IU eyes Golden Gopher battle

The Hoosier wrestling squad looks to shrug off a close loss to No. 2 Illinois Saturday by hosting the Minnesota Golden Gophers this weekend in Big Ten conference action.\nAfter losing a couple of close matches to the Fighting Illini that decided the outcome, IU, which is 17-5 on the year, and 1-2 in league play, will try to bounce back this Saturday with a strong performance.\n"We wrestled well our last match, and Minnesota is a major obstacle in our way," IU Coach Duane Goldman said. "I feel confident if our guys wrestle well, we will represent ourselves well. I want to win the match, but make sure our individuals are performing up to our abilities"\nThe Golden Gophers, 16-4 on the season and 2-2 in Big Ten action, come into Bloomington on a bit of a downswing. Despite losing their past three dual meets in a row, they are still ranked in the top 15 in the nation. \nMost recently, Minnesota is coming off a 18-15 loss at the hands of Purdue where its two-time All-American, Jake Volkman, at 165 pounds, was out of action. \nThe roster boasts the top-ranked wrester in the country at 197 pounds in Damion Hahn. The task of dethroning him will go to junior Pat DeGain, who sports a 22-4 record this year. The Gophers also have nationally-ranked grapplers at 141, 157 and 174 pounds. \nIU feels confident in its abilities and must do the little things in practice to get over the hump.\n"We need to work individually on the mistakes we made and always be working to improve," freshman Max Deane said. "These last few weeks we've really turned it up and work harder to do the extra stuff. And don't quit. That's the biggest thing."\nOther grapplers felt the same way. With every Big Ten match-up a battle because of numerous highly-ranked teams, senior Andrew Wolf knows coach Goldman is preparing the team for the end of the year Big Ten Tournament. \n"I think the coaching staff is putting the emphasis on peaking at the right time," he said. "Since we just started the Big Ten, I don't really think the focus is there. We want to start peaking at the end of the year against teams like Purdue and Michigan State."\nThe match is 7 p.m. Saturday at University Gym. \nGoldman knows the challenges of competing in the Big Ten and hopes his team can meet them.\n"We don't have an easy match the rest of the year," he said. "Everybody we wrestle is ranked fairly high, nationally. We're just trying to move forward. These guys need to realize how good they are and how good they can be and raise their level of personal expectation."\n-- Contact staff writer Colin Burns at coaburns@indiana.edu.