IU wrestling squashes D-3 opponents, sweeps 20 individual matches

Sophomore Paul Young said Monday his goal was to wrestle a perfect match.

While he might not have met his goal of perfection, the team did, winning all 20 matches they participated in and winning by a total score of 107-0 in a tri-meet against Manchester and Wabash Colleges, two Division-III schools, on Tuesday.

“It went good,” IU coach Duane Goldman said. “For the first time with a one-hour weigh-in, we wrestled pretty well.”

The team pinned 13 of its 20 opponents, 12 falling in the first period alone, and gathered up two tech falls and a major decision during the tri-meet.

“It’s always good to start off a dual season like we did the other night,” said Matt Coughlin, a 157-pound grappler who garnered two pins on the night.

Matt Ortega, a 133-pound wrestler, also stuck two opponents to the mat during the tri-meet. The meet was the first time the freshman competed in a dual setting attached for IU. He said he felt it was a great experience.

“It was pretty exciting,” Ortega said. “It was my first dual ever, and coming out with two wins was pretty nice.”

Coughlin, who wrestled coming off of an injury from the Michigan State Open, said he faced some challenges during his matches.

“I didn’t want to re-injure myself and was kind of cautious about doing certain things,” he said. “I kind of just adjusted well and got away with two pins.”

Despite the team’s performance, Goldman still saw certain areas needing improvement.

“We need to work on just some positioning things,” Goldman said. “There’s some technique things we need to work on. We need to pick up our conditioning in some areas a little bit.”

Goldman also said he feels the team pinned well and showed the aggression he wanted to see from them.

The squad said they believe they put on a powerful display against their competition and look forward to the upcoming Missouri Open on Sunday.

“We’re definitely a strong team,” Coughlin said. “I thought our team looked great, and we’re going to be a strong team this year.”