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Saturday, Jan. 18
The Indiana Daily Student

sports wrestling

Indiana wrestling drops home opener to No. 16 Rutgers

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Indiana lost their first home dual of the season Jan. 10 to No. 16 Rutgers by a 28-6 score. Rutgers secured two bonus point victories including one pin and outscored the Hoosiers 43-34 in total match points. The loss to Rutgers was the Hoosiers’ second consecutive dual loss to the Scarlet Knights, with Indiana’s last victory coming in 2023.  

Indiana’s overall record now stands at 4-2 and are 0-2 in the Big Ten, their only loss coming at the hands of No. 11 Illinois in December. Despite having six Hoosiers in the national rankings, Rutgers matched up well with all ten of their starters in the national rankings.  

Moreover, many Hoosiers have already grappled with Rutgers opponents during the Midlands Championships earlier this season where Indiana took fourth and Rutgers took second. Redshirt sophomore Gabe Sollars and graduate student Jacob Bullock both defeated ranked Rutgers opponents at Midlands but fell short of replicating those results in Fridays dual. Both lost by decision to their Rutgers opponents including Bullock’s razor close loss via tie breaking criteria. 

The Hoosiers won two matches out of 10 on Friday evening. Redshirt sophomores Henry Porter and Tyler Lillard secured decision wins at 141 lbs. and 165 lbs. respectively.  

Lillard's victory over No. 26 senior Anthony White was his second of the season, as the match was a repeat of the Midlands Championship quarterfinal where Lillard defeated the Scarlet Knight in overtime by a 2-1 decision. The Midlands champion widened the gap against White on Friday, dispatching him by a score of 7-2. Lillard completed two well executed takedowns en route to his win including a late knee-pick to ice the victory with 20 seconds on the clock.

Porter defeated Scarlet Knight sophomore Max Hermes by a score of 11-4, dominating the match with a couple takedowns of his own. His victory was much needed for Hoosier morale as it was the last match of the night and advanced his personal record to 10-5. 

The Hoosiers made a few lineup adjustments for their home opener, including the debut of freshman Matt Hart at 149 lbs. and redshirt senior Derek Gilcher who bumped up to 174 lbs. for the dual. Hart replaced redshirt freshman Anthony Bahl and Gilcher replaced the typical starters at 174 lbs. who consist of graduate student Nick South and redshirt junior Roman Rogotzke. 

The Hoosiers will look to improve next weekend when they take on Purdue on Jan. 17 inside Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.

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