Indiana wrestling defeated Maryland on Friday night at Wilkinson Hall with a score of 26-12.
The night started off with a win from Indiana sophomore Jacob Moran. Moran fell out of the top-33 rankings after losing against Michigan State, but regained focus to defeat Maryland sophomore Tommy Capul via a 23-8 technical fall in the 125-pound class to give Indiana a 5-0 lead.
“Moran wrestled great out there,” head coach Angel Escobedo said. “He got distracted a little bit focusing on others things during his last match, but this time he focused on getting points and had a great showing.”
Indiana freshman Noah Gochberg replaced No. 18-ranked graduate student Brock Hudkins, who did not wrestle because of unserious precautionary reasons, Escobedo said after the meet. Gochberg was pinned by Maryland junior King Sandoval, to give Maryland the 6-5 lead.
No. 30-ranked Indiana junior Cayden Rooks came back from a 2-0 deficit against Maryland sophomore William Berkovitz to win the 141-pound class match via a pin. With the win, Indiana took an 11-6 lead.
“Coach has just been telling us to have fun and wrestle freely,” Rooks said. “The matches before didn’t affect my mindset at all.”
Indiana won the next three matches, starting with junior Graham Rooks defeating Maryland sophomore Michael North 149-pound class via a 5-2 decision. Then, Indiana sophomore Jonathan Kervin came back from a 2-0 deficit against Maryland freshman Conner Decker to win the 157-pound class match by a 4-2 score.
Indiana junior Kasper McIntosh defeated Maryland freshman Gaven Bell via a 6-2 decision in the 165-pound class and Indiana jumped to a 20-6 lead. Indiana junior Nick South lost to Maryland sophomore Dominic Solis via an 8-4 regular decision.
In another top-15 matchup, No. 8-ranked Indiana junior DJ Washington lost to No. 12-ranked senior Kyle Cochran via a 3-2 regular decision, giving Maryland its last win of the night.
Indiana junior Nick Willham secured victory for Indiana against Maryland by defeating sophomore Kevin Makosy via a 5-2 decision in the 197-pound class. Indiana junior Jacob Bullock went on to win the heavyweight class via a 9-6 regular decision against No. 31-ranked Zach Schrader.
Indiana will wrestle Purdue next at noon on Jan. 29 at Wilkinson Hall.
