrestle the way we’re supposed to.”
(02/06/12 3:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers wrestled their last home meet of the season Sunday as they took on rival Purdue University.Despite the Hoosiers’ efforts, they suffered a close loss of 16-19 against the Boilermakers. However, IU was successful this past Friday as it won both of its meets. The team earned a 30-8 victory against South Dakota State and a 31-13 victory against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. This past weekend, IU Coach Duane Goldman earned his 250th career win. Goldman is also the winningest coach in IU wrestling history. Before the meet against Purdue on Sunday, seniors Matt Powless, Matt Ortega and Joe Fagiano were all recognized for their wrestling careers with IU. “I’m really sad that this was my last time I’m going to wrestle here at IU,” Ortega said. Among Ortega’s accomplishments are 69 career wins, 25 pins and 19 major decisions. Ortega has started 70 of 74 dual matches, and he is currently ranked No. 27 nationally. Powless also became a little emotional when he was being recognized with his best friend.“I was tearing up a little bit when I was standing with my dad,” Powless said. “It’s just weird that not only my five years of wrestling has almost come to a conclusion, but 17 years of wrestling is also ending. It’s a really odd feeling.”Powless’ accomplishments include being a 2011 All-American — earning eighth place, being three-time Academic All-American and currently being ranked No. 3 nationally. Powless has earned 116 wins, 32 major decisions, 15 pins and six tech falls.The meet started at 125 pounds with redshirt freshman Zach Zimmer losing to Camden Eppert.The meet continued with a close match at 133 pounds as redshirt freshman Joe Duca faced off against No. 9 Cashé Quiroga. After back and forth scoring, Duca could not maintain the lead, and Quiroga proved victorious with a close score of 11-9 for the Boilermakers. The close action continued as Ortega wrestled against Brandon Nelsen. After a hard battle, Ortega was able to maintain the lead he earned early on, winning the match and placing the first points on the board for the Hoosiers.“I’m glad that I won, but I feel like I could have pinned the guy in the first period or extended my lead a little more in the third period just to get some more team points,” Ortega said. No. 18 redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh opened up the 149-pound weight class with a strong near fall in the first seconds of the period against No. 13 Ivan Lopouchanski. After back-and-forth scoring along with injury time, Walsh could not keep the lead and suffered a 10-4 loss. Sophomore Ryan Leblanc had a strong performance for the Hoosiers at the 174-pound weight class, earning an 11-3 major decision.The meet ended abruptly during the 285-pound weight class with sophomore Adam Chalfant wrestling against No. 20 Roger Vukobratovich.With 1:09 left in the first period, Vukobratovich went down with a dislocated knee cap.Chalfant won by injury default, placing six points on the board for the Hoosiers. In the end, the Hoosiers could not pull through with a win, though Powless said the wrestlers tried their best.“I thought everyone on the team battled really hard,” Powless said. “I think all up and down the line, everyone wrestled the best they could. And you can’t be disappointed with that.”
(02/03/12 4:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers have a busy weekend ahead of them.The team will first travel to Edwardsville, Ill., on Friday to compete against South Dakota State at 5 p.m. and against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at 8 p.m. The Hoosiers will then return home to wrestle rival Purdue at 2 p.m. Sunday in the University Gym. It is Senior Night and the last home meet of the season.“Friday is an important day for some of our guys to get some wins and get back on track,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “They’ve been improving a lot, and hopefully they can go through and have some success.” Senior Matt Powless said the team is looking forward to the dual meet as a nice change in pace from its recent stretch.“It’s a nice little mix up,” Powless said. “It will give us a good chance to work on some offense we haven’t been able to work on in a while.”Powless said the Hoosiers are eager to face Purdue.“It’s going to be a fun meet. I’m really excited for it,” Powless said. “I think we have a great shot of winning. We just need to come out firing on all cylinders.”They have an all-time record 53-31-3 against the Boilermakers, winning five of the past six meets against them.“It’s a big rivalry. We want to do well and try and win it,” Goldman said. “They’re probably favored, and we want to compete well to pull off an upset and have a good meet.” Sunday’s meet will also be the last home meet for Powless and senior Matt Ortega.“It will be a bittersweet moment. It’s going to be really cool but really sad,” Powless said. “It’s going to be weird knowing five years have already gone by, but it’s really cool to go through it with my best friend, Matt Ortega.”The team has been working on its drive and intensity this past week to prepare for its upcoming matches. “We’re going to be maintaining our intensity through the matches and just being able to hold up and put out,” Goldman said. “Not that they haven’t been intense, but to pull off upsets, we can’t have any downtime.” If the Hoosiers prove to be successful in their efforts this weekend, Coach Goldman, who is the all-time winningest coach in school history, will earn his 250th career win.
