Wrestling falls to Michigan, beats Northwestern

Friday, the wrestling team faced its fourth consecutive top-10-ranked conference opponent. Sunday, they faced the only unranked conference team.\nThe dual results were true to the rankings.\nThe No. 23 Hoosiers dropped their fourth consecutive conference dual to No. 5 Michigan Friday night 24-14. Sunday, the team ended the losing skid with a 38-6 thrashing of struggling Northwestern. The weekend split leaves the Hoosiers 14-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten.\nAgainst Michigan, IU won four individual matches to Michigan's six, but three major decisions and a pin by the Wolverines accounted for the point difference. Michigan head coach Joe McFarland, who coached IU from 1990-92, said he is pleased to leave Bloomington with a win.\n"I was concerned coming down here about how we were going to compete," McFarland said. "I thought Indiana did a real good job of being aggressive in a lot of good matches."\nThe match began at the heavyweight division with senior Michael Dixon meeting No. 3 Matt Brink. Dixon struggled to score points and found himself with his stomach to the mat much of the time in the 4-2 loss. The loss was third straight for Dixon, who has wrestled the top three ranked wrestlers in his weight class in his past three matches.\nAt 125 pounds, No. 13 sophomore Greg Schaefer recorded a 20-4 technical fall over Michigan's Katsuhiko Sueda who wrestled in place of injured A.J. Grant who is ranked 10th. Michigan countered at 133 lbs. with a 18-6 major decision by Fowley Dowd against IU junior Brian Smiley.\nIn the next match freshman Coyte Cooper (141 lbs.) upset No. 14 Clark Forward 3-2. After a scoreless first period, Cooper opened a 3-1 lead after an escape and a take down in the second. An escape in the opening of the third period moved the score to 3-2, but a near take down for Cooper allowed him to hold on for the 3-2 victory as time expired.\n"It was a good win for me confidence-wise," Cooper said. "I figured going out there that I was going to hang in there and brawl and when my opportunities came I was going to get them."\nSenior Gabe Cook (149 lbs.) fell 4-0 in the next match and freshman Alex LaPointe (157 lbs.) was pinned in 4:52 to give Michigan a 16-8 advantage. The two teams would split the next four matches. \nA quick start helped No. 13 senior Kevin Stanley (165 lbs.) upset No. 6 Charles Martelli. Stanley led 4-1 after the first period and scored a take down with 33 seconds left to win 7-4. No. 4 junior Viktor Sveda (184 lbs.) defeated No. 6 Andy Hrovat 6-5 to defend his ranking. IU juniors Jack Wade and Brett Becks lost by major decision in the 10 point team loss.\nHead coach Duane Goldman said right now his team doesn't have enough power to beat the top teams.\n"We are wrestling well," Goldman said. "We are wrestling hard, but sometimes that much talent is tough to overcome."\nThe Hoosiers returned Sunday to University Gym and won seven of nine matches against unranked Northwestern (3-11-1) in IU's final home dual of the season.\nSveda and Stanley each pinned their opponents, while Cooper and Cook each won by technical fall. Northwestern forfeited at 133 lbs.\nCooper bested his opponent Josh Ballard to register 13 total takedowns. He scored seven takedowns in the third period on his way to a 27-12 technical fall. Sveda pinned his opponent in 1:57 and Stanley's pin moved him to fifth most in IU history.\nDixon lost his match to No. 16 Josh Saul 2-1. A stalling call on Dixon in the second period proved to be the difference in the match. Goldman said Dixon is having trouble scoring but said it is a problem they're working to cure in practice.\n"He is incredibly strong and hard to score on, he just has trouble getting scores of his own," Goldman said. "If we can get him to score in Big Tens, he'll be fine."\nThe win against Northwestern gives the Hoosiers a chance to finish even in conference play. They meet Michigan State Friday and Wisconsin Sunday before traveling to Evanston, Ill., for Big Ten Championships.\n"We always harp on the difficulty of the conference, but we are one of the top 20 teams in the country," Goldman said. "A match like this shows where we're at. We're tough"