Seven of 10 IU grapplers recorded bonus points in the contest as Indiana tallied two major decisions, a pair of tech falls and pinned three Little Giants.

Three-time All-American Angel Escobedo began the night by sticking Josh Boyer in under a minute (0:53) in the 125 lbs. bout. Matt Ortega followed suit at 133 pounds, recording his fall at the 1:03 mark.

Competing in his first collegiate dual match, redshirt freshman Danny Monaco posted an 8-1 victory over Jake Strausbaugh at 141 pounds. Alex Warren kept it going in the 149-lbs. match by tech falling his opponent, 17-0, in just four minutes and 23 seconds.

Next up was the Bloomington High School South duo of Kurt Kinser (157 lbs.) and Paul Young (165 lbs.), each making quick work of their foe. Kinser ran his career pins total to 26, placing him eighth all-time in school history while Young garnered an 18-2 tech fall in 3:56.

Trevor Perry (174 lbs.) wrestled the first match of his senior season, putting up a 12-1 major decision over Robert Beeler. Subsequent decisions by Eric Cameron and Matt Powless followed to put the Cream and Crimson ahead 41-0.

Heavyweight Nate Everhart handed Rob Arnett his first defeated of the year, remaining undefeated himself after a 11-0 major decision.

Redshirt freshman Ryan Konz also wrestled Tuesday night, winning his exhibition match with Jake Moore, 13-0.

Indiana's next competition is the Hoosier Duals on Nov. 28, held this season at University Gym.

COMPLETE RESULTS
Final Score: Indiana 45- Wabash 0
125 - Angel Escobedo (Indiana) pins Josh Boyer (Wabash) 0:53
133 - Matt Ortega (Indiana) pins Willy Costakis (Wabash) 1:03
141 - Dan Monaco (Indiana) decision over Jake Strausbaugh (Wabash) 8-1
149 - Alex Warren (Indiana) tech falls Garrett Payne (Wabash) 17-0 4:23
157 - Kurt Kinser (Indiana) pins Tony Conway (Wabash) 3:41
165 - Paul Young (Indiana) tech falls Bryon Hugo (Wabash) 18-2 3:56
174 - Trevor Perry (Indiana) maj. dec. over Robert Beeler (Wabash) 12-1
184 - Eric Cameron (Indiana) decsion over Greg Rhoads (Wabash) 7-4
197 - Matt Powless (Indiana) decision over Michael Burke (Wabash) 9-5
285 - Nate Everhart (Indiana) maj. dec. over Rob Arnett (Wabash) 11-0

Exhibition Matches
157 - Ryan Konz (Indiana) maj. dec. over Jake Moore (Wabash) 13-0
Three Indiana Hoosiers Claim Titles at Season-Opening Michigan State Open

EAST LANSING, Mich.- The Indiana University wrestling team officially opened their 2009-10 season on Sunday at the Michigan State Open. Eleven of 15 Hoosiers placed in the Open division, including three titles by Nate Everhart (285 lbs.), Kurt Kinser (157 lbs.) and Paul Young. (165 lbs.)

A pair of Bloomington High School South graduates in Kinser and Young were perfect on the day, combining for nine wins and two tournament championships. Senior heavyweight Nate Everhart followed suit with a 4-0 day of his own and tourney crown. It marks Kinser's second consecutive Michigan State Open title after winning the same event to begin the 2008-09 campaign.

Also advancing to the championship of their weight class were true freshman Ryan LeBlanc (165 lbs.) and Eric Cameron (184 lbs.), each finishing as runner-up. Additional IU placers include: Danny Monaco (141 lbs.) and Joe Fagiano (285 lbs.) at third, Nick Avery (184 lbs.) in fourth and a trio of Hoosiers coming in at fifth place (Ryan Konz, Matt Powless and Justin Kuhn).

A complete recap will be available at IUHoosiers.com later this evening.
Indiana Wrestling Holds 2009 Intrasquad Scrimmage

Mail-Filter-Gateway: Found to be Virus Free

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 15 Indiana University wrestling team held the 2009 intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday evening with nine matches on the docket, including 2008 National Champion Angel Escobedo in action.

An exhibition heavyweight match started the night, pitting junior Joe Fagiano versus true freshman Jowan Gill. Fagiano, a likely redshirt for the 2009-10 season, made quick work of Gill, pinning him in 1:50.

149 LBS. * r-Junior Alex Warren vs. Freshman Anthony Fretwell
Warren jumped ahead 9-0 following the first period with a takedown and seven near-fall points. He then quickly recorded a reversal and two more near-falls to notch a 16-0 tech fall in the second period. Warren ran a very effective tilt to earn the majority of his back points.

