IU looking to snap losing streak against Penn St.

When IU steps on the mat Friday for senior night to face No. 8 Penn State, the No. 16 Hoosiers will also be up against history. The Hoosiers have never beaten Penn State. The two schools have faced each other seven times in dual meets, with Penn State's 20-19 win in 1999 the closest the Hoosiers have ever come to topping the Nittany Lions.\n"I'm not really focused on the history of whatever's happened in the past," IU coach Duane Goldman said. "I'm more focusing on the task in hand."\nStill, for some Hoosiers, the lack of success against Penn State is in the back of their minds. Senior Brady Richardson said he's looking forward to making up for last year's 21-12 loss at University Park.\n"Last year we really thought we could beat them," Richardson said. "We didn't wrestle well on the whole, and it was kind of lopsided. So I'm hoping to really avenge that."\nBoth the Hoosiers and the Nittany Lions have a 2-3 record on the Big Ten season, and the Hoosiers enter the dual meet trying to snap a three-meet loosing streak.\n"We need to pick it up and we know we can win," said Richardson, who's ranked No. 9. "The guys are beatable and we can all do it. We just got to get out there and do it. The mood hasn't changed to where it's going to affect us. We're just hoping everybody can just step it up."\nMuch like last weekend's meet against No. 1 Minnesota, the Hoosiers will be facing ranked wrestlers in nearly every weight class, as nine of 10 Nittany Lions are ranked in the top 20 -- including five in the top 10. \n"Everybody you wrestle in the Big Ten is pretty much ranked," said sophomore Brandon Becker. "It's just one more match I got to win. You got to go to every match looking like that. If you worry 'Oh he's ranked this and that' you're not going to get anywhere."\nBecker will be facing No. 13 Nathan Galloway, who is 10-10 and has nine losses against ranked opponents. Becker, who is ranked No. 8, is hoping to make it 10. Becker is also looking to bounce back from a tough 7-6 loss to No. 4 C.P. Schlatter last weekend against Minnesota, his third straight match and loss against a ranked wrestler.\nIn addition to Becker and Richardson, IU also has senior Joe Dubuque and freshman Andrae Hernandez -- ranked No. 1 and No. 18, respectively -- each trying to make history of their own. Both Dubuque and Hernandez are 5-0 in the Big Ten. Since 1950, only three Hoosiers have finished complete Big Ten undefeated seasons, with the last being Victor Sveda in 1999. Last season Pat DeGain finished 5-0 in the Big Ten but didn't start in all eight of the Hoosiers' Big Ten matches.\nDubuque is also trying to defend a national championship and protect a 17-0 undefeated regular season. If Dubuque, who has rattled off a 24-match winning streak, finishes the regular season unbeaten and goes on to win his second straight national championship, he would become the third Hoosier in the history of the program to go through an entire season without a loss. He would also be the first since 1939, when Chris Traicoff completed the feat.