Wrestlers compete in intrasquad scrimmage

Do not put too much stock in the outcomes from Thursday’s IU wrestling intrasquad scrimmage.

At 149 pounds, for instance, true freshman Eric Roach took nearly two minutes of overtime to score a takedown and an 8-6 decision against junior Geno Capezio, who moved up a weight class for the second time in as many years.

Neither is the probable starter at the weight, though. That would be redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh, who was defeated on the evening by a cold.

“I’d say Walsh will probably be the guy in there,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “He just didn’t wrestle tonight. That was a good match, but it didn’t have a lot of bearing. Walsh is fine.”

Likewise, at 184 pounds, true freshman and highly-touted recruit Lucas Sheridan made his Hoosier debut against redshirt freshman Cheney Dale, a 174-pounder.
Sheridan won 8-1, largely due to a five-point move on a headlock and nearfall. However, Goldman said Sheridan will redshirt this season and Dale is penciled to start.

Even with the outcomes ultimately playing almost no role in who the season’s starters will be, the event provided the public their first look at a Hoosier team seeking to replace Kurt Kinser and Paul Young, lineup fixtures the past four seasons, and Ricky Alcala, a heavyweight who placed fifth nationally in his only season at IU.

New NCAA rules meant the Hoosiers could not begin practice until October 10.

“Wrestle-offs are really difficult,” Goldman said. “They see each other every day and they know each other’s moves real well, so sometimes they’re not the most exciting matches. They’ve only been in the room a couple of weeks.”

While the outcomes of matches Thursday may not indicate the starters, Goldman said the Thursday wrestlers in most weight classes are the same athletes in contention for the starting jobs.

This is especially true at 165 pounds, a spot vacated by sophomore Ryan LeBlanc’s move to 174 pounds. In a battle of redshirt freshmen, Preston Keiffer defeated Sawyer Morris in one of three matches that went to overtime.

“165 (pounds), that one was really too close to call,” Goldman said. “Again, these matches, as far as really the lineup, have very little impact (but) those are the guys.”