PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 14 Rutgers wrestling (8-1, 1-0) picked up its sixth consecutive win after its 30-11 victory over No. 21 Indiana (3-1, 0-1) on Friday night in front of 3,145 fans at Jersey Mike's Arena. The Scarlet Knights worked a 7-3 match split with the Hoosiers in their Big Ten Conference open, as No. 8
Dylan Shawver (133), No. 13
Dean Peterson (125), No. 21
Brian Soldano (184), No. 27
Jackson Turley (174) and
Al DeSantis (157) all secured bonus points.
RU is now 8-1 through its first nine duals for the second consecutive season ahead of Sunday's dual at Purdue. Rutgers owns three wins over programs who have received recognition in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll this season – No. 21 Indiana, RV Cal Poly and RV Penn. The Scarlet Knights' 30 points on the Hoosiers marked the first time RU has put up 30 or more team points against a ranked opponent since it joined the Big Ten in 2014.
Turley secured the biggest win of the night – a 15-0 tech fall over No. 9 Donnell Washington. Peterson pinned his opponent for his second fall of the season, Shawver teched an NCAA qualifier and DeSantis and Soldano added major decisions.
"I am fired up about this win," said head coach
Scott Goodale. "I love our team. I really do. I love our team. I have said it from day one we are going to have a lot of fun. There is going to be ups and downs. It is a brutal conference. I am serious when I say we are just thinking about Sunday. We're thinking about Sunday."
- Peterson opened the dual against Blaine Frazier and landed the first takedown of the night for an early 3-0 lead. Peterson, who suffered his first loss of the season earlier this week, produced four takedowns before he caught Frazier on his back for the third-period pin. Peterson's crucial bonus points shot Rutgers to a quick 6-0 lead.
- Shawver followed against Rooks and hit a four-point near fall in the second period for an 11-1 lead. Shawver would add three more takedowns in the final two minutes and secured the riding-time point for the 22-7 tech fall. RU's back-to-back bonus-point wins provided it with a commanding 11-0 lead through two bouts.
- IU picked up back-to-back wins at 141 and 149 pounds from its ranked starters before DeSantis took the mat against Zack Rotkvich, hitting a double leg at the buzzer of the first period for a 3-0 lead. DeSantis score five points in the third period for the 9-0 major, as Rutgers entered intermission with a 15-8 lead.
- Turley followed a loss at 165 pounds against Washington, a three-time NCAA qualifier who Turley had faced three previous times before Friday night. Turley went to work right away with an overhook in the first period, driving Washington to the mat for a seven-point swing. Turley would add four more near fall points for an 11-0 lead through the first three minutes and lock up the tech fall with an escape and takedown in the second.
- Soldano secured the dual thanks to his 15-5 major decision over Roman Rogotzke, landing three takedowns and two reversals to put Rutgers up 24-11 with two bouts to go.
- No. 8 John Poznanski (197) and No. 7 Yaraslau Slavikouski closed the match with decisions, as Rutgers finished with a 30-11 win over the Hoosiers.
No. 14 Rutgers 30, No. 21 Indiana 11
125: 13/19
Dean Peterson (RU) over Blaine Frazier (IU) by fall (5:54); RU leads, 6-0
133: 8/12
Dylan Shawver (RU) over Cayden Rooks (IU) by TF, 22-7 (7:00); RU leads, 11-0
141: 23/28 Dan Fongaro (IU) over
Max Hermes (RU) by TF, 19-3 (6:41); RU leads, 11-5
149: 14/22 Graham Rooks (IU) over
Michael Cetta (RU) by dec., 8-2; RU leads, 11-8
157: Al DeSantis (RU) over Zack Rotkvich (IU) by MD, 9-0; RU leads, 15-8
165: 23/22 Tyler Lillard (IU) over
Anthony White (RU) by dec., 4-1; RU leads, 15-11
174: 27/23
Jackson Turley (RU) over 9/9 Donnell Washington (IU) by TF, 15-0 (4:56); RU leads, 20-11
184: 21/25
Brian Soldano (RU) over Roman Rogotzke (IU) by MD; 15-5; RU leads, 24-11
197: 8/11
John Poznanski (RU) over Gabe Sollars (IU) by dec., 7-1; RU leads, 27-11
HWT: 7/7
Yaraslau Slavikouski (RU) over Nick Willham (IU) by dec., 4-1; RU wins, 30-11
Up Next
Rutgers heads to West Lafayette to face Purdue on Sunday, January 14 for a 1 p.m. dual on Big Ten Plus.
