Team happy to start season

IU opens its wrestling season Sunday by competing in the Missouri Open, a national tournament that features some of the best wrestling schools in the nation. The team, which is coming off a 16-9 record last season, returns a healthy dose of tested sophomores and welcomes a large freshman class, creating a young group of wrestlers.\n"We have pretty good leaders on our team," said IU coach Duane Goldman, who enters his 11th season at IU. "We only have four juniors and seniors on our team, but the young guys have responded well, and the incoming freshmen are working hard."\nIU is led by their two top returnees, senior Coyte Cooper and junior Pat DeGain, who both rank in the top 10 in the country in their respective weight classes. Goldman said these two will also be looked upon to provide leadership to the young team.\n"These are the two guys with national experience," Goldman said. "They are the main part of our lineup where the young guys look to for leadership."\nThe team started preseason practice in mid-September and has been going everyday since the beginning of November. The anxiousness to wrestle someone other than themselves is starting to set in.\n"We had wrestle-offs last weekend, and that was just a little taste of competition," sophomore Joe Dubuque said. "You're wrestling your own guys, but we're gearing up for this weekend."\nThe weekend brings with it IU's traditional opening meet at the Missouri Open. All the top teams from the nation compete in the tournament, including defending national champion Oklahoma State. Goldman looks forward to the challenge presented to his team.\n"It'll be a difficult tournament for us, but it gives us a chance to see where some of our guys are at against top competition," Goldman said. "I expect us to do well, but our main focus is to use this in order to be prepared at the end of the year."\nIU wrestlers share this same sentiment. \n"I feel we have some guys that can go in there and either win their weight class or give a good showing," freshman Brandon Becker said. "As for me, with this being my first big meet, I just want to stick my head in there and wrestle well."\nThis meet will prepare the Hoosiers for the rigorous schedule that awaits them in the Big Ten this season. As many as five teams are ranked in the top 10 nationally, but this does not damper hopes of a successful season. \n"It definitely is beneficial for our wrestlers to compete in the Big Ten," Goldman said. "But it is a great experience and makes us one of the better teams in the nation."\n-- Contact staff writer Colin Burns at coaburns@indiana.edu.