141 LBS. * r-Freshman Danny Monaco vs. r-Freshman Nick Viterisi
After a scoreless opening period, Viterisi took a 1-0 advantage with an escape from his starting bottom position. Monaco quickly matched his escape in the final period before posting the only takedown of the match and going ahead 3-1. Viterisi would escapedonce again but fail to take down Monaco, dropping the match, 3-2.

133 LBS. * r-Sophomore Matt Ortega vs. r-Freshman Geno Capezio
Ortega tallied three takedowns in this contest, one in each period. He also added an escape while Capezio failed to score any offensive points. In the end it was Ortega coming out on top, 7-5.

174 LBS. * r-Senior Trevor Perry vs. Freshman Bryce Grimes
Perry controlled the pace from the get-go against Grimes, taking him down twice in the first period and five times for the match. Add-in an escape and riding time point for Perry, leading to a 12-3 victory for the three-time NCAA Qualifier.

165 LBS. * r-Junior Paul Young vs. Freshman Ryan LeBlanc
LeBlanc gave Young all he could handle in the 165-pound bout. LeBlanc, a top-50 recruit nationally, was the first to light the scoreboard with a first-period takedown on the edge of the mat. Young escaped from LeBlanc's grasp and tallied a takedown of his own, however, before the period came to an end. The two then exchanged escapes in the final two periods, resulting in a 4-3 winner for Young.

HEAVYWEIGHT * Senior Nate Everhart vs. Senior Justin Kuhn
Everhart owned a 3-0 edge after two periods. Kuhn chose to start down in the final period and escaped after a long ride by the two-time NCAA Qualifier. Everhart then regained the top position once again and rode Kuhn out for the remainder of the period, grabbing a riding time point as well as the 6-1 win.

125 LBS. * r-Senior Angel Escobedo vs. Freshman Justin Brooks
It was a slow start for the 2008 National Champion, taking a 2-0 lead into the second period. He then turned on the jets in period number two, increasing his lead to 10-4. Escobedo continued to add to his lead in the third period, completing the major decision, 15-6

157 LBS. * r-Junior Kurt Kinser vs. r-Senior Matt Coughlin
The marquee contest of the night, matching-up a pair of two-time NCAA Qualifiers, began with a stalemate in the 0-0 opening period. The outcome remained very uncertain heading into the third period as Kinser held just a 1-0 advantage. He finally pulled away in the third period, however, snagging a couple of takedowns en route to a 7-1 triumph.

The Hoosiers officially begin their 2009-10 campaign on Nov. 15, heading to the Michigan State Open. Indiana is slotted 15th nationally in the preseason coaches' poll.
Indiana University Wrestling Hauls in No. 23 Recruiting Class
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Head Coach Duane Goldman and his staff brought in the No. 23 recruiting class for the 2009-10 season according to Intermat, who released their national top-25 rankings Tuesday.

The Hoosiers will welcome two top-100 individual recruits to Bloomington in the fall, No. 46 Ryan LeBlanc (Morrsville Eaton, N.Y.) and No. 57 Max Ortega (Rio Rancho, N.M.). They each committed during the early signing period and combined as Intermat's 17th-ranked Early Recruiting Class.

Max Ortega, projected in the 141-149 lbs. range, is a four-time New Mexico state champion from Rio Rancho High School. Sound familiar? That's because Max's older brother, Matt, was also a four-time New Mexico state champion and will be a redshirt sophomore on the Hoosier wrestling squad this upcoming winter. Indiana also snagged a big-time recruit from the Empire State, signing two-time New York state champion Ryan LeBlanc. LeBlanc hails from Morrisville-Eaton High School. Both grapplers earned All-American honors at the NHSCA Senior Nationals.

Two other notable IU recruits according to Intermat are Justin Brooks (Warsaw, Ind.) and Tanner Kriss (Colby, Kan.). Brooks was a Junior National All-American in freestyle, while Kriss completed his senior season of high school with a state title.

The Big Ten Conference flexed its muscle in the national rankings as nine of the 11 schools were present in the top-25, including seven Big Ten institutions in the top-13.

TheOpenMat.com also tabbed Indiana's class No. 23 in the country in their inaugural rankings. Here is what they had to say:

"We expect big things from Coach Goldman's '09 class. First and foremost, Max Ortega, a New Mexico product who won 4 state titles and was a 3x finalist of NHSCA's national class tournament, is the Hoosier's future at 149. Ryan LeBlanc (165) won two NYS titles while Tanner Kriss (197) was crowned three times in Kansas. To supplement these standouts are in-state 4x placer Justin Brooks (125) and GA 2xer, Anthony Fretwell (Locust Grove, Ga.).

Indiana's Escobedo Wins Title, Five Others Receive Automatic NCAA Bids

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.- Angel Escobedo successfully defended his 125-lbs. Big Ten Championship on Sunday, defeating top-seeded Brandon Precin of Northwestern, 3-2, for his second consecutive conference title.  In addition, five other Hoosiers have also guaranteed themselves a trip to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.

