No. 18 Rutgers Wrestling Travels to Indiana, No. 20 Purdue for Weekend Action

Friday, February 8

Bloomington, IN

7 PM

Rutgers University

Indiana University

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

No. 18 Rutgers Wrestling Travels to Indiana, No. 20 Purdue for Weekend Action

Feb 07 | Wrestling

Projected Lineups BTN Plus: Indiana BTN Plus: Purdue

Scarlet Knights look to secure 12th consecutive winning dual season under Goodale

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 18 Rutgers hits the road to face Indiana on Friday, Feb. 8 in Bloomington and No. 20 Purdue on Sunday, Feb. 10 in West Lafayette. Both matches will stream live via BTNPlus.

RANKED SCARLET KNIGHTS (INTERMAT/FLOWRESTLING/THE OPEN MAT)
133: 4/4/4 Nick Suriano (17-2)
149: 1/1/1 Anthony Ashnault (19-0)
157: 14/17/14 John Van Brill (15-9)

WHAT TO KNOW
• The Scarlet Knights are a combined 6-1 against the Boilermakers and Hoosiers. With a win over Indiana on Friday, RU can secure its 13^th consecutive winning dual season and 12^th since head coach Scott Goodale took over the program in 2007.
• In Rutgers last time out, then-No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (149) defeated then-No. 1 Matthew Kolodzik by bonus as the Scarlet Knights downed No. 20 Princeton, 19-18, Sunday afternoon in front of 5,290 fans at the RAC.
• With the Tigers leading, 18-15, heading into the final bout and a pin to their credit, Christian Colucci (HWT) needed bonus points to secure the dual for the Scarlet Knights. The junior responded with a 12-2 major over Kendall Elfstrum, giving RU its 23rd consecutive win over Princeton in the all-time series.
• No. 4 Nick Suriano (133) collected a tech fall, while No. 14 John Van Brill (157) and Joseph Grello (174) each worked decisions to aid in the dual win.

TRACKING MR. ASHNAULT
• The No.1 149-pounder in the country, Ashnault is 19-0 this season with wins over six ranked foes.
• Through his first 19 matches of 2018-19, Ashnault leads the program with 68 dual points. The graduate student has won 14 of his matches by bonus, including seven falls, four tech falls and three major decisions.
• Ashnault's six ranked victories this season are the most for a Scarlet Knight, as he has defeated No. 1 Kolodzik, No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State), No. 6 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State), No. 7 Mitch Finesilver (Duke), No. 12 Pat Lugo (Iowa) and No. 20 Tommy Thorn (Minnesota).
• Ashnault now owns 110 career wins, tied with Jon Forster for fifth all-time in program history. Ashnault needs eight wins to surpass Mike McHugh (1986-89) for the most wins in program history.

THE SURIANO FACTOR
• Suriano has faced a tough slate at 133 pounds, which includes matches against the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 wrestlers in the country, according to Intermat. Suriano is 3-2 against ranked foes this season, highlighted by an 11-3 major decision over now No. 5 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) at the Cliff Keen Invite.
• Through his first 19 matches, Suriano is 17-2 and has accounted for 59 dual points. The junior has won 15 of his bouts by bonus to lead the team in that category, including seven major decisions, three pins, four tech falls and a forfeit.

SCOUTING INDIANA
• Indiana enters Friday's match with a 4-9 dual record and a 1-5 mark in Big Ten action.
• In their last time out, the Hoosiers dropped a 35-9 dual to No. 1 Penn State on Jan. 27 in Bloomington. IU won its bouts at 133 (forfeit) and 184 pounds.
• Indiana has three wrestlers – Elijah Oliver (125), Cole Weaver (141) and Bryce Martin (165) – with previous NCAA experience.
• Indiana finished 10^th at last year's Big Ten Championships and sent four wrestlers to the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland.
• The Hoosiers are led by first-year head coach Angel Escobedo, a three-time Big Ten Champion and 2008 NCAA Champion at 125 pounds for Indiana.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE HOOSIERS
• Then-No. 14 Rutgers remained unbeaten at home with 25-9 dual win against Indiana on Sunday, Feb. 5 2017 at the RAC. Starting at 174 pounds, the Scarlet Knights won seven matches for their fifth Big Ten win of that season.
• Current Scarlet Knights Anthony Ashnault, Jordan Pagano and Matthew Correnti all had wins in the dual victory.

SERIES VS. INDIANA
• Rutgers is 3-1 lifetime against Indiana and 2-0 since it joined the conference. RU's lone loss to the Hoosiers came in 2008.

SCOUTING PURDUE
• The Boilermakers enter Sunday's match with a 5-7 dual record and a 2-4 mark in the Big Ten Conference. Purdue hosts Stanford Friday night in West Lafayette before Sunday's bout with the Scarlet Knights.
• In their last time out, The Boilermakers dropped a 24-11 dual at No. 7 Minnesota on Sunday in Minneapolis. Dylan Lydy (174), Max Lyon (184) and Christian Brunner (197) all had wins over the Gophers.
• Purdue features five wrestlers – No. 11 Lydy, No. 12 Brunner, No. 19 Devin Schroder (125), No. 14 Ben Thornton (133) and No. 13 Griffin Parriott (157) – in the latest Intermat rankings.
• The Boilermakers finished ninth at last year's Big Ten Championships and sent seven grapplers to nationals in 2018. Lydy and Welch represented Purdue in the Round of 12.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE BOILERMAKERS
• Then-No. 11 Rutgers defeated Purdue, 27-9, on Jan. 22, 2017 at the RAC. The victory was the 150th of Goodale's career.
• The Scarlet Knights won seven of 10 matches to upend the Boilermakers. RU gained bonus-point victories in three consecutive matches from Anthony Ashnault, Ken Theobold and John Van Brill to put the dual out of reach.
•Current Scarlet Knights Matthew Correnti and Nicholas Gravina also had wins in that dual.

SERIES VS. PURDUE
• Rutgers is 3-0 all-time against Purdue, with wins in 2017, 2016 and 2011.

UP NEXT
Rutgers hosts No. 4 Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 17 at noon. The match will broadcast live on BTN.

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