Wrestlers fall as Powless rises on all-time wins list

The IU wrestling team suffered a defeat this past Friday at the hands of No. 2-ranked Iowa.

Despite the 12-26 loss, the Hoosiers did gain some individual victories.

“All of the guys fought really hard,” senior Matt Powless said. “Technically, we saw some errors, so we’re definitely going to work on those and try and improve.”

No. 4 Powless (197 pounds) earned five points for the team with a tech fall of 22-7 over Iowa’s Tomas Lira.

“Personally, I thought I did alright,” Powless said. “There were times I thought I could have pushed the action more and produced more offense.”

This was also Powless’ 110th career win, making him one win away from breaking the barrier of Indiana’s all-time top 10 for most career victories.

“It’s really cool,” Powless said. “When I first came to IU, I wasn’t highly recruited. Just getting into the lineup was my main goal. There are a lot of coaches and All-Americans that make up a lot of IU’s history on that list. To be in the same category as them is really gratifying for me.”

With his next victory, Powless will be tied for 10th-most career wins alongside Kevin Stanley (1997-2001).

Viktor Sveda (1997-2002) earned the most career wins in IU history with a total of 149 wins.

Powless is currently ranked seventh in IU’s history for most wins in a season alongside Angel Escobedo (2007), Brian Dolph (1988) and Rod Chamberlin (1981).

Sophomore Ryan Leblanc opened the first period of the 174-pound weight class with two takedowns against Walter Gillmor. Leblanc continued to complete three more takedowns to earn a 15-5 major decision, making this his sixth major decision of the season.

Redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh (149 pounds) earned a 4-3 decision against No. 11 Mike Kelly. Walsh opened up the first minute with a takedown, followed by many near reversals for the remainder of the match. Walsh improves his freshman season to
19-7.

Sophomore Adam Chalfant wrestled against 2011 Big Ten Heavyweight Champion Blake Rasing during his season debut. Chalfant battled back after being scored against within the first minute of his bout. However, he ultimately suffered a loss with a score of 6-4.

Chalfant recently transferred from Harper College, where he posted a season record of 24-2 during his freshman year.

The Hoosiers will travel to Michigan this weekend for their next two meets. They will wrestle against Michigan at 7 p.m. Jan. 13, and they will finish the weekend against Michigan State at 2 p.m.  Jan. 15.