Wrestling rolls throughout winter break

While most students were still reclining on couches at home over winter break, the IU wrestling team was on the road against challenging tough competition. The Hoosiers traveled to Illinois to compete in two separate meets.\nNo. 21 IU swept the FITE Duals at Rich East High School in Park Forest, Ill., and the Hoosiers placed fifth at the star-studded Midlands Championship at Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.\nOn Dec. 17, the Hoosiers competed against Southern Illinois at Edwardsville, Eastern Michigan and Harper in the FITE Duals. IU improved its dual-meet record to 8-0 when it swept the three schools, losing only one of 10 matches, and the Hoosiers finished with a 38-point average margin of victory. \nIU rode its momentum into the Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern where four members of the team placed. As a team, the Hoosiers finished fifth in the Midlands Championships. Then-No. 7 Iowa State won the meet and No. 5 Iowa placed second. \nThe Hoosiers lost junior Brandon Becker to an injury in his third match of the Midlands Championships. \nCoach Duane Goldman said he was pleased with his team's performance.\n"Our team did really well and we were right in the thick of it," said Goldman. "But we could have placed higher if we had Brandon Becker." \nBecker had to take an injury default after rolling through his first two matches and didn't compete any further after taking a medical forfeit. Though Becker didn't finish the Midlands, he will compete Jan. 14 against Eastern Illinois. \nJunior Max Dean helped to pick up some of the slack left in the absence of Becker. He picked up a personal-best fourth place finish at 165 pounds. Dean said the success over break was rewarding and he was impressed by his teammate Angel Escobedo.\n"He showed everything that we knew he had in him," Dean said. "I was really happy to see him compete the way he is capable of." \nEscobedo flourished in both meets, pinning all three of his opponents at the FITE Duals and winning the 125-pound title at the Midlands Championship. The freshman is ranked No. 10 and won his matches in an average of about four minutes.\n"The Big Ten is the toughest conference, and I think winning the Midlands is a great confidence booster to go out and continue to win more tournaments," Escobedo said.\nEscobedo was also named the IU Athlete of the Week on Wednesday by the IU Athletics Department. Escobedo has improved to 23-2 on the season and leads the team with 10 pins. It was his first selection.\nThe Hoosiers also had impressive performances from some of their other members, with two fifth-place finishes by 133-pound sophomore Andrae Hernandez and 149-pound freshman Matt Coughlin. No. 12-ranked junior Marc Bennett also placed seventh in the meet.