No. 22 Wrestling Hosts Indiana, No. 13 Purdue

Friday, January 24

7 PM

Rutgers University

Indiana

Photo by: Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics

Jan 23 | Wrestling

Indiana & No. 13 Purdue Notes Radio: WRSU (88.7 FM)BTN Plus: vs. Indiana BTNPlus: vs. No. 13 Purdue Tickets

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers wrestling (7-3, 2-2) returns to home to host Indiana (0-5, 0-4) on Friday (7 p.m.) and No. 13 Purdue (9-2, 2-1) on Sunday (1 p.m.) at the RAC. Both matches will stream live via BTNPlus, with Lou Brogno and Nick Kosko on the call. WRSU (88.7 FM) will have the radio broadcast for the weekend home slate.

What to Know
• The Scarlet Knights will not compete outside New Jersey/New York for the next eight events on their calendar. The slate includes four home duals, two in-state road matchups, a quick trip to MSG on Feb. 1 and the Big Ten Championships held March 7-8 at the RAC.
• RU suffered a 38-6 loss at No. 2 Penn State in its last time out on Jan. 19 at historic Rec Hall. No. 14 Nicolas Aguilar (125) and Michael VanBrill (157) picked up victories against the Nittany Lions during the nationally-televised dual on ESPN2.
• Despite back-to-back losses, Rutgers remained No. 22 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll with its 7-3 dual record.
• Four Scarlet Knights - Aguilar, No. 10 Sammy Alvarez (133), No. 18 Jordan Pagano (197) and No. 22 Billy Janzer (184) - are ranked by FloWrestling this week.
• Janzer appears in four polls this week after he collected a victory over No. 19 Jonathan Loew during RU's home dual last Friday against No. 19 Cornell.
• Alvarez remained a consensus Top-10 wrestler in his weight class with back-to-back tight losses to No. 4 Chas Tucker (Cornell) and No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State).

Projected Matchups: Indiana
125: 15/14/13 Nicolas Aguilar (18-4) OR Malcolm Robinson (4-4) vs. Liam Cronin (7-11)
133: 9/10/9 Sammy Alvarez (17-6) vs. Jonathan Moran (5-13) OR Cayden Rooks (17-7)
141: JoJo Aragona (9-6) OR Zach Firestone (5-6) vs. Eddie Bolivar (4-7)
149: Gerard Angelo (11-8) OR Nick Santos (6-2) vs. 16/22/19 Graham Rooks (9-4)
157: Michael VanBrill (15-10) vs. Fernie Silva (7-13)
165: Brett Donner (13-11) vs. Davey Tunon (5-13) OR Dillon Hoey (4-7)
174: Willie Scott (6-4) OR Anthony Olivieri (5-0) vs. NR/25/27 Jake Covaciu (13-8)
184: 20/22/26 Billy Janzer (14-5) vs. Jake Hinz (5-11)
197: 20/18/22 Jordan Pagano (16-6) OR Mathew Correnti (10-4) vs. Nick Willham (15-12)
HWT: Alex Esposito (15-10) vs. Rudy Streck (3-14) OR Jake Kleimola (10-10)
Rankings: Intermat/FloWrestling/TheOpenMat

Scouting Indiana
• The Hoosiers enter Friday night's match with a 0-5 dual record in 2019-20, which includes a 23-9 loss to in-state rival Purdue on Monday night in Bloomington.
• Rookie Graham Rooks (149) registered a pair of ranked victories last weekend for Indiana to earn Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors for the second consecutive time. Rooks defeated No. 6 Griffin Parriott 9-3 on Monday and added a 5-4 decision over No. 13 Yahya Thomas of Northwestern last Saturday. Rooks is No. 16 in the latest individual rankings from FloWrestling.
• The Hoosiers also feature 2019 NCAA qualifier Jake Covaciu (174), who owns a 13-8 record this season and is ranked No. 25 by FloWrestling and No. 27 by The Open Mat.
• Indiana went 6-12 in dual action a year ago under then first-year coach Angel Escobedo, who captured the an NCAA title at 125 pounds for the Hoosiers in 2008.
• Rutgers leads the all-time series against Indiana, 4-1, which includes a 3-0 mark as Big Ten Conference foes. RU defeated the Hoosiers on the road last season, 24-11, with wins in seven out of 10 bouts. Current Scarlet Knights Joseph Grello (174), Matthew Correnti (197) and Christian Colucci (HWT) all collected wins in the road dual.

Projected Matchups: No. 13 Purdue
125: 15/14/13 Nicolas Aguilar (18-4) OR Malcolm Robinson (4-4) vs. 8/6/6 Devin Schroder (18-4) OR Nate Cummings (4-8)
133: 9/10/9 Sammy Alvarez (17-6) vs. Travis Ford-Melton (12-7)
141: JoJo Aragona (9-6) OR Zach Firestone (5-6) vs. Parker Filius (13-5)
149: Gerard Angelo (11-8) OR Nick Santos (6-2) vs. Nate Limmex (8-6) OR 18/15/15 Griffin Parriott (13-5)
157: Michael VanBrill (15-10) vs. 8/8/8 Kendall Coleman (22-6)
165: Brett Donner (13-11) vs. Tanner Webster (3-6)
174: Willie Scott (6-4) OR Anthony Olivieri (5-0) vs. 4/4/4 Dylan Lydy (22-1)
184: 20/22/26 Billy Janzer (14-5) vs. Max Lyon (14-8) OR Jared Florell (3-2)
197: 20/18/22 Jordan Pagano (16-6) OR Mathew Correnti (10-4) vs. 7/5/7 Christian Brunner (21-4)
HWT: Alex Esposito (15-10) vs. David Eli (7-9) OR NR/25/24 Thomas Penola (16-9)
Rankings: Intermat/FloWrestling/TheOpenMat

Scouting No. 13 Purdue
• The Boilermakers currently own a No. 13 ranking in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll with a 9-2 record and will wrestle at Maryland on Friday before Sunday's match at the RAC.
• Purdue features six wrestlers ranked by FloWrestling - No. 4 Dylan Lydy (174), No. 7 Christian Brunner (197), No. 8 Devin Schroder (125), No. 8 Kendall Coleman (157), No. 15 Griffin Parriot (149) and No. 25 Thomas Penola (HWT).
• Purdue sent eight competitors to nationals last season, where Brunner and Lydy both advanced to the Blood Round before being eliminated.
• Rutgers leads the all-time series against the Boilermakers, 4-0, which includes a 22-15 win last season in West Lafayette. RU earned a six/four split against No. 20 Purdue in the bout.

Up Next
As part of the Big Ten Conferences annual Super Saturday event, Rutgers faces No. 25 Michigan for a 1 p.m. dual at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Rutgers Wrestling is presented by Eat Clean Bro, an Official Partner of Rutgers Athletics.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers wrestling, follow the program on Twitter (@RUWrestling) and Instagram (@RUWrestling). Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com. For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.