Northwestern
Indiana
No. 22 Indiana Downs No. 12 Northwestern, 28-11
2/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 11, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Top-ranked Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) scored a decision in his first action since Dec. 30 and top-ranked Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) registered the 'Cats' first Big Ten fall of the season, but the Wildcats fell to the Indiana Hoosiers Sunday, 28-11.
The loss drops Northwestern to 1-5 in Big Ten duals, 11-8 overall. Indiana improves to 11-4, 2-3 in conference.
True freshman Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) started for the 'Cats at 125 lbs. against seventh-ranked Midlands Champion Angel Escobedo. After a scoreless first period, Escobedo notched an escape early in the second to go up 1-0. Precin started down in the third and pulled ahead, 2-1, with a reversal. Escobedo escaped and then scored a late takedown for the 4-2 win to give Indiana an early 3-0 lead.
The Hoosiers increased their lead to 6-0 when 20th-ranked Andrae Hernandez downed Eric Metzler (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) by a 7-3 decision. Metzler took an early 2-0 lead in the match with a takedown in the first period, but Hernandez rode a third period takedown and near-fall to victory.
Lang scored a 9-4 decision in his return to the mat against Scott Kelly at 141 lbs. Lang went ahead 2-0 with an early takedown in the first. The top-ranked junior notched an escape and a takedown in the second and another takedown in the third for the 9-4 win. Lang closed the overall gap to 6-3.
Indiana's 18th-ranked Matt Coughlin topped 149-pounder Marty Gould (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) by a close 5-3 decision. After a scoreless first period, Coughlin escaped early in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Gould registered a takedown to pull ahead 2-1, but another escape tied the score at 2-2. Gould took a 3-2 lead early in the third with an escape, but the Hoosier received a stalling point and scored a takedown for the 5-3 decision.
The Hoosiers extended their lead to 13-3 when seventh-ranked Brandon Becker scored a major decision victory over Dominic Marella (Roselle, Ill./Conant) at 157 lbs. Max Dean defeated Greg Hagel (Linwood, N.J./Blair Academy) by major decision to make the score 17-3 heading into the upper weights.
Trevor Perry gave the Hoosiers six more points when he pinned Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) at 174 lbs., but the top-ranked Herbert came back with a pin of his own -- NU's first during the Big Ten season -- over Marc Bennett to make the score 23-8 in favor of Indiana. One point was deducted from NU's team score for unsportsmanlike conduct after the match.
Nathan Everhart scored a technical fall over Carl Howe (Three Rivers, Mich./Three Rivers), wrestling in the place of Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick), to make the Indiana lead 28-8 heading into the heavyweight match.
Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) won his heavyweight match over Josh Buck, 3-2, scoring an early takedown and using the riding time advantage for one more point. IU took the dual, 28-11.
The 'Cats finish the dual season with two home meets next weekend. They host Purdue on Alumni Night at 7 p.m. Friday and welcome Michigan at 7 p.m. Sunday evening.
Indiana 28, Northwestern 11
125: Escobedo (IU) dec. Precin (NU), 4-2 (0-3)
133: Hernandez (IU) dec. Metzler (NU), 7-3 (0-6)
141: Lang (NU) dec. Kelly (IU), 9-4 (3-6)
149: Coughlin (IU) dec. Gould (NU), 5-3 (3-9)
157: Becker (IU) maj dec. Marella (NU), 18-8 (3-13)
165: Dean (IU) maj dec. Hagel (NU), 12-3 (3-17)
174: Perry (IU) fall Hayes (NU), 0:22 (3-23)
184: Herbert (NU) fall Bennett (IU), 1:32 (8-23)
197: Everhart (IU) tech fall Howe (NU), 17-1 (8-28)
285: Fox (NU) dec. Buck (IU), 3-2 (11-28)
Players Mentioned