Kurt Kinser (157 lbs.), Paul Young (165 lbs.), Trevor Perry (174 lbs.), Eric Cameron (184 lbs.) and Nate Everhart (285 lbs.) will join Escobedo in two weeks at the nationals. An additional 52 at-large bids will be awarded by the NCAA committee on Wednesday, March 11.

Matt Ortega made his case for one of those NCAA bids with his performance at the Big Tens. Ortega's seventh place showing at 133 pounds was just one spot out of the automatic bid range with the Big Ten receiving six slots in that weight class.  Also, en route to his seventh place finish, Ortega defeated a pair of seeded wrestlers in No. 8 Carson Beebe and No. 7 Zac Stevens. He entered the weekend at #31 in the national RPI.

Escobedo took a 2-0 advantage over Precin in the title bout with a first-period takedown.  The Northwestern Wildcat was able to escape, trimming the IU lead in half at 2-1 heading into the second period. Escobedo then returned the favor after electing to begin the second stanza in the down position and increasing his lead to 3-1 with an escape.  It was Precin's turn to start down in the final period.  He got away for his second escape of the match, but not before Escobedo rode him long enough to eliminate the riding time advantage. From there, no points were tallied and Escobedo came away with a 3-2 decision and his second straight Big Ten title.

Escobedo is the first Hoosier to win back-to-back Big Ten Championships since Brian Dolph did so in 1989 and '90.  

Everhart was guaranteed nothing going into Sunday and needed to win the fifth-place match to receive one of the Big Ten's five automatic bids at heavyweight.  Rather than play the passive role with a 2-1 edge in the third period, Everhart got on the aggressive and recorded a pair of takedowns to go along with a 1:33 riding time advantage and a 7-2 victory; stamping his ticket to the NCAAs for the second straight season.    

A trio of Hoosiers posted sixth-place finishes: Kinser, Perry and Cameron. Young came in seventh at 165 pounds.  As mentioned before, all of the above will be heading to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis for the NCAA Championships (March 19-21).  

Indiana finished in ninth place as a team.

COMPLETE RESULTS FROM SUNDAY

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND   
133 lbs. 7th Place Match- Matt Ortega (IU) dec. No. 7 Zac Stevens (MICH), 7-4   
1st- TD Ortega (2-0); E Stevens (2-1)   
2nd- Ortega Chooses Down; R Ortega (4-1); E Stevens (4-2); TD Ortega (6-2); PT Ortega (7-2); E Stevens (7-3)   
3rd- Stevens Chooses Down; E Stevens (7-4)

165 lbs. 7th Place Match- No. 7 Paul Young (IU) dec. Justin Zeerip (MICH), 3-0   
1st- No score   
2nd- Young Chooses Down; PT Young (1-0)   
3rd- Zeerip Chooses Neutral; TD Young (3-0)

197 lbs. 7th Place Match- No. 6 Matt Powless (IU) dec. No. 8 John Schoen (NW), 4-0   
1st- No score   
2nd- Powless Chooses Down; E Powless (1-0); TD Powless (3-0)   
3rd- Schoen Chooses Down; RT [2:21] Powless (4-0)

157 lbs. 5th Place Match- No. 6 Aarron Hynes (MICH) dec. No. 3 Kurt Kinser (IU), 10-4   
1st- TD Hynes (0-2), E Kinser (1-2), TD Kinser (3-2), R Hynes (3-4); E Kinser (4-4); TD Hynes (4-6)   
2nd- Kinser Chooses Down   
3rd- Hynes Chooses Down; E Hynes (4-7); TD Hynes (4-9); RT [3:56] Hynes (4-10)

174 lbs. 5th Place Match- No. 4 David Rella (OSU) dec. No. 6 Trevor Perry (IU). 5-2   
1st- TD Rella (0-2); E Perry (1-2)   
2nd- Perry Chooses Down; E Perry (2-2)   
3rd- Rella Chooses Down; E Rella (2-3); TD Rella (2-5)

184 lbs. 5th Place Match- No. 6 Anthony Biondo (MICH) dec. Eric Cameron (IU), 8-2   
1st- TD Biondo (0-2)   
2nd- Cameron Chooses Neutral; TD Biondo (0-4); E Cameron (1-4)   
3rd- Biondo Chooses Down; E Biondo (1-5); TD Biondo (1-7); E Cameron (2-7), RT [3:29] Biondo (2-8)

285 lbs. 5th Place Match- No. 5 Nate Everhart (IU) dec. Cameron Wade (PSU), 7-2   
1st- TD Everhart (2-0); E Wade (2-1)
2nd- Everhart Chooses Neutral            
3rd- Wade Chooses Neutral; TD Everhart (4-1); E Wade (4-2); TD Everhart (6-2); RT [1:33] Everhart (7-2)