(01/30/12 4:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was another tough test for the Hoosiers on Sunday when they took to the mat against the No. 8 Fighting Illini in IU’s University Gymnasium. Despite its efforts, the team suffered a loss, 10-29.The team started off slow at the 157-pound weight class, with redshirt freshman Sawyer Morris falling to Illinois’ Jackson Morse with a score of 3-15. Action started to improve for IU at the 165-pound weight class, with redshirt freshman Preston Keiffer wrestling No. 10 Conrad Polz, even though Keefer ended with a 6-18 loss. Sophomore Ryan Leblanc came out with a strong nearfall in the first period of the 174-pound weight class for IU, fighting hard against Illinois’ No. 12 Jordan Blanton. Leblanc came out with a close loss after giving up a two-point takedown in overtime.No. 3 Matt Powless (197 pounds) returned to the mat for IU after being out due to a recent knee injury. Powless kept up resilient efforts to earn a 10-3 major decision against Mario Gonzalez, placing the first team points on the board for the Hoosiers. “I was really pleased with the score result, but I mean, at times, I could have wrestled more aggressively,” Powless said. “But with this being my first match back from my injury, I’d rather play it safe.” The action continued with IU heavyweight Adam Chalfant facing off against Pat Walker. After a couple of big takedowns, Chalfant earned a 5-2 victory, adding three points to the total team score. The team started to lose ground as the meet shifted into the lower weights.Hoosier Zach Zimmer had a good start but could not hang onto the lead, suffering a 14-4 loss against No. 5 Jess Delgado. Matt Ortega (141 pounds) was reunited with Illinois’ Daryl Thomas for the third time this season. Thomas defeated Ortega with a score of 18-12 at the Las Vegas Invitational, with Ortega answering back later in the season with a 7-4 win against Thomas.Ortega and Thomas went back and forth on the scoreboard, but ultimately, Ortega could not hold on as he suffered a 16-9 loss. IU freshman Taylor Walsh (149 pounds) concluded the meet with a strong finish against No. 16 Eric Terrazas. With a combination of takedowns, reversals and one minute of riding time, Walsh earned a 7-0 win. “I thought we wrestled hard, in general,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “I think some of our guys that are having more success this season, like Chalfant, Walsh, Powless and Leblanc, all wrestled well and showed a lot of progress. I’m seeing a lot of improvement from our guys, for sure.”Powless also had positive things to say about the team, despite the loss. “While we did lose, there were individuals who wrestled well and wrestled hard,” Powless said. “So I was happy with the team.”The Hoosiers will regroup this week to prepare for their next meet. The team will travel to Edwardsville, Ill., to compete against SIUE and South Dakota State University on Friday.
