Indiana wrestling loses 17-16 to No 17 Purdue in narrow match idsnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from idsnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sammy Sasso was a single takedown away from winning the Big Ten Championship as a redshirt freshman, dropping a 2-1 classic to Iowa s Pat Lugo a year ago. The sport s Freshman of the Year had a fantastic season, and until COVID scuttled everything appeared on track to challenge Lugo for an NCAA title. That match, of course, never happened. But after the strangest offseason in memory, Sasso entered a condensed Big Ten season poised to be the man to beat in 2021. And he s lived up to the billing every step of the way, winning the 149-pound Big Ten Championship Sunday in State College, Penn., defeating Nebraska s Ridge Lovett in a 5-2 decision.
2 IU wrestlers qualify for NCAA Tournament at conference championships idsnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from idsnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images
As a note, all rankings are courtesy of Intermat, who do a good job and don’t charge me money to view them. Team rankings are dual rankings, not tournament.
Should Iowa be wary of a slow start coming off of covid pause? That’s more or less what Kind of. asked me after Michigan lost to Penn State on Sunday. Well, yes and no. Penn State came off their pause by losing a couple big matches to Indiana wrestlers (need I say more?), and Michigan looked pretty slow this weekend against a good and a very good team. So why should Iowa be the exception? Well, first, they’re older. They’ve been here before, and they know exactly how to prepare. Seriously, this team is starting six seniors and two juniors. They’re also very driven. Eight of those ten starters had All-American or better hopes, and dreams of team title, cut short this time last year. That’s not to say everyone isn’t driven, but Iowa hasn’t won a title in way too long, and they g