Hoosiers outmuscle Purdue

Wrestling coach Duane Goldman knows he can count on Kevin Stanley. The 5-foot-2 senior has been a pillar of strength for the Hoosiers since bulking up to 165 pounds, a weight class that was surrounded by question marks before the season. \nPerhaps none of his 18 victories this season were more important than Thursday's match clinching a 20-17 triumph against Purdue. \nStanley lined up against Kirk Moore in the final match of the evening, with the Hoosiers facing a 17-16 deficit. Undaunted, Stanley stepped it up and dominated Moore. He jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead after the first period and never looked back, finishing the match with a 12-5 score. \n"I told him he was better than that guy," said Goldman of his pep talk with Stanley before the match. "He needed to not think about the pressure and wrestle like he always wrestles. He responded." \nThe victory was a big one for the Hoosiers (10-1, 1-0), as it was their first Big Ten action of the season against a Purdue team that many expected to walk away with a victory. They were favored in six of the 10 weights, so we needed a lot of guys to really step up for us and we got the individual efforts from the guys," Goldman said. \nOne of the key individual efforts was that of junior 197-pounder Brett Becks. Becks has seen limited action this season because of the success of sophomore Ty Matthews, but came through with a huge 5-4 victory against No. 18 Boilermaker Jonathan Bush.\n"It was the first time I beat a ranked guy in a long time," said Becks, who won the match on a clutch two-point reversal. "It was big for me, and I'm glad we walked away with a win." \nJunior Viktor Sveda also came up big for the Hoosiers with a dominating 14-1 win against Purdue's Jared Williams, a hometown favorite. Sveda amassed an uncanny 5:55 of riding time in the convincing win.\n"I didn't go after the fall like I should have in the third period," said Sveda of his victory. "I was hoping to get the pin, but it didn't end up mattering. Maybe next time." The Hoosiers got behind early as 174-pound freshman Jack Wade couldn't seem to mount any offense against a tough Ryan Lange, before Sveda and Becks sparked the squad with their consecutive victories. \nHeavyweight senior Mike Dixon's record dropped to 11-4 after a last minute surge by 20th-ranked Jake Vercelli. Sophomore Greg Schaefer, who received a warm standing ovation from the crowd at Mater Dei High School, his alma mater, lost a tough match against Jason Silverstein. Purdue took its third consecutive match when 10th-ranked Evan Robinson defeated junior Brian Smiley (133 lbs.) to give the Boilermakers a 13-7 lead. \nBut IU refused to stay down with back-to-back victories by freshman Coyte Cooper and senior Gabe Cook. Cooper tallied 12 takedowns before winning on a technical fall with 1:31 remaining in the third period. \nPurdue took the 17-16 lead when Hoosier Alex LaPointe lost to Clovis Crane (157) before Stanley's clutch heroics.\nUp next for the Hoosiers is another Big Ten matchup against Illinois. The Fighting Illini are 6-0 and feature six wrestlers ranked in the top 10 for their respective weight classes.