No. 25 Indiana wrestling got back in the win column with a 32-13 victory over Michigan State. The dual meet, which took place Monday afternoon, was originally scheduled for Sunday, but was postponed due to inclement weather. Michigan State entered Monday’s contest winless in the Big Ten, and the Hoosiers were recovering from a 48-0 loss to No. 1 Penn State on Friday.
“I thought, against the best team in the country, we were fighting,” Indiana head coach Angel Escobedo said. “We were scoring points. Our effort looked really good. That’s the bar.”
No. 11 graduate student Jacob Moran, who was pinned Friday against Penn State, made a statement in the first match of the afternoon with a 19-4 technical fall victory over redshirt junior Nick Corday, giving the Hoosiers an early 5-0 lead. Moran accumulated six takedowns in the 125-pound bout, defeating Corday before the end of the second period.
The Spartans tightened the Hoosiers’ lead in the 133-pound bout between Indiana’s redshirt junior Blaine Frazier and Michigan State’s redshirt sophomore Caleb Weiand. The low-scoring affair was knotted at three early in the final period before Weiand took the lead with an escape, and a riding time point for Frazier sent the match into overtime. At 54 seconds into the overtime period, Weiand took the bout with a takedown, putting the Spartans on the board with three points.
Looking to regain momentum for the Hoosiers, No. 25 redshirt junior Henry Porter took a 10-1 lead into the final period of the 141-pound bout against redshirt senior Andy Hampton, with three takedowns and an escape. Porter added two more takedowns and a near fall to give Indiana its second technical fall of the day, winning by a final score of 20-3.
Michigan State’s freshman Evan Gosz took an early and commanding 10-1 lead after the first period over Indiana redshirt sophomore Joey Buttler in the 149-pound bout. Buttler cut the deficit to 11-6 before the third period but was unable to complete the comeback, losing 20-6 by way of Gosz’s nine-point third period.
In the final match before intermission, Indiana’s redshirt sophomore Bryce Lowery put on a defensive show in the 157-pound bout. Lowery led Michigan State redshirt freshman Darius Marines 4-1 after the second period and held the Spartan to a single point in the third, giving the Hoosiers a 4-2 victory by decision before halftime, extending the lead to 13-7.
No. 19 redshirt junior Tyler Lillard wasted no time for Indiana in the 165-pound bout, jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the opening period. A reversal and two takedowns in the second period, followed by two takedowns in the third, lifted Lillard to a six-takedown, 21-5 technical fall victory over graduate student DJ Shannon.
The Hoosiers took control of the dual in the 174-pound bout, with No. 29 graduate student Derek Gilcher’s 20-4 dismantling of graduate student Connor O’Neill. O’Neill kept the difference low through two periods, with Gilcher’s advantage being just eight points, but an 11-point third period for Gilcher put the match out of reach. The technical fall victory was Indiana’s fourth of the day.
No. 15 redshirt freshman Sam Goin continued the Indiana dominance in the 184-pound bout, pinning redshirt sophomore Luke Vanadia in the third period. Goin nearly pinned Vanadia earlier in the match, but the second period buzzer cut the opportunity short. Goin led 15-1 at the time of the pin by way of three takedowns and a near fall.
“Even though I got the pin, there’s some things I need to work on,” Goin said after the meet. “I’m never satisfied.”
Indiana stayed perfect in the second half with No. 14 redshirt junior Gabe Sollars’ 4-0 decision victory over the only ranked Spartan, No. 27 redshirt junior Kael Wisler in the 197-pount bout. Sollars earned all four points in the second period, as the Hoosiers sat at a comfortable 32-7 lead before the final bout of the day.
The heavyweight bout provided some hope for Indiana’s redshirt freshman Caleb Marzolino to earn his first win of the season. Marzolino kept the match scoreless early but eventually lost by fall to redshirt junior Josh Terrill, as Indiana wrapped up the 32-13 conference victory.
With the win, the Hoosiers climbed to 7-3 on the season, and 5-0 in Bloomington. Indiana wrestling will continue its season with a dual meet with No. 12 Illinois on Friday inside Huff Hall in Champaign, Illinois.
“For us, there’s matches where we can win,” Escobedo said after the meet Monday. “We need to win those matches.”
