On Senior Night, Wrestling Gets First Conference Win

When you are in the best conference in the nation for wrestling, it’s going to be tough to find wins.

Seven of the top 25 teams come from the Big Ten Conference.

The Hoosiers won their first Big Ten duel in six matches, defeating Michigan State on Senior Night Friday, 22-9.

“It was good to get a Big Ten win, because we have wrestled some tough competition,” IU coach Duane Goldman said.

IU (11-6, 1-5) won seven of 10 bouts on the night.

The Spartans were taken advantage of in the first three bouts, as the Hoosiers won 8-3, 9-1, and 11-4.

“We needed our lighter weights, to come through and they did,” Goldman said.

Winning the first three bouts gave IU an early 10-0 lead.

At the 149-pound weight class, senior Kurt Kinser didn’t compete in his last duel at University Gym due to injury. Sophomore Geno Capezio took his spot and stepped up a weight class, but didn’t pull out the victory losing 7-4.

“Geno really did a nice job of making that a competitive match and really keeping us in the game,” Goldman said.

The Hoosiers won the 157- and 165-pound weight classes by a score of 5-2 and 3-2.

Before the 174-pound weight class match, IU was already up 16-3.

The Spartans came back by winning the next two weight classes in IU’s weaker part of their lineup.

The big Hoosiers,Matt Powless (197 pounds) and Ricky Alcala in the 285-pound class, won the final two bouts by a score of 8-5 an 2-1 consecutively.

Alcala pulled off the victory against No. 20 Joe Rizquallah in one of the highly touted matches of the evening.

Goldman talked about the seniors who picked up a win on Senior Night.

“For Paul (Young) and Ricky to win was obviously a neat thing,” Goldman said.

Before Big Ten championships begin, IU takes on Illinois and Purdue in its final two duels of the season.

“It was a good time for a Big Ten win,” Goldman said. “’Cause we needed one.”