IU wrestling dropped its second dual meet of the season Sunday against No. 3 Michigan with a final score of 32-6, falling to 0-2 on the season. Fans watching at home on BTN Plus enjoyed a technical difficulties screen for most of the meet, with one of the longest uninterrupted portions of the stream coming as staff cleaned the mats during intermission.
Sophomores Nick Willham in the 197-pound weight class and Asa Garcia in the 133-pound weight class picked up wins for IU, taking 4-2 and 11-6 decisions respectively. Willham moves to 1-1 with the win after a close loss in IU’s first meet. Garcia picked up a win in his debut for the Hoosiers, moving to 1-0.
“Both guys just stayed in the match — they were gritty,” IU head coach Angel Escobedo said. “Nick defended a hard shot at the end and looked for his opportunity to score points. Same thing with Asa, you know Asa went out there right away and started scoring points.”
IU’s No. 12 125-pound senior Brock Hudkins fell 6-4 to No. 10 freshman Dylan Ragusin, last week’s Big Ten Wrestler of the Week. Hudkins held a 4-3 lead heading into the final period, but Ragusin was able to pick up an escape point to tie the match. A stalling point against Hudkins put him down 5-4 and he was unable to take the lead back. Hudkins drops to 0-2 on the season.
“He’s just still trying to get it back from last year, taking that whole year off with that knee injury, but it seems like it’s coming,” Escobedo said. “His time is coming.”
Sophomore DJ Washington, who is No. 28 in the 174-pound weight class, and heavyweight junior Rudy Streck from IU had the toughest opponents of the match.
Washington was down 4-0 heading into the last period against No. 2 senior Logan Massa, but Massa was able to pin him after a cement mixer, adding 6 points to Michigan’s team score. Washington falls to 1-1 after being IU’s lone victor against Illinois last Sunday.
Streck was pinned by No. 2 junior Mason Parris late in the first period after a single-leg takedown by Parris. He falls to 0-1 in his first match this season.
“I don't think DJ really got to his offense, and same thing with Streck. They let their guys overwhelm them,” Escobedo said.
The Hoosiers will be back on the mat looking for their first win of the season Jan. 30 in a meet with Northwestern and Penn State in Evanston, Illinois.
“We’re getting better and better at competing,” Escobedo said. “We’re shaking off the rust and I can see it.”
