Escobedo loses perfect season, IU falls to No. 1 Iowa

All season long, sophomore Angel Escobedo has given the Hoosiers a spark with his victories in the 125-pound weight class. The flawless sophomore had another chance to set the pace against No. 1 Iowa, but ran into stiff competition in Charlie Falck on Friday in Iowa City.\nBut the Hawkeye wasn’t the only thing battling Escobedo – he also had the flu.\n“Not to make excuses for him,” IU coach Duane Goldman said, “but Angel was pretty sick going into the match.”\nThe No. 2 Escobedo (24-1) found himself in a 3-0 deficit after the first two periods of play. Despite a strong effort in the third frame, Escobedo could not mount a comeback against No. 3 Falck. After a stalling call on Falck earned Escobedo another point, the Hawkeye used riding time to his advantage in a hard-fought battle that ended 4-2.\n“We gave him the option to go out there, and he chose to wrestle,” Goldman said. “He wanted to feel the guy out either way. It was a close match he could have won. I think his attitude was admirable for him to go out there and learn from the situation.”\nThe demise of Escobedo’s perfect record came at a time when the No. 21 Hoosiers (12-8, 1-6) needed his seemingly automatic three points the most. IU lost the dual meet 28-7 against the overpowering Hawkeyes.\nIowa (20-1) won in convincing fashion, earning five points from a technical fall by Dan LeClere over IU junior Scott Kelly in the 141-pound weight class. The Hawkeyes also picked up 12 points in three other matches by earning major decisions.\n“We didn’t wrestle poorly,” Goldman said. “We had a lot of close matches and they have an excellent team. We just didn’t win enough of the matches.”\nThe two IU victories of the day came from No. 4 senior Brandon Becker (18-3) and No. 14 sophomore Matt Coughlin (22-7).\nCoughlin earned a victory over Iowa’s Jake Kerr by tossing him to the mat twice in the third period, earning him four points in the match and three for the Hoosiers in the dual meet. \n“We need to finish matches better,” senior Marc Bennett said. “We don’t know what’s wrong with us. Maybe some of our guys didn’t think they could win, but it’s a team effort and we all know what to do. We’re just not doing it.”\nUp next for the Hoosiers is No. 12 Northwestern (6-7) Sunday in Evanston, Ill. The match against the Wildcats will be IU’s last of the regular season. The Hoosiers will then turn their focus to the Big Ten Championships March 8 in Minneapolis.\n“It’s always important to end on a strong note,” assistant coach Pat DeGain said. “These guys need to get a better seed. And it’s good to get out there and put it on somebody when you’ve had a few losses in a row.”\nAs the season dwindles down, Bennett knows it’s now or never for the Hoosiers.\n“You’ve wrestled everybody once and you know what’s going on with your opponents,” Bennett said. “I’m looking forward to some rematches. But all in all, we’re going to have some tough practices this and next week, then probably take it easy right before the championships so we can try to pull some upsets.”