With regular season over, IU looks to reload

The end of the regular season marks a transition period for the IU wrestling team. With Sunday's 19-14 loss to Michigan State, the team finished the regular season on a five-match losing streak but looks forward to the win-or-go-home Big Ten Tournament that awaits. \nAlthough four of those losses were to top 15 teams, the defeat last weekend was to a Spartan team with only one victory in the season.\nThe Hoosiers will now look to correct the mistakes of the past few matches and rest their bodies in preparation for the conference tournament in two weeks held at Ohio State University. IU coach Duane Goldman looks forward to the two-week break so his team can get healthy and focus intently on the mission at hand.\n"We're looking more at individual match-ups and who might stand in our way for a chance to go the nationals," Goldman said. "With two weeks in between, that's a long time. We need to work hard, keep our conditioning and everybody healthy. It's too late in the year to recover from any type of injury."\nTo get to nationals, the IU grapplers will have to get past other teams in the highly competitive Big Ten. The top seven from each weight class advance to compete in the NCAA Championships two weeks later in St. Louis. With as many as nine teams ranked in the top 25 this year, the Hoosiers will have their work cut out for them.\n"The intensity is definitely going to be increased, especially this first week," freshman Josh Buuck said. "We got to keep mentally focused on what we're doing now and what we're going to be doing in two weeks."\nFor now, the team can reminisce on the regular season that was. A solid showing at the nationally-recognized Missouri Open that included a first place showing by senior Coyte Cooper sent the Hoosiers flying out of the gate. An eight-match winning steak highlighted by a 19-13 win over then No. 25 Pittsburgh, was the high point of the year. \nAlthough the season ended on a sour note with the five-straight conference losses, junior Pat DeGain sees more than just wins and losses.\n"The team has really united," he said. "I don't know if it was because I was an underclassman in past years, but we've really come together and stuck together throughout this year"\nGoldman has also been pleased despite the ups and downs of the regular season.\n"This team has overcome a lot of adversity this season," Goldman said. "We lost some of our starters to school, injury and things like that. The guys who have stepped in have been inspirational and worked real hard. It's been a fun group of guys to work with."\nThe team has two weeks to work out the chinks in the armor. The 17-8 Hoosiers will try to utilize the time to the best of their efforts.\n"We got to pick up the intensity," DeGain said. "We'll have morning workouts and be running more. This is the time to peak." \n-- Contact staff writer Colin Burns at coaburns@indiana.edu.