Big shoes to fill

The Hoosier nation had become accustomed to seeing two-time national champion Joe Dubuque wrestling at the 125-pound weight class. But Dubuque’s graduation last year set the stage for the emergence of No. 7-ranked Angel Escobedo. \nIU wrestling coach Duane Goldman said at the beginning of the year that Escobedo was the key to filling the void Dubuque left when he graduated. Goldman said recently that he has lived up to his expectations but there is also room for improvement.\n“Angel is having a really good season but Dubuque is a really hard guy to replace,” Goldman said. “He’s really coachable and uses what he’s taught, and can only get better.” \nEscobedo has amassed astonishing numbers in his attempt to pick up where Dubuque left off. \nThe freshman has compiled an overall record of 27-4.\nThough he has had a great season, when he began there were still freshman jitters he had to work out to become the athlete he is today. Escobedo said he was nervous when he competed in his first official competition at the Michigan State Open in early November, where he took third place at 125 pounds. \nBut all of Escobedo’s early tension went out the window as he began to flourish in the two meets during winter break. He pinned all three of his opponents at the FITE Duals and won the 125-pound title at the Midlands Championship. He was in control of all his matches as he won in an average of four minutes.\nThe Griffith, Ind., native built on this momentum and jumped to the top of the national rankings. Though this surprised the wrestling world, Escobedo’s cousin and teammate Andrae Hernandez said he always knew Escobedo was going to do great things.\n“I always expected him to be good, because he was winning national tournaments when we were young,” Hernandez said. “But I definitely think that our coaching staff has helped him to become a better wrestler.”\nDespite all the confidence everyone else had in him, Escobedo said he was surprised by his progression, but isn’t satisfied with it.\n“I came in with confidence from training with Dubuque,” he said. “I’m doing a little better than I thought I would, but I still have a lot of room to do better.”\nEscobedo trained with Dubuque in practice for a full year in the 125-pound weight class, and knows about all Dubuque’s accomplishments. Escobedo said he wants to leave his fingerprints alongside Dubuque’s in IU history.\n“I expect a national championship. It’s a high goal but reasonable enough for me to get,” Escobedo said. “I hope to do what Dubuque did here because what he did was a great accomplishment; and to think about doing what he did here is an honor because his are really big shoes to fill,” he said. “I just want to work hard and try to be as good as he was.”