Back after a long trip on the road over the weekend, Indiana wrestling was back in full force in University Gym. Squaring off against the No. 17 Michigan Wolverines in the second to last home match of the season, the Hoosiers saw much improved wrestling; however they were not able to pull in the W against Michigan. Taking a 13-30 defeat, Indiana remains winless in the Big Ten.
The Hoosiers began the match with a slow start at the 125 weight position. Sophomore Joe Duca had a close match against Michigan's Sean Doyle, but could not convert the effort into points for Indiana. Much in the same manner, freshman Alonzo Shepherd started with a 1-4 start at the 133 weight position. Not being let out by Michigan, Shepherd would join Duca on the losing side of the bout.
With the early weight classes falling to the Wolverines, freshman Alex Gregory came into his bout with clear eyes. In a hard-fought match that was close until the very last point, Gregory fell to Michigan in the third period, continuing the Hoosiers' absence on the scoreboard.
"He [Gregory] has the talent, but he has some mental issues that he needs to overcome," IU coach Coach Duane Goldman said. "When it got down to it later in the match, you could see him doubt himself and it didn't help him carry through for the victory."
After Gregory's close match, the Hoosiers were unable to convert in the next weight class. However, as in previous matches, sophomore Taylor Walsh was responsible for the first points of the match. Jumping to an early lead in his bout, Walsh did not let out Michigan's Michael Carpenter and won with a comfortable score of 10-2. After Walsh's victory, the Hoosiers would drop the next two bouts.
Though Indiana would not be in reach of the Wolverines, the Hoosiers saw a promising match at the 184 weight class dished out by sophomore Luke Sheridan. Opening with a vengeance from the start, Sheridan made quick work of Michigan's Christopher Heald, and gave the Hoosiers their only pin on the day. With his win, Sheridan has now won three straight Big Ten bouts.
"I'm never content, that's what Duane talks about, just never being ok with just winning a couple of matches," Sheridan said. "They all talk about continuing to progress and I'm definitely taking steps in the right direction, but I'm nowhere near where I want to be."
In the final match of the day, junior Adam Chalfant came away victorious after a fierce battle against Michigan's Ben Apland. The closest match of the day, Chalfant earned a tough win with a score of 8-7 over Apland.
While Indiana did not convert the individual matches to wins, Goldman said that there has been much improvement and the team cannot focus on the overall outcome.
"We've been working hard and improving a lot every match and I think we see that improvement," said Goldman. "It has been rough, so we can't really focus on the team outcome, because if we just focused on the team outcome, it would be hard to keep that motivation."
Goldman said he was pleased with the effort tonight and hopes to keep improving for the remainder of the season.
