IU Wrestling gets underway
Hoosiers hold intrasquad scrimmage at Bloomington North HS
BLOOMINGTON, IN – The 2009-2010 Indiana wrestling season began with its annual Cream and Crimson Intrasquad Scrimmage on Tuesday night, at Bloomington High School North.
The scrimmage was designed as a “wrestle off”, where teammates of the same weight class wrestled against one another to establish who the starters will be in each weight division. The Hoosiers are ranked 13th in the nation heading into this season, so each and every weight matters and each class must be held by a proven wrestler.
Tuesday’s scrimmage gave head coach Duane Goldman a better understanding of what the staring lineup will be entering the season.
“This wrestle off gave us a good idea of a lot of situations and these matches have some consequences,” said Goldman.
This scrimmage provided the team with the element of competition for the first time this year, despite the fact that the wrestlers face one another in practice. Goldman described the wrestle off as, “An opportunity to weigh-in, get in front of a crowd, and just compete.”
This intrasquad scrimmage gave the team a chance to establish themselves amongst their teammates and the crowd in attendance at BHSN. The majority of the weight classes this year will be occupied by upperclassmen; however, they were required to earn that spot like the rest of the team.
The middle weights, such as 141-157 lbs., are areas that are up for grabs on the team. The wrestle off settled some of the disputes.
The 157 lbs match was one of the most meaningful of the night. Redshirt junior Kurt Kinser and redshirt senior Matt Coughlin have been vying for the spot throughout the off-season. The junior Kinser bested Coughlin 7-1, in one of the more competitive matches of the evening.
As the night’s marquee match, this gave Coach Goldman an opportunity to see who he will need to move down a class. “We need both those guys in the lineup and we still have a lot of things to work out for this season.”
Another great match-up on Tuesday was in the 165 lb. weight, between redshirt junior Paul Young and freshman Ryan LeBlanc. The match was close, ending with a score of 4-3, as the talented Young proved to be too much for the freshman. Young enters the season ranked 15th in the nation.
“It’s definitely an honor to be ranked up there but 15th doesn’t get me on the stand so I’m not looking too much into it,” said Young, who is looking for a national championship this year and has a great feeling for himself and others on the team. “I expect that out of myself, I expect that out of a few people on the team. I think that we have the potential and the capabilities to finish extremely high.”
The Hoosier grapplers have a good team heading into the season, but realize that this will be a tough road in the upcoming months, “Its a good night to showcase what we have this year, but definitely not the best that you’ll see in any of the wrestlers,” said Paul Young.
The Hoosiers have time to prepare before their next event which will be the Michigan State Open on Sunday Nov. 15. This will be an open tournament, as IU plans to bring all of their wrestlers to compete.
Sorry I missed this article from a couple weeks ago. Brian, your overview of the “Hoosier grapplers” was well written and interesting. Thanks for the update and information.