No. 15 IU looks to rebound from first two losses

After suffering its first two losses of the season last weekend, the IU wrestling team hopes that this weekend it will find its way back into the win column. To do that it will need to get by Minnesota -- the No. 1 team in the nation. \nThe No. 15 Hoosiers (11-2, 2-2 Big Ten) will travel to Minneapolis to face the Golden Gophers (16-0, 4-0 Big Ten) on Sunday.\n"We have to be prepared," IU coach Duane Goldman said about facing the nation's No. 1 ranked team. "It's going to be an extremely tough match up there. It's their senior day, they're ranked first and they're undefeated this year. It's going to be a big challenge for us."\nThe Gophers are undefeated despite the fact that they have faced No. 6 Central Michigan twice and beat No. 2 Oklahoma State 21-14, handing the Cowboys -- who were No. 1 at the time -- their first loss in 30 dual meets.\nThe Gophers have been able to get eight of their 10 starters ranked thus far in the season. This includes two Gophers who are ranked No. 1 -- Cole Konrad, who was an NCAA finalist last year in the heavyweight division and Dustin Schlatter, who is on top of the 149-pound division despite being a true freshman.\nThe only two IU wrestlers who won't face ranked opponents are the Hoosiers' senior captains, Joe Dubuque and Brady Richardson. Goldman said he hopes that his younger wrestlers will be able to gain from this experience.\n"We need to take each match individually," the coach said. "Each guy obviously wants to win, and a win would be important as far as their Big Ten seeding, and possibly their national seeding."\nThe Hoosiers also have ranked wrestlers of their own. No. 1 Dubuque, No. 9 Richardson and sophomore Brandon Becker, who is No. 8, have been ranked since the beginning of the season. This week, freshman Andrae Hernandez joined the trio and will make his debut as the No. 18 grappler in the 133-pound division, thanks in part to a 6-2 record against ranked opponents. Hernandez said that his success against ranked foes has been a result of being ready for each opponent.\n"I think just preparing well before, going over technique with the coaches and watching some tapes, and just getting advice from wrestlers like (Dubuque) and (Richardson)," he said.\nHernandez will have a chance this weekend to take down another ranked opponent. He will face No. 3 Mack Reiter.\nRichardson said that the team isn't intimidated by all of the ranked opponents it will face this weekend.\n"It really doesn't matter who's ranked, because they can beat anybody," Richardson said about the younger wrestlers. "You just have to get out there and put it on the line. Like (Goldman) always says 'Why not beat the top guy?'"\nRichardson said he feels that while he and Dubuque can help them prepare for their matches, the bulk of it is up to the wrestlers themselves.\n"I know they are physically prepared," he said, "but mentally they got to do it on their own. It's not something you can teach or tell them"