125 lbs. Title Match- No. 3 Angel Escobedo (IU) dec. No. 1 Brandon Precin (NW), 3-2   
1st- TD Escobedo (2-0); E Precin (2-1)   
2nd- Escobedo Chooses Down; E Escobedo (3-1)   
3rd- Precin Chooses Down; E Precin (3-2)

WRESTLEBACK SEMIFINALS   
157 lbs.- Colton Salazar (PU) dec. No. 3 Kurt Kinser (IU), 4-1   
1st- TD Salazar (0-2)   
2nd- Salazar Chooses Down; E Salazar (0-3)   
3rd- Kinser Chooses Neutral; ST Kinser (1-3), RT [1:30] Salazar (1-4)

174 lbs.- No. 5 John Dergo (ILL) dec. No. 6 Trevor Perry (IU), 8-6 SV   
1st- TD Perry (2-0), NF Perry (4-0), R Dergo (4-2); E Perry (5-2)   
2nd- Dergo Chooses Down; E Dergo (5-3)   
3rd- Perry Chooses Down; NF Dergo (5-5); E Perry (6-5), RT Dergo [1:03] (6-6)  
SV- TD Dergo (6-8)

184 lbs.- No. 2 Mike Pucillo (OSU) maj. dec. Eric Cameron (IU), 12-1   
1st- TD Pucillo (0-2)   
2nd- Cameron Chooses Neutral;  TD Pucillo (0-4); E Cameron (1-4); TD Pucillo (1-6)   
3rd- Pucillo Chooses Down; E Pucillo (1-7); ST Pucillo (1-8), ST Pucillo (1-9), TD Pucillo (1-11); RT [2:24] Pucillo (1-12)

285 lbs.- No. 2 Ben Berhow (MINN) dec. No. 5 Nate Everhart (IU), 3-2   
1st- No score   
2nd- Berhow Chooses Down; E Berhow (0-1)   
3rd- Everhart Chooses Down; E Everhart (1-1); TD Berhow (1-3); E Everhart (2-3)
#20 Indiana Falls to #8 Fighting Illinois

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.- The #20 Indiana University wrestling team suffered a 25-6 setback Friday night at #8 Illinois.  A pair of Hoosiers came out on top in their individual matches.

Defending 125-lbs. national champion and fifth-ranked Angel Escobedo put the Hoosiers up early with his decision over B.J. Futrell.  Points were scarce in the opening bout as Escobedo recorded an escape and fleeing-the-mat penalty on Illinois for the 2-0 win.

Indiana got back on the scoreboard in the 149-lbs. match when Nick Walpole blanked Eric Terrazas, 4-0.  Walpole broke a scoreless tie 13 seconds into the third period with an escape to go ahead 1-0. He would later tack on a takedown and a riding time bonus for his final three points.  Walpole rode his adversary for the entire two minutes of the second stanza.

At 165 pounds, Paul Young showed some resilience, fighting back from two separate three-point deficits to even the score at 6-6 heading into the third period against #15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud.  The momentum ended there though as Smith Bergsrud controlled the third period in finishing off a 12-7 win for the Illini.

Eric Cameron was also very close to taking out a highly-ranked foe, dropping a one-point decision to #12 Jordan Blanton, 5-4.  A Cameron takedown late in the second period put him ahead 4-3. An escape by Blanton with just two seconds left in the period proved to be the difference, however, as he then posted a subsequent escape after electing to start the third period in the down position.

#20 Indiana 6, #8 Illinois 25
COMPLETE RESULTS:
125 lbs.- #5 Angel Escobedo (IU) dec. B.J. Futrell (ILL) 2-0; Team Score: 3-0  
133 lbs.- #3 Jimmy Kennedy (ILL) maj. dec. Matt Ortega (IU) 15-5; TS: 3-4
141 lbs.- Ryan Prater (ILL) dec. Andrae Hernandez (IU) 8-2; TS: 3-7
149 lbs.- Nick Walpole (IU) dec. Eric Terrazas (ILL) 4-0; TS: 6-7
157 lbs.- #2 Mike Poeta (ILL) dec. #12 Kurt Kinser (IU) 9-3; TS: 6-10
165 lbs.- #15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud (ILL) dec. Paul Young (IU) 12-7; TS: 6-13
174 lbs.- John Dergo (ILL) dec. #15 Trevor Perry (IU) 6-2; TS: 6-16
184 lbs.- #12 Jordan Blanton (ILL) dec. Eric Cameron (IU) 5-4; TS: 6-19
197 lbs.- Patrick Bond (ILL) dec. Matt Powless (IU) 7-6; TS: 6-22
285 lbs.- #9 John Wise (ILL) dec. Nate Everhart (IU) 8-4; TS: 6-25

Indiana is back at again on Sunday, returning to Bloomington for a 2 p.m. home match versus #16 Northwestern inside University Gym.