Wrestlers lose twice as Powless hits milestone

The IU wrestling team suffered two losses this weekend against Michigan and Michigan State.

The Hoosiers ended Friday night with a score of 33-6 against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich.

True freshman Luke Sheridan (184 pounds) earned his first career conference victory against Michigan redshirt freshman Chris Heald with a 3-1 decision.

On Sunday, the Hoosiers came to a 20-20 stalemate against the Spartans.

Based on the new tiebreaker rules put in place for the 2011-12 season, Michigan State came out with the win after winning six out of the 10 bouts.

The rule states that when two teams finish in a tie, the team with the most victories will win the meet.

Redshirt freshman Taylor Walsh (149 pounds) and Sheridan both pinned their opponents, earning a combined 12 points for the team, while senior Matt Ortega (141 pounds) and senior Matt Powless (197 pounds) finished the day with major decisions.

Powless earned two victories this weekend, placing him into the record books for career wins. Powless now has the ninth-most career wins in IU history after earning his 112th win against redshirt freshman Nick McDiarmid of Michigan State.

Despite his performance, Powless said he still felt disappointment.

“I won my matches, but I could have wrestled better,” Powless said. “I could have pinned my opponent from Michigan State, but I didn’t capitalize on some of my
opportunities.”

Powless said he found the team had similar problems, as well.

“I wrestled tentatively and too cautiously,” Powless said. “And I definitely think that was the same case across the board. We lost because we didn’t capitalize on the little things.”

This week the team will be focusing on its drive and stamina as the Hoosiers prepare for Friday’s meet.

“We’ll be working on wrestling through every situation,” Powless said. “Sometimes we might slow down the action in a meet, so we’re trying to regain our focus and push through.

“There are too many times where we’re wrestling six minutes instead of the full seven.”

This Friday, the team will wrestle at home against Nebraska. The meet will start at 7 p.m. at the University Gym and will be streamed live online through the Big Ten
Network.