Hoosiers drop first dual meet

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Hoosiers (0-1) opened its dual season with a loss to the No. 16 Tigers of Missouri (2-0). The final tally was 21-16.\nThe score was close the entire time, and the match could have gone either way. Head coach Duane Goldman said he believes his team had a chance.\n"We were in a position to win," he said. "They're a pretty decent team, but we felt we should have beaten them."\nOne factor that might have hurt the Hoosiers was when senior Brian Smiley was knocked unconscious. He returned to finish his match but was unable to hold on to the lead he had before the injury.\n"There is no doubt in my mind that Brian could have beaten his guy," Goldman said. "Things were just beyond his control. We could have won if it wasn't for that."\nSophomore Coyte Cooper responded with a victory in the 141-weight class. At 149, 14th-ranked Jeremy Spates of Missouri defeated sophomore Steve Amy 8-5. Freshman Rocky Mantella dropped down a weight class to 157. He recorded his first collegiate pin, which gave IU its first and only lead at 9-7. Amy said that the team lacked focus.\n"We weren't real satisfied with our performances," Amy said. "We weren't ready mentally. It was our fault we didn't come out prepared, not our coaches."\nSophomore Jereme Maye lost 10-9 in the 165-weight class. At 174, sophomore Andrew Wolf was defeated 19-6 by Missouri\'s No. 6 John Kopnisky. At 184, senior Viktor Sveda improved his season mark to 3-1 with a 7-4 victory.\nGoldman said he was happy how some of the new guys on the team handled themselves in the match.\n"We have some new faces, and I was able to see how they handled this match," Goldman said. "I saw how they worked and now we have to work things out."\nIn one of the key bouts of the night, No. 10 Scott Barker of Missouri upset No. 8 junior Ty Matthews 17-4. In the heavyweight bout, senior D.J. Radnovich lost 8-3, ending the Hoosiers chance at a victory.\nIU ended the night on a positive note with a 13-5 victory by junior Greg Schaefer at the 125-weight class.\n"I got off to a good start and was able to stay on the offensive," Schaefer said. "But a loss like this will be hard to swallow. It will be in our heads. It will drive us to work harder in practice and keep us motivated."\nDespite the tough loss, Goldman said he remains optimistic about his team's performance.\n"There are a couple of weights where we need to be more competitive," he said. "We need to be more competitive mentally, not physically. There is not one thing we need to do as a team. It is individual. I know we have to guys on the mat to get the job done."\nThe Hoosiers will be in action again Dec. 17 in a triangular meet against SIU-Edwardsville and Central Missouri.