IU improved to 6-2 on the season after IU rebounded from a close loss to No. 11 Wisconsin on Friday to defeat Eastern Michigan and Cleveland State on Sunday.
However, the tiebreaker loss to the Badgers left the Hoosiers wanting more.
“In general, we wrestled really well,” IU Coach Duane Goldman said. “I feel like in the match we were the better team, but we had seven guys score 63 points, and we had three weights where we scored one point between them all.”
Earlier in the week Goldman preached consistency from all 10 guys, but against Wisconsin only seven came through, and IU lost the total points score 69-64.
IU forced the tiebreaker after graduate transfer Chris Perez notched his second win of the season in his 5-4 victory against No. 18 Andrew Crone of Wisconsin.
Perez said he was happy with the victory but found himself more worried about the team’s finish in the dual meet than his individual performance.
On paper Perez’s win was an upset against one of the better wrestlers in the 149-pound weight class, but to Perez, that is not the case.
“To me it’s not really an upset. I have wrestled guys that are ranked higher or had better wins,” he said. “I felt like me today. Last week I felt I shook off some butterflies and cobwebs a little. I feel like I am me now. I can compete with anybody.”
To come so close and not to win left a sour taste in the mouth of the team, but Goldman stressed the need for the team to overcome it and be resilient heading to Michigan for two more matches.
Resilient the Hoosiers were. IU defeated Eastern Michigan 25-12 and Cleveland State 46-6 to get wins five and six on the season.
Hoosier senior and No. 6 Nate Jackson went unbeaten to move to move to 13-0 on the season.
IU now has a week to prepare for its final double dual of the season as it is host to Indiana Tech and Buffalo at 1 p.m. Saturday in University Gym and look to continue scoring as many points as possible.
“Every point matters,” Perez said. “Going into every match you have to have the mindset to score points, score points, score points. If you keep the mindset of scoring points then you are not going to have to worry about these tiebreaker criteria. You just have to do your job.”
