No. 18 Indiana Wrestling to Host No. 11 Minnesota

[TomM]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
January 18, 2023
   
Indiana Wrestling 
Contact: Jackson Yeary   
(C): 317-370-6557   
jbyeary@iu.edu 

No. 18 Indiana Wrestling to Host No. 11 Minnesota
 
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Indiana Wrestling welcomes another big-time test to Bloomington on Friday as it hosts No. 11 Minnesota for a 6 p.m. dual at Wilkinson Hall.
 
Indiana enters the dual at 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten.

MATCHING UP WITH MINNESOTA:
-Indiana enters its Friday dual against Minnesota No. 11 Minnesota with plenty of momentum after winning two in a row over No. 16 Rutgers and No. 16 Maryland for a 6-1 record.
 
-Minnesota has had a great season thus far, entering the match at 8-2 with a number of notable wins. 
 
-Minnesota has defeated No. 21 Michigan State, most recently, as well as No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 24 South Dakota State and No. 18 North Dakota State, among others.
 
-All ten of Minnesota's probable starters are nationally ranked as well. They are headline by Patrick McKee, the No. 5-ranked grappler at 125. McKee is 8-1 on the year.
 
-The Golden Gophers also return eight NCAA qualifiers from a year ago. The only one not to return is 2022 NCAA champion at heavyweight, Gable Steveson.
 
-Minnesota's starter at 157, No. 16 Brayton Lee was an NCAA qualifier in 2020 and 2021 but was hurt for the 2022 championships. 
 
-The Hoosiers are seeking their first win over Minnesota since Dec. 11, 2015, when they won, 19-18.
 
RECAPPING RUTGERS:
-Indiana's 24-16 win over No. 16 Rutgers last week was another wild dual. 
 
-Rutgers took the first three duals to take a 10-0 advantage. From there, the Hoosiers flipped the momentum.
 
-Back-to-back victories from Derek Gilcher (157) and Nick South (165) proved to give Indiana the lift it needed to propel itself to victory. 
 
-Gilcher won 5-3 in Sudden Victory 1 over No. 23 Andrew Clark which got the crowd into it. To follow, South trailed going into the third period but stunned Robert Kanniard and pinned him to give IU a 12-10 lead.
 
-Indiana won three of the next four matches to seal it, including Jacob Bullock's 15-0 tech fall win at heavyweight over John O'Donnell.
 
-It was Indiana's first win over Rutgers since 2008, and only the second ever in the series.
 
LINEUP STRENGTH:
-Indiana's routine starting lineup has really excelled this season.
 
-Five of IU's 10 starters have a dual record of 5-2 or better with Graham Rooks, Derek Gilcher and DJ Washington all owning dual records of 6-1.
 
-Rooks and Gilcher have the highest win totals with each being 21-4 and 21-5, respectively.
 
-Washington and Bullock are a little behind on win total but have wrestled fewer matches as Washington is 17-2 and Bullock is 14-2.
 
LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD:
-While the season Big Ten season feels like it just got started, the NCAA wrestling calendar is nearing the homestretch.
 
-The Hoosiers have five more Big Ten duals, and six duals total, prior to the postseason.
 
-The remaining dual opponents for the Hoosiers are Minnesota, at Purdue, Penn State,  at Michigan State, at Michigan and at Chattanooga. 
 
-In a little under two months, the NCAA Wrestling Championships will be happening in Tulsa, Okla. from March 16-18.
 
RANKINGS REBOOT:
-For the second consecutive week, Indiana Wrestling has asserted itself in the national polls.
 
-The Hoosiers are in FloWrestling's poll for the second consecutive week, appearing at No. 18. 
 
-In the NWCA Coaches Poll, Indiana is tied for No.21, and for InterMat, it is slotted at No. 22.
 
-Individually, the same five Hoosiers, Henry Porter, Graham Rooks, Derek Gilcher, DJ Washington and Jacob Bullock, are all in the rankings.
 
-Porter is No. 31 at 133, Rooks is No. 31 at 149, Gilcher rose to No. 16 at 157, Washington held steady at No. 18 at 174 and Bullock lands at No. 24 for heavyweight.
 
-The NCAA Coaches rankings are set to be released on Thursday, Jan. 19.
 
STARTING STRONG:
-IU Wrestling is off to its best start to a season in the Angel Escobedo era. 
 
-The 6-1 start paces with the 2015-16 team that also began the year with the same record.
 
-The Hoosiers' three ranked wins are the most in a season during Coach Escobedo's tenure.
 
-This season's win total of six already surpasses last year's total of three.