Hoosier wrestlers head into final regular season meet

The IU wrestling team will travel to Evanston, Ill., to compete in its last meet of the regular season today.

The team will wrestle at 7 p.m. against Northwestern.

“This weekend, we’re looking forward to drawing an end to our regular season,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “We’ve been working really hard in tying up all the loose ends. Hopefully, we can do well and have a solid performance from all our guys and see what we can do with a ranked team.”

Northwestern is currently ranked No. 18 and has a season record of 10-4.

Indiana has a season record of 11-7, but it is still looking for its first conference win. The wrestlers said they stand a good chance of winning and are pretty evenly matched.

“We’re looking forward to this meet,” senior Matt Powless said. “They have some pretty tough guys, and this is a good opportunity. We’re matched up pretty well. We just need to seize the moment and get some wins.”

No. 3 Powless will wrestle against senior John Schoen. The two have wrestled against each other throughout their college careers. At their most recent meeting, Schoen held onto a 5-1 lead before falling in sudden victory to Powless with a score of 10-8.

“I’m a little nervous,” Powless said. “We’ve been wrestling each other since our freshman year, and we know each other pretty well. I know I’m going to have a tough opponent coming up, and it’s going to be at his gym. I’ve just got to be ready.”

After wrestling three meets this past Sunday, team members said they have been working hard to stay focused and get the most out of every practice.

“We had a long weekend and a short week,” Powless said. “We’ve been having practices that have been hard and to the point. We have to stay focused.”

The wrestlers said they are also keeping the Big Ten tournament in mind as they head into the meet against Northwestern.

“This meet is important for Big Ten seeds,” Powless said. “We’ve come so far this season, and you want to end on a good note to get the seed you want.”

Goldman said he has also been focusing on getting the team in shape for the
Big Ten tournament.

“We’re going to try and get through the meet with a good performance and stay healthy so we can prepare for what’s ahead of us in the Big Ten championships,” Goldman said.

This will be the last regular-season meet for seniors Matt Ortega and Powless before they head into the Big Ten tournament.

“Personally, it’s weird. It’s really weird realizing I’ve only got one month left in my career,” Powless said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without wrestling, but right now, it’s just about living in the moment.”

And that’s just what the team plans to do as it wrestles Northwestern, Goldman said.

“These guys seem to be doing well,” Goldman said. “Their attitudes are good, and they’re working hard, so hopefully we’ll go to Northwestern and give a good effort.”