Wrestling falls to No. 5 Ohio State Friday

With only one win by sophomore Taylor Walsh, Indiana was not able to deliver against No. 5 Ohio State, losing by a 36-3 margin Friday evening.

In addition to an OSU lineup that featured seven wrestlers nationally ranked in the top 20, Indiana faced a challenge before the meet even started.

Six of IU’s 10 starters did not start due to injury and the team had to forfeit the 197-pound position.

Despite these setbacks, the Hoosiers were almost victorious in several bouts, with senior Ryan Konz, sophomore Luke Sheridan and junior Adam Chalfant losing by one- or two-point margins.

With these near victories, IU Coach Duane Goldman said the team is in a position to battle against the physical Big Ten teams, but now it is more about the mental aspect
of the sport.

“They are in those situations to win, but they’re just not doing what they need to do to
get the victory,” Goldman said. “A lot of that is just mental, and they need to put the clamps on that, because in general, their effort is good, but the final outcome is not.”

Heading into the Ohio State match, Goldman said he wanted his wrestlers to be extremely aggressive and “get in their faces.” Much like Minnesota, Goldman said,
Ohio State is a talented Big Ten team that required much effort on the Hoosiers’ part.

Goldman said he had hoped to see his wrestlers keep Ohio State off of the Hoosiers’ legs and put more pressure on them to turn the match into a purely physical match.  

Right away, the Hoosiers found themselves in a crunch, with many of the early weights failing to be proactive in their wrestling, Goldman said.

After several of these lighter-weight classes, Goldman said that he and his staff began to look for a way to make the Hoosiers realize they needed to be more aggressive and be more in control of their outcome.

Goldman said although the score did not show it in this match, his wrestlers have been training hard and doing well despite adversity.

“The guys are putting out, even though the results aren’t that great,” Goldman said.
“They’re wrestling hard, and they are competing hard. I think in a lot of aspects,
they’re doing their best, but when they have the opportunity to win, they need to get it done.”

Walsh, being the only victorious Hoosier, did get it done for IU, posting the team’s only three points on the night in a 4-2 victory against OSU’s Josh Demas.

Walsh said it was tough to get a win when the momentum was not on IU’s side.

“In the beginning of the year, we wrestle a lot of teams who we should dominate, and usually I don’t get a lot of good matchups,” he said. “When we get in the Big Ten and wrestling ranked opponents, it’s definitely easier to get up for the match and get yourself mentally prepared.”

The team will play Wisconsin in their next match on Friday in Madison, Wis.