The IU wrestling team rebounded from their loss to Northwestern on Wednesday with a win over Eastern Michigan this morning, but were brought back to earth with an afternoon defeat at the hands of Missouri.

Highlighted by a Kurt Kinser headlock for a pin, IU took six of the ten matches, including the final three which turned a 13-13 tie into a decisive 24-13 final margin. Eric Cameron, wrestling at 184 pounds, rebounded from a recent losing streak with an impressive major decision over Khodar Hoballah, 11-3.

In the afternoon match, the Tigers took control early, winning the first three matches, including two by pins. They lost a point for unsportsmanlike conduct by the coaches, though, and when Kinser won and Paul Young pinned his opponent, it was 14-9. That was as close it got, however. Cameron, Ryan LeBlanc and Ricky Alcala each lost mathces by one point due to riding time, and Nick Avery lost a close match at 174 pounds to 17th-ranked Dorian Henderson. Matt Powless' win at 197 pounds, which puts his season record at 18-1, wasthe only other IU win.

Some more observations:

  • After his shocking loss to Nick Hendrick of EMU in the morning, I thought I may have been too quick to praise LeBlanc, but his gutsy one-point loss to the 9th-ranked wrestler in his weight class convinced me otherwise. Frankly he deserved to win that match, as he landed several takedowns that were not called due to being out of bounds. Several of those calls were questionable and could have gone either way.
  • Cameron's afternoon loss was the same way. The Hoosiers are clearly struggling on using the edge of the mat to their advantage, but today they simply got no favors from the officials. From my point of view, they looked better on the edge than on Wednesday against Northwestern.
  • Justin Brooks lost twice today, but impressed me with his second match against Missouri's 8th-ranked Alan Waters. Brooks lost by major decision to EMU's Jared Germaine in the morning, and Germaine was in turn majored decisioned by Waters. Waters looked on pace to win by a major decision against Brooks, but a late flurry, including a takedown on the edge, brought the match back within seven points and saved a team point for IU.

Full results can be found here.

The Hoosiers next take the mat on the 29th in Greensboro, NC for the Southern Scuffle Tournament.

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