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The Indiana Daily Student

sports wrestling

IU defeats Wabash 45-0

The IU wrestling team posted a 45-0 victory at Wabash College on Tuesday.  

The Hoosiers didn’t lose a single match, getting dominant performances from every weight class.

While all the wrestlers were favored to win, a positive sign came from All-American Angel Escobedo at 125 pounds.  After undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, the senior sat out the MSU Open as a precaution.

“After undergoing serious surgery, it was really good for guys on this team to see him back in the lineup,” IU coach Duane Goldman said. “There were a lot of questions of, ‘Was he going to wrestle?’ And, ‘If so, how was he going to?’ And he responded really well.”

Escobedo silenced any doubts that his shoulder problems were going to plague the start of his senior year. He pinned Josh Boyer in a mere 53 seconds.

“I was very confident with my shoulder being 100 percent,” Escobedo said. “It was a big confidence booster to be dominant so quickly.”

Escobedo’s has shown that he is capable of responding in big situations in the past. Wrestling a non-conference school in an early-season dual match does not usually bring feelings of uncertainty before the match, but Tuesday night was different than anything Escobedo had experienced at IU.

“I still get nervous every time before a match,” he said. “But this time, I was a little more nervous because I didn’t know how my shoulder would respond.”

Escobedo was not the only one to record a pin in their first dual meet. Junior Kurt Kinser at 157 pounds and sophomore Matt Ortega at 133 pounds also pinned their opponents en route to the Hoosier victory.

“Guys were trying new techniques and really working on diversifying themselves,” Escobedo said.

Getting a big lead early is something that allowed the team to shake things up a bit down the stretch.

Being meaner and tougher on the mat is something Goldman stressed to his team after the MSU Open on Sunday. A 45-0 showing for the Hoosiers showed that they were exactly that Tuesday night.

“We had a lot of guys that were trying some different moves,” Goldman said. “It was good to see guys open up and be aggressive.”

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