Indiana wrestling finished in last place at the Big Ten Championships this weekend at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Day 1 - Saturday
Indiana started Saturday with No. 12-ranked sophomore Jacob Moran in the 125-pound championship bracket. Moran lost to No. 5 Purdue senior Devin Schroeder in the first round via a 2-0 decision and immediately moved into the consolation bracket as a result.
In the consolation bracket, Moran defeated No. 13 Nebraska freshman Jeremiah Reno in a 13-11 decision. No. 6-ranked Iowa freshman Drake Ayala defeated Moran in the second round by a 12-3 major decision. Moran ended his first day of competing with another win against Reno in the ninth-place bracket in a 9-7 decision.
Related: [Indiana wrestling heads to Big Ten Championships this weekend in Nebraska]
No. 6-ranked graduate student Brock Hudkins represented the Hoosiers in the 133-pound championship bracket. Hudkins earned a first-round win against No. 11-ranked Wisconsin sophomore Kyle Burwick in a 4-1 decision. Hudkins then lost in the quarterfinal round to No. 3-ranked Illinois freshman Lucas Byrd.
No. 13-ranked Indiana junior Cayden Rooks competed in the 141-pound championship bracket to begin his weekend. He upset No. 4-ranked Nebraska senior Chad Red in the first round in a 9-8 decision.
Rooks then lost to No. 5-ranked Minnesota senior Jakob Bergeland in an 8-3 decision. Rooks’ final match on Saturday resulted in a 6-5 decision loss to No. 6-ranked Michigan graduate student Stevan Micic in the second round of the consolation bracket.
No. 9-ranked Indiana junior Graham Rooks started for Indiana in the 149-pound championship bracket. Rooks defeated No. 8-ranked Illinois senior Christian Kanzler in a 9-8 decision to advance to the second round.
Rooks lost his second match of the day in a 6-3 decision to No. 1-ranked Ohio State junior Sammy Sasso.
No. 11-ranked Indiana sophomore Derek Gilcher suffered a loss with a 7-4 decision against No. 6-ranked Michigan State freshman Chase Saldate in the 157-pound championship bracket.
Gilcher defeated No. 14-ranked Minnesota sophomore Sebas Swiggum in the first round of the consolation bracket by an 8-3 decision before losing in the second round.
No. 13-ranked Indiana junior Kasper McIntosh had a short stay in each of the 165-pound brackets. McIntosh lost in the first round by a 5-1 decision to No. 4-ranked Michigan sophomore Cameron Amine, then was defeated in the first round of the consolation bracket by No. 11-ranked Rutgers freshman Andrew Clark in a 2-0 decision.
Related: [Indiana wrestling loses to Chattanooga in final meet of the regular season]
No. 12-ranked Indiana junior Nick South wrestled in the 174-pound bracket. South lost to Ohio State senior Ethan Smith in a 6-4 decision during the first round of the championship bracket.
No. 9-ranked junior DJ Washington represented Indiana in the 184-pound class bracket, but lost to No. 8-ranked Maryland senior Kyle Cochran in a 9-7 decision.
After receiving a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket, Washington lost to No. 10-ranked Minnesota sophomore Isaiah Salazar in a 7-6 decision. In his final match on Saturday in the ninth place bracket, Washington also fell to No. 14-ranked Northwestern junior Jack Jessen.
No. 13-ranked junior Nick Willham represented Indiana in the 197-pound bracket. Willham lost in the first round of the championship bracket to No. 4-ranked Iowa senior Jacob Warner in a 17-4 major decision. Willham then lost in the first round of the consolation round to No. 12-ranked Minnesota graduate student Michial Foy in a 3-2 sudden victory.
No. 10-ranked junior Jacob Bullock took Indiana’s spot in the heavyweight class. Bullock lost to No. 7-ranked Wisconsin senior Trent Hillger in an 8-1 decision in the first round of the championship bracket.
After receiving a bye in the first consolation round, Bullock lost to No. 8-ranked Ohio State senior Tate Orndorff in a 7-4 decision. Bullock then received a bye in the ninth-place bracket’s first round.
Day 2 - Sunday
Through two days at the Big Ten Championships, Indiana remained in last place and failed to add more points to the four from Saturday.
Moran kicked off Sunday’s meet for Indiana in the semifinal round of the 125-pound ninth-place bracket. He lost to No. 2-ranked Penn State senior Drew Hildebrandt in a 4-0 decision and went on to lose his final match of the tournament in the third place bout of the ninth place bracket to No. 11-ranked Michigan State sophomore Tristan Lujan in a 6-2 decision.
Hudkins finished with a bye in the 133-pound ninth-place bracket after Saturday’s events and started day two with a rematch against Burwick. Hudkins defeated Burwick in a 5-1 decision to earn his 13th individual win of the season.
Related: [Indiana wrestling to host University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for final match of regular season]
The win also secured Hudkins a top-10 finish in the 133-pound class and an automatic berth to the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Hudkins lost his final match of the Big Ten Championships to No. 8-ranked Rutgers freshman Joe Olivieri in a 3-2 decision.
After defeating Jimenez in the first round of the 174-pound ninth place bracket, South lost his only matchup of the second day to No. 8-ranked Purdue sophomore Gerrit Nijenhuis in a 5-3 decision.
During the fifth-place bout in the 184-pound ninth place bracket, Washington medically forfeited the match against No. 13-ranked Purdue senior Max Lyon due to precautionary reasons, according to Indiana Athletics.
Indiana will head to the 2022 NCAA Championships from March 17-19 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
