No. 14 Wrestling Opens Big Ten Schedule with No. 21 Indiana, Purdue

Friday, January 12

Piscataway, N.J.

7 PM

Rutgers University

Indiana

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Photo by: Ben Solomon

No. 14 Wrestling Opens Big Ten Schedule with No. 21 Indiana, Purdue

Jan 10 | Wrestling

Friday Live Stream Friday Live Results Friday Tickets Flip Card - Indiana Sunday Live Stream Weekend Match Notes

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 14 Rutgers wrestling (7-1) begins its Big Ten Conference schedule this weekend with a home match on Friday against No. 21 Indiana (3-0) and a road dual at Purdue (5-3) on Sunday in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Friday's dual with the Hoosiers is set for 7 p.m. ET on Big Ten Plus, with Nick Kosko and Matt Howe on the call. Fans who attend Friday's match with Indiana will receive a complimentary Rutgers wrestling winter hat (while supplies last). Sunday's match with the Boilermakers will begin at 1 p.m. and will also stream on Big Ten Plus.

Last Time Out

The Scarlet Knights secured a pair of non-conference dual wins last week, defeating RV Penn on the road, 22-14, last Saturday in Philadelphia before earning a 31-5 victory against Rider on Sunday at Jersey Mike's Arena.
RU earned an 8-2 match split against the Broncs for its 10th consecutive win against Rider in the all-time series. No. 13 Mitch Moore (141) and No. 27 Jackson Turley (174) picked up falls, Michael Cetta (149) worked a ranked decision over No. 22 Quinn Kinner and No. 7 Yaraslau Slavikouski (HWT) and No. 8 John Poznanski (197) added bonus against their in-state foe.
Down 14-3 through its first five bouts in last Saturday's dual at Penn, Rutgers rallied with five consecutive wins from 197 through 141 pounds to secure the road win. No. 9 Dylan Shawver (133) delivered a buzzer-beating takedown for a 9-8 decision over No. 11 Michael Colaiocco, Moore added a decision over No. 11 CJ Composoto and tech falls from Poznanski and Slavikouski powered RU to the road dual victory over the Quakers.

Projected Lineups

No. 14 Rutgers (7-1)
125: 13/19 Dean Peterson (6-1)
133: 8/12 Dylan Shawver (14-3)
141: 11/11 Mitch Moore (10-0)
149: Jacob Butler (3-2) -OR- Michael Cetta (8-3)
157: NR/29 Andrew Clark (6-4)
165: Anthony White (9-6) -OR- Luke Gayer (9-7)
174: 27/23 Jackson Turley (4-2) -OR- Shane Cartagena-Walsh (8-3)
184: 21/25 Brian Soldano (8-4)
197: 8/11 John Poznanski (8-0)
HWT: 7/7 Yaraslau Slavikouski (10-0) -OR- Kyle Epperly (5-5)

No. 21 Indiana (3-0)
125: Blaine Frazier (6-10) -OR- Michael Spangler (8-5)
133: Cayden Rooks (7-5)
141: 23/28 Dan Fongaro (15-1)
149: 14/22 Graham Rooks (11-4) -OR- Aidan Torres (6-4)
157: Nico Bolivar (10-9)
165: 23/22 Tyler Lillard (13-4)
174: Robert Major (2-6) -OR-Magnus Kuokkanen (4-8)
184: Roman Rogotzke (16-7)
197: Gabe Sollars (17-6)
HWT: Nick Willham (4-4)

Purdue (5-3)
125: 2/2 Matt Ramos (15-4)
133: Dustin Norris (4-8)
141: 32/32 Greyson Clark (12-3)
149: Marcos Polanco (7-10)
157: 18/23 Joey Blaze (12-4)
165: Stoney Buell (9-6)
174: Brody Baumann (9-5)
184: James Rowley (8-10)
197: Ben Vanadia (8-10)
HWT: Tristan Ruhlman (4-12)
Rankings Intermat/Flo

What to Know

Rutgers remained No. 14 in this week's NWCA Coaches Poll. The Scarlet Knights are one of eight Big Ten schools ranked in the poll, which includes No. 1 Penn State, No. 3 Iowa, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 10 Minnesota, No. 12 Michigan and No. 21 Indiana. RU wrestles four of those programs – Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio State – in the next 30 days.
Four Scarlet Knights – No. 7 Slavikouski, No. 8 Poznanski, No. 8 Shawver and No. 11 Moore – are ranked within the top 12 of their respective weight classes.
Moore, Poznanski and Slavikouski are all undefeated this season and are a combined 28-0 with 20 wins by bonus.
Moore picked up the 90th win of his collegiate career with his second period fall on Sunday against Rider. Moore, who also wrestled at Oklahoma and Virginia Tech prior to Rutgers, has not been scored on yet this season, outscoring his opponents 51-13 with three pins, three major decisions and four decisions.
No. 13 Dean Peterson (125) suffered his first loss of the season on Sunday against Rider. Ranked as high as No. 2 in the country prior to last weekend, Peterson is set to wrestle No. 2 Matt Ramos on Sunday at Purdue.

Scouting Indiana & Series History

The Hoosiers enter Friday's dual with a perfect 3-0 record in dual action. In its last time out, Indiana finished third at the 2024 Southern Scuffle on January 2 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Dan Fongaro (141) and Graham Rooks (149) each won individual titles at the Scuffle, while seven Hoosiers earned podium finishes.
IU features seven ranked individuals. No. 9 Donnell Washington (174) is the highest-rated Hoosier but is not listed in this weekend's projected lineup.
Fongaro, a Columbia graduate transfer, is the brother of current 141-pounder Joe Fongaro.
Indiana sent four individuals to nationals last season under head coach Angel Escobedo.
Rutgers is 6-2 in the all-time series with Indiana. The Hoosiers won last year's matchup, a 24-16 victory on January 13, 2023 in Bloomington.

Scouting Purdue & Series History

The 5-3 Boilermakers enter Sunday's match after a 50-0 win over Lindenwood on Wednesday, January 3 in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Purdue features three ranked opponents in its starting lineup, which includes No. 2 Ramos, No. 18 Joey Blaze (157) and No. 32 Greyson Clark (141).
The Boilermakers had for NCAA qualifiers last season under head coach Tony Ersland. Ramos wrestled to runner-up laurels at the 2023 NCAA Championships in Tulsa after he defeated then-No. 1 Spencer Lee in the national semifinals.
Rutgers leads the all-time series with Purdue, 4-2. The Boilermakers won the last meeting, 18-15, on January 31, 2021 in Piscataway.

Up Next

Rutgers remains on the road with duals at RV Michigan State (7-0) on Friday, January 19 in East Lansing and at No. 12 Michigan (2-1) on Sunday, January 21 in Ann Arbor.