Wrestlers look to end season with wins

The IU wrestling team usually ends practice with scrimmages in which coach Duane Goldman simply tells the squad to wrestle. These scrimmages are sometimes sluggish after hours of practice and lifting. \nThere was no such sluggishness this week. \nThere was intensity in the Hoosiers' eyes and growing aggression. There were cheap shots. They pushed one another up against the walls and pulled at their headgear. During sprinting suicides, they shouted words of encouragement and patted each other's backs when they crossed the line.\nIt's the end of the regular season, and the team knows there is no better time to push the limits. \nThis weekend, the No. 18 Hoosiers look to close out their regular season with major wins and boost their tournament seeding with two road matches against ranked opponents. IU will take on No. 22 Michigan State on Friday and No. 9 Wisconsin on Sunday. \nLast weekend the Hoosiers won two key matches against Michigan and then-No. 12 Northwestern. The team hopes to carry this momentum into the upcoming weekend. \n"We pulled off two solid wins last weekend, and I'd like for our team and myself just to keep going," freshman Trevor Perry said. "(We need to) pick up these next two wins, hopefully, and work hard this week and make it happen."\nPerry is currently 6-0 in conference play and hopes it will be 8-0 this weekend. \nMSU recently lost 33-9 to No. 10 Iowa. Spartan Nick Simmons is ranked No. 2 in the 133-pound weight class after winning by an injury default versus Iowa. He will face IU sophomore Andrae Hernandez, who is ranked No. 20. \nPerhaps the most intriguing matchup will be between MSU's No. 6 Franklin Gomez and IU freshman Angel Escobedo, ranked No. 9 . Escobedo is 28-4 on the year with his most recent victory coming with 13 seconds left in the period versus Brandon Precin of Northwestern. \nSunday's match against Wisconsin may prove to be more of a challenge for the IU wrestlers. Wisconsin is coming off a late-round loss to No. 7 Illinois, who took the lead and the win during the last match of the day. Wisconsin has six members of its team ranked in the top 20 of their weight classes, while IU has five. \nHoosier and No. 7 Brandon Becker is scheduled to take on No. 3 Craig Henning of Wisconsin. Despite the rankings, Becker is optimistic about the outcome. \n"I've wrestled him already this year and beat him," Becker said. "But it's a good match every time." \nGoldman knows just as well as the team how important this weekend is. He is also aware of the difficulty of the task at hand. \n"MSU and Wisconsin are both real tough places to go into," Goldman said. "We just have to do what we can do and hopefully the guys won't hold back and they'll wrestle up to their potential." \nAlthough road games can be tough, the Hoosiers know there are some benefits to it as well. \n"Being on the road is always a little tough with the away crowds and away referees," Perry said. "But it makes winning away a lot better"