IU prepares for busy weekend

The Hoosiers have a busy weekend ahead of them.

The team will first travel to Edwardsville, Ill., on Friday to compete against South Dakota State at 5 p.m. and against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at 8 p.m.

The Hoosiers will then return home to wrestle rival Purdue at 2 p.m. Sunday in the University Gym. It is Senior Night and the last home meet of the season.

“Friday is an important day for some of our guys to get some wins and get back on track,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “They’ve been improving a lot, and hopefully they can go through and have some success.”

Senior Matt Powless said the team is looking forward to the dual meet as a nice change in pace from its recent stretch.

“It’s a nice little mix up,” Powless said. “It will give us a good chance to work on some offense we haven’t been able to work on in a while.”

Powless said the Hoosiers are eager to face Purdue.

“It’s going to be a fun meet. I’m really excited for it,” Powless said. “I think we have a great shot of winning. We just need to come out firing on all cylinders.”

They have an all-time record 53-31-3 against the Boilermakers, winning five of the past six meets against them.

“It’s a big rivalry. We want to do well and try and win it,” Goldman said. “They’re probably favored, and we want to compete well to pull off an upset and have a good meet.”

Sunday’s meet will also be the last home meet for Powless and senior Matt Ortega.

“It will be a bittersweet moment. It’s going to be really cool but really sad,” Powless said. “It’s going to be weird knowing five years have already gone by, but it’s really cool to go through it with my best friend, Matt Ortega.”

The team has been working on its drive and intensity this past week to prepare for its upcoming matches.

“We’re going to be maintaining our intensity through the matches and just being able to hold up and put out,” Goldman said. “Not that they haven’t been intense, but to pull off upsets, we can’t have any downtime.”  

If the Hoosiers prove to be successful in their efforts this weekend, Coach Goldman, who is the all-time winningest coach in school history, will earn his 250th career win.