(01/27/12 5:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers will wrestle at home for the second time in a row this season as they take on the Fighting Illini.The action will start at 2 p.m. Sunday at the University Gym. Last Friday the team fell to Nebraska for its fourth consecutive loss. Despite strong efforts from redshirt freshman Zach Zimmer, senior Matt Ortega, redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh and sophomore Adam Chalfant, the Hoosiers ultimately could not hang on to the strong lead they earned early in the meet.However, the team is remaining positive and may turn things around against No. 8 Illinois this weekend.“I’m feeling pretty good,” Ortega said. “The team is all coming together at the right time. We’ve all been wrestling well this week, and I really think we’re going to do well.”This past week the team has been working on fine-tuning its skills and working together as a cohesive unit in order to overtake its opponents. “We’ve been pushing each other really hard, trying to wrestle the full set of minutes,” Ortega said. Ortega earned a pin against Luis DeAnda of Nebraska after establishing an 11-3 lead. It marked Ortega’s 25th career pin. If Ortega comes out victorious Sunday against the Illini, his season record will improve to 21-9.“The biggest challenge will be myself,” Ortega said. “I need to make sure everything is solid, and I don’t make any mistakes.” Senior Matt Powless said the team is also staying focused on itself rather than worrying too much on the competition ahead of them.“Rather than preparing for specific teams, Coach has been preparing us more on getting on top of our game, getting out there and wrestling to the best of our ability, no matter who we face off against,” Powless said. “There’s really no time to worry about the other team.”This past Friday Powless sat out against Nebraska due to a knee injury. After doing well at practice and getting treatment for his knee, he will return to the mat Sunday. “I feel good,” Powless said. “I’ve been riding the bike, and I’ve had a couple good practices along with treatment before and afterwards. I’d say I’m definitely ready.” If the IU wrestling team defeats Illinois, this will be its first conference win of the season, end its four-game losing streak and improve its record to 7-5. The meet will be covered on BigTenNetwork.com.
(01/26/12 5:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Most people spend one-third of their lives sleeping. Senior Matt Powless has spent two-thirds of his life wrestling. Since age 6, Powless has gone through thousands of practices and hundreds of matches to be the best wrestler he can be. This year, Powless will put everything on the line one last time in hopes of winning an NCAA title.Powless started wrestling when he was in first grade with every intention of becoming a WWE star. “I was ready to be the next Stone Cold Steve Austin,” Powless said.It didn’t take long for him to realize that wrestling at school wasn’t the same as wrestling for the WWE. “In first and second grade, I couldn’t even make varsity, which is pretty bad,” Powless said. “I was never a superstar by any means.”Powless’ inspiration to keep pursuing wrestling came after he learned his father was a wrestler for the University of Evansville. “I found out my dad wrestled, and that was my inspiration,” Prowless said. “I wanted to be just like him.”In the beginning, wrestling was only one of the many sports Powless was involved in, with his favorite being baseball. However, as the years went on, Powless became focused on fewer sports. In high school, he played football and wrestled.“As I got older, I don’t know what it was, but wrestling just clicked, and I got better and better,” Powless said. It was at Memorial High School in Evansville where Powless not only rose in weight classes but also climbed in the rankings.After winning a state title his senior year of high school, Powless was looking to wrestle at the next level. Though he wasn’t very highly recruited, Powless decided to wrestle for IU. The transition wasn’t easy. “It was pretty obvious that he had never been outside of his city,” teammate and senior Matt Ortega said. “I’m from New Mexico, and the first time I met him, he thought I didn’t speak English.” However, it wasn’t just being away from home that was tough. Powless said he had a hard time finding a place for himself on the mat.“Confidence was definitely an issue,” Powless said. “I didn’t really think I belonged here at first. I got my butt kicked all year.”Through seeing the team psychologist and working harder in the wrestling room, Powless said he began to get a better grip on college life. During his career at IU, Powless has won the Michigan State Open, placed three times at the Big Ten Championships, placed eighth at the NCAA Championships and been named to the NWCA All-Academic team for three straight seasons. He is also a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. This season, Powless continues to improve his already impressive record. He has recently cracked the IU Wrestling Top Ten list for most career wins. Powless is currently ranked No. 10 in all-time career wins in IU history with a total of 112 wins thus far.Due to a knee injury, Powless has had to put his 23-3 season on hold momentarily. Even though he is expected to be back to health soon, there is always a risk of being reinjured.“It would have to come down to our athletic trainer, Kip, telling me I absolutely could not wrestle for me not to wrestle,” Powless said. “Kip knows how bad I want this, and I think short of having to amputate my leg, he would let me wrestle.”Powless said he is also looking for another shot at the NCAA title this March. After earning 8th place last year, Powless said he can’t wait to go back. “With the time I have left, I’m going to keep going into practice and solidifying what I’m good at,” Powless said. “I’ve got to make sure I’m at the top of my game going in there.”His teammates said they have seen his focus and determination to win the title. “I definitely have confidence in him,” Ortega said. “Whenever he has his mind focused on something, he does everything he can to get it.”
