Wrestling team to compete in Michigan State Open

Coming off a successful outing last weekend, the IU wrestling team will head to East Lansing, Mich., this Saturday for the Michigan State Open.

The No. 9 ranked 157-pounder in the country, junior Taylor Walsh, comes off a first place finish last weekend at the Clarion Open, which led to Walsh being named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week.

Two years ago Walsh won the 149-pound open title as a freshman in the 2011 MSU Open, while No. 18 ranked senior Joe Leblanc placed third as a 179-pounder. Indiana last participated in the event in 2011.

“We had a pretty good week at Clarion, and we have just been getting back to work,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “We had a couple guys who didn’t wrestle in Joe Duca and Adam Chalfant who are going to be able to wrestle this week and we are looking ahead towards that.”

Junior Adam Chalfant is the No. 9 ranked heavyweight in the country. Goldman said he is ready to go.

Junior Joe Duca, who has garnered a lot of praise from his peers for his offseason work, missed the Clarion Open with a sprained ankle.

“Duca, I think, is ready to go, we will see,” Goldman said. “We will play it by ear that day whether or not we put him out there. He is fine — he had a sprained ankle, but not severely sprained, so he has been working back into it. We just don’t want to rush it. If he had to wrestle he could, but he doesn’t have to wrestle.”

Goldman felt good about the transition from last weekend’s meet and the preparation for this Saturday.

“I think we held steady during the week with guys working on some of the things that they needed to from this past weekend,” Goldman said. “It has been a pretty productive week of practice.”

This week the team has worked on specific positioning and controlling opponents while on top. Another point of focus has been finishing.

“We did a good job getting the legs during the tournament, but our finishing percentage wasn’t where we would like it to be,” Goldman said. “There were some specifics but nothing really alarming.”

Sophomore Ethan Raley, a transfer student from Lincoln College, fared well in his debut last weekend, placing second.

“It felt great,” Raley said. “It has been a long time coming, so I was excited to be on the mat representing the Hoosiers.”

The transfer process only built the anticipation for Raley to wrestle for IU.

“It felt like it was a long time just because I was anticipating coming here, but now that I am here I can see this is the place I need to be,” Raley said.

The Hoosiers are looking to take the season opener at the Clarion Open as a gage for their performance and what to improve.

“From last tournament I could see where I stood at, and now I can just keep getting better from there,” Raley said. “I am just looking forward to this tournament. A lot of good wrestlers are going to be there.”

Sophomore Garret Goldman missed last season due to injury. The Clarion Open was also his first time competing for quite a while.

“For me personally, I didn’t wrestle at all last year because I was injured,” Goldman said. “5-2 is not top of the podium but since it is my first tournament in over a year I am not too disappointed in the results.”

Goldman looks to take his results from last week and continue to improve.

“I definitely need to get back to working on my defense a little bit,” Goldman said. “I think my shape was good, and I was hitting my offense pretty well. I think a big part of it is I just need to get my defense going a little better.”

Goldman is aiming for success at the MSU Open but is aware of the big picture.

“These early season tournaments are as much about learning and improving and getting ready for the rest of the season as they are being important here in the beginning,” Goldman said. “They all matter in the RPI and stuff like that, but like any sport it’s early in the year, and you got to get on track and figure things out. We got a lot of wrestling left ahead of us.”

Follow wrestling reporter Brody Miller on Twitter @BrodyMillerIDS.