Head Coach Scott Goodale
Opening Statement:
"I'm fired up. We wrestled well tonight with a lot of adversity throughout the week. We have some injuries. It's early in the year so we need to be really really smart with them. That's the reason you didn't see Moore or Clark. Hopefully we can get them ready for Sunday but not quite sure. We will try. That's the plan. They'll certainly travel with us. But great, great team effort. Up and down lineup. Huge win for us right here (
Jackson Turley) against one of the best kids in the country. There's a rivalry there obviously but it's probably the fifth or sixth time they've competed. I know you'll probably ask him (
Dean Peterson) about a bounce back. It's a long season. Next match. That was the mentality. He did a really good job handling his body all week long, getting in a great warm up. So he was ready to go and then just throughout the lineup really fired up for our guys. Some guys got opportunities.
Al DeSantis, huge win for him. Proud of him. He's putting in a lot of work and to give him the opportunity to wrestle in front of that crowd was great. I'm just excited."
On Big Ten win and match on Sunday:
"It was a good win. It was the next match. We're fired up for Sunday. We'll get prepared for that. I know that's boring, old cliche, but we're on to the next match. But don't think for a second I wasn't thinking about last year. I remember that. You lose one of those. You think you're gonna win, it gives a tailspin for the year right? I know it's an individual sport. Maybe these guys go about it differently but that one sticks with me, just because those are important for me."
On Jackson Turley's Big Win:
"He is much better now. His training is much better. Everything's much better. So if it's experience he's doing a good job. Lower maintenance probably. He hasn't wrestled. That's probably his seventh or eighth match so maybe that's it, but that's always there. I know that it's there. And when he's in great shape, he's going to be very, very hard to beat and that's the goal, the end goal. So we're still not where we want to be. But we're getting there and that was a big step."
On Al DeSantis match:
"Yeah, that's huge. It's a big spot for Al (DeSantis). Obviously I have confidence in him. If they win that match now there's a lot of momentum and then again at 165 and 174 becomes huge. I just felt that was really really big for these guys for the upper weights. It was big for Al (DeSantis) and he did a good job. I know he's capable of doing that. I see him in the room and he just needs more opportunities."
On the upcoming Big Ten schedule:
"I love our team. I really do. I love our team. I've said it from day one we are going to have a lot of fun. There's going to be ups and downs. It's a brutal conference. I get it. I'm having a lot of fun. I'm serious when I say we're just thinking about Sunday. We're thinking about Sunday."
174-Pounder Jackson Turley
On his win against Donnell Washington:
"I mean, he's a really good wrestler and our styles match up a little bit weird with each other. And so, you know, it's nothing that we can't just prepare for throughout the week and know what's coming and I know exactly what's coming when it comes to him. So we just did a really good job preparing."
On his quick takedown in the first period:
"Same mentality, same thing that I do going into every match. I'm just super relaxed, super poised and ready for anything. I don't really have a game plan when I go in and wrestle. It's a fight. You can't really have a game plan in a fight, you just take what's open. I felt what he wanted to do to me. I waited for my opportunity and I just hit it."
125-Pounder Dean Peterson
On his bounce-back win and if it's hard to focus on the next match after a tough loss:
"Not really. I think over my wrestling career, I've gotten better at having short-term memory, forgetting those losses, bouncing back, and focusing on the match that is ahead of me. You can't really dwell on those losses. (If) you dwell on those losses, you get stuck, you're a week behind, you don't really have time to rest on that and dwell on it because then you have the Big Ten schedule that starts the next week. So it's like, get right back to it. I think it's good, having these matches because it's kind of getting the ball rolling again, and then I can get a big win Sunday. Obviously, a big match. So I'm looking forward to that."
On his potential matchup with Matt Ramos at Purdue:
"It's just another match.you know. He could be ranked in the top 10. he can be ranked in the top five, really doesn't matter at the same time. I'm just going out there to wrestle."