(01/23/12 4:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU suffered another loss this past Friday as it wrestled at home against No. 13Nebraska.The Hoosiers ultimately could not hang on as they were defeated 23-17. This is the team’s fourth consecutive loss of the season.Zach Zimmer (125 pounds) opened the meet with an 8-2 decision against Shawn Nagel.Zimmer was scored on at the beginning of the bout but pulled out with a win after scoring eight unanswered points.Matt Ortega (141 pounds) established an 11-3 lead against Luis DeAnda before pinning him at the 4:10 mark.No. 20 Taylor Walsh (149 pounds) also earned bonus points for the team with a tech fall of 15-0, pushing the team score to 14-3.However, Nebraska came out strong after intermission, winning five consecutive bouts against the Hoosiers.Joe Fagiano (197 pounds) wrestled in place of No. 3 Matt Powless after Powless sat out due to an injury.Fagiano wrestled a close match against James Nakashima. After going into a second tiebreaker, Fagiano was ultimately defeated due to a 19-second riding time advantage by Nakashima.The meet concluded with heavyweight Adam Chalfant earning a close victory of 3-2 against No. 8 Tucker Lane.The Hoosiers will be back 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, at the University Gym to wrestle against the No. 15 Fighting Illini. The action will be covered live on BigTenNetwork.com.
(01/20/12 3:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After traveling to Michigan for the third time this season, the IU wrestling team will wrestle at home tonight against Nebraska.Coming off of two losses against Michigan and Michigan State this past weekend, the Hoosiers are looking to break their losing streak.“We have our work cut out for us again,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “Nebraska is a top 10 team. They’re a great, athletic squad.”According to NCAA rankings, Nebraska is currently tied for No. 7 with Ohio State, having only suffered one loss thus far this season against the Iowa Hawkeyes.“We’re not so much focusing on Nebraska but focusing on ourselves and working on the weaknesses we’ve shown in the past few weeks,” redshirt sophomore Ryan LeBlanc said. The Hoosiers came to a tie with the Spartans Sunday, with a score of 20-20. With the new tie-breaking rules, the Hoosiers ended the meet with a 20-21 loss. “Michigan State wrestled pretty well, but we gave up too many close matches and close decisions,” Goldman said. “Turn any of those around, and we would have won the dual.” The team said it’s moving forward this week by reviewing its past performances and working on its positioning and attention to detail. “We’re really focusing on the basics of position and making sure what we’re doing, we’re doing correctly,” Goldman said. “The team is not paying enough attention to detail. They’re going into it just wrestling and kind of scrapping. While I appreciate the attitude, it’s leading to a lot of mistakes.”After the loss against Michigan State, the team said it’s working to be more cognizant of the scoreboard both as a team as well as individually. “I’m definitely focusing on getting on the board first, scoring early and not getting behind,” LeBlanc said. “It’s about staying on my offense and making sure I score the points I need.” After wrestling the Cornhuskers on Friday, the Hoosiers will continue to wrestle on a competitive schedule for the remainder of the season.“The rest of the year is going to be difficult with teams like No. 6 Illinois, Purdue and Northwestern,” Goldman said. “Our guys will really have to raise the level.” But for now, the team is solely concentrating on its next meet. If IU proves victorious, its team record will improve to 7-4 for the season. “Nebraska has a really athletic, solid team,” Goldman said. “We’re going to have to be at our best to stay with them.” The meet will take place at 7 p.m. Friday in the University Gym. Coverage of the meet can be found on BigTenNetwork.com and will be re-aired on the Big Ten Network at 2 p.m. Monday.
(01/17/12 3:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU wrestling team suffered two losses this weekend against Michigan and Michigan State.The Hoosiers ended Friday night with a score of 33-6 against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich.True freshman Luke Sheridan (184 pounds) earned his first career conference victory against Michigan redshirt freshman Chris Heald with a 3-1 decision.On Sunday, the Hoosiers came to a 20-20 stalemate against the Spartans. Based on the new tiebreaker rules put in place for the 2011-12 season, Michigan State came out with the win after winning six out of the 10 bouts.The rule states that when two teams finish in a tie, the team with the most victories will win the meet.Redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh (149 pounds) and Sheridan both pinned their opponents, earning a combined 12 points for the team, while senior Matt Ortega (141 pounds) and senior Matt Powless (197 pounds) finished the day with major decisions.Powless earned two victories this weekend, placing him into the record books for career wins. Powless now has the ninth-most career wins in IU history after earning his 112th win against redshirt freshman Nick McDiarmid of Michigan State.Despite his performance, Powless said he still felt disappointment.“I won my matches, but I could have wrestled better,” Powless said. “I could have pinned my opponent from Michigan State, but I didn’t capitalize on some of my opportunities.”Powless said he found the team had similar problems, as well.“I wrestled tentatively and too cautiously,” Powless said. “And I definitely think that was the same case across the board. We lost because we didn’t capitalize on the little things.”This week the team will be focusing on its drive and stamina as the Hoosiers prepare for Friday’s meet.“We’ll be working on wrestling through every situation,” Powless said. “Sometimes we might slow down the action in a meet, so we’re trying to regain our focus and push through. “There are too many times where we’re wrestling six minutes instead of the full seven.”This Friday, the team will wrestle at home against Nebraska. The meet will start at 7 p.m. at the University Gym and will be streamed live online through the Big Ten Network.
(01/13/12 5:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Wrestling team will travel to Michigan this weekend for the third time this season. The Hoosiers will face off against Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday and will wrestle against Michigan State at 2 p.m. Sunday.After coming off of a loss against Iowa last Friday, the team is looking to improve its team record to 8-2 while gaining more experience with highly ranked competitors. “We’ve had a couple of Big Ten matches so far with some pretty tough teams,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “And this will be no different.” The team has continued to work hard in practice this week to prepare for the weekend and to overcome the lack of experience that many of the wrestlers face.“We’ve been struggling a little bit with the youth of our team and with the learning experience,” Goldman said. “But we’ve had a good week of practice working really hard and focusing on technical and training issues with individuals.”Michigan remains in the top ten after coming off of a loss against then-No. 7 Illinois.IU has split the past four meets against Michigan with a history record of 23-57-2 since their first meet in 1924.“Michigan has a really strong team with a lot of experience and a lot of talent,” Goldman said. “They always have a very vocal crowd. It will be an interesting experience.”Michigan currently is 2-1 in the conference with an overall team record of 3-2 for the season.The Hoosiers will continue to face their concerns with inexperience as they compete against Michigan State.“Michigan State is on the road, and they also have a couple veteran wrestlers on their team as well,” Goldman said. “One of the biggest things we’re going to face is their experience and our lack of experience.” Michigan State currently has an overall team record of 2-3 after coming off of a 36-6 loss against No. 4 Penn State.IU has won the last five meets against Michigan State with a history record of 22-44-3 since 1924. This weekend, No. 4 Matt Powless is looking to earn his next win, which will place him alongside Kevin Stanley (1997-2001) for the 10th-most career wins in IU history. If Powless proceeds to win both of his matches this weekend, he will have the ninth-most career victories behind Sam Komar (1975-78) and Joe Dubuque (2002-06), who both earned 114 wins within their careers at IU. This weekend will also provide experience for sophomore Adam Chalfant. Chalfant appeared in his first match with IU last Friday after recently transferring from Harper College. “We’re glad to have him in the lineup,” said Goldman. “He definitely adds a spark to our team.”Last Friday, Chalfant suffered a close loss of 6-4 against the 2011 Big Ten Heavyweight Champion, Blake Rasing of Iowa.“He is also on the younger side, but he’s a kid with a lot of potential and a lot of talent,” Goldman said.