As a former accomplished wrestler at Indiana University, Angel Escobedo knows what it takes to be a contender and change a culture.
He saw it as a wrestler, winning the 2008 NCAA title at 125 pounds, and claiming Big Ten titles in the weight class three times (2008-10).
He’s the program’s only four-time All-American, and his 137 career wins (second) and 42 pins (third) rank among the best in IU history.
He sees it as a coach with the Indiana University football team.
"Tom (Allen) and I have a great relationship, we are close. He wrestled and he gets it. I mention it to the guys. They are in a similar position we are in, when Tom got here they were okay and look at where they are now. Believe in the vision of moving this program forward to a place it hasn’t been done in a while. It can be done," Escobedo said.
And, now he wants to see it with his program, which opens the season Saturday at home against Illinois.
"It’s about belief and putting in the work. Put in the work every day to get one percent better. Why can’t we be the next dominant program in the Big Ten. The culture is starting to change. Sundays are day off but there’s still 15 guys practicing. It doesn’t happen over night, but we are trending in the right direction," Escobedo said.
Indiana's roster features 23 freshmen or sophomores this season, along with Brock Hudkins, who is a two time NCAA qualifier and Graham Rooks, who was a NCAA qualifier for the 2020 NCAA Championships. Rooks finished the season beating five ranked opponents and was the two time Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, finishing with a 21-13 record as a freshman.
Wrestlers who are ranked this week include: Hudkins at 8th at 125; Asa Garcia, who is 31st at 133; Paul Konrah, who is 28th at 141; Graham Rooks, who is 15th at 149; Nick South, who is 24th at 165; DJ Washington, who is 25th at 174; and Garrett Hoffman, who is 29th at 285.
Indiana's freshman class was ranked 25th in America and features: Santos Cantