Along with Escobedo's victory at 125, junior Max Dean took fourth place at 165. Sophomore Andrae Hernandez (133 pounds) and redshirt freshman Matt Coughlin (149) each garnered fifth-place finishes in their weight classes, while junior Marc Bennett (184) was seventh at 184.
Escobedo won his first three matches at 125 pounds, including a pair of falls and a major decision. Escobedo, the highest-ranked wrestler remaining in the tourney, then topped seventh seed Pat Castillo of Northern Illinois with a 3-1 decision to face Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State in the finals. The redshirt freshman won the championship match with a 3-1 decision. The Griffith, Ind., native improved to 23-2 on the year with a team-leading 10 pins.
No. 12 Max Dean won his first match in the 165-pound bracket by a 5-1 decision, but was bested 2-1 in the second round. Dean rebounded with a pair of decisions in the wrestleback, the first in sudden victory, to remain alive in the wrestleback. The junior then won his next three matches to earn a match against No. 6 Nick Baima of Northern Iowa in the third-place bout, where Baima took a 10-3 decision.
Hernandez opened his tournament 3-0, with a technical fall and a major in his first three decisions. Hernandez then faced the country's top wrestler, Nick Simmons of Michigan State, in the semifinals, with Simmons earning a 2-0 decision. In the wrestleback, the Griffith, Ind., native went head-to-head with second seed Robbie Preston, but Preston emerged with a 6-0 triumph. In the fifth-place match, Hernandez bested Northwestern's Eric Metzler 3-0.
No. 5 Matt Coughlin advanced to the semifinals at 149 with a pair of major decisions to improve his record to 21-2 on the year. Coughlin was bested by sixth-seed Mike Grimes of Northern Illinois in the semifinals, with Grimes taking a 3-1 decision in the first sudden victory period. In the first match of the wrestleback, No. 7 J.P. O'Connor topped Coughlin for the second time this season, 3-0, but the Evansville, Ind., native rebounded with a 3-0 victory of his own over Purdue's Matt Redmond in the fifth-place match.
At 184, No. 9 Marc Bennett won his opening two matches to move to the quarterfinals, but was topped in his bid for a spot in the semifinals with a major decision at the hands of No. 4 Jake Varner of Iowa State. Bennett topped Sacred Heart's Andrew Silber with a 14-6 major decision in Saturday's opening match, but Illinois' John Dergo took a 6-3 decision over Bennett in the junior's next bout. The Martinsville, Ind., native finished his tourney with a victory over second seed Gerald Harris to take seventh.
Three others - No. 3 Brandon Becker, Nathan Everhart and Josh Buuck - came up just one victory shy of placing at the Championships. Becker advanced to the quarterfinals at 157 pounds with a pair of victories, but suffered an injury in his third match of the weekend. Becker took an injury default, and was unable to participate in Session 3, taking a medical forfeit in his next bout.
Everhart drew a tall task in his opening bout at 197, falling to No. 8 Wynn Michalak of Central Michigan in a 17-5 major decision. But Everhart rebounded in the wrestleback with three consecutive victories - including a pin and a technical fall - to move on to the third session. Everhart came up one match shy of placing at the event though, as he was eliminated by No. 18 T.J. Morrison of Rider in a 9-5 decision.
Buuck made his season debut for the Hoosiers with a matchup against No. 4 Matt Fields of Iowa, with Fields taking a 14-6 major decision. Buuck won his first two matches in the wrestleback to advance to Session 3, but was defeated by eighth seed Blake Gillis of Wartburg in a 6-3 decision.
Two Hoosiers - true freshman Nick Walpole and redshirt freshman Trevor Perry - were eliminated from the tourney on day one. Perry won his first-round match 7-6, but was bested by No. 20 Kurt Brenner of West Virginia in round two. Perry won his first bout in the wrestleback, but was unable to advance any further after taking a medical forfeit
Walpole drew a tough assignment in his first match of the day on Friday, falling to 10th-ranked Alex Tsirtsis of Iowa State by a 10-2 score, but rebounded by winning his first two matches in the wrestleback, including a major decision and a fall. Walpole was eliminated from the tourney with a 7-3 decision at the hands of Sal Tirico of Columbia.
The Hoosiers (8-0) return to dual-meet action with a match at Eastern Illinois on Sunday, Jan. 13, at 3 p.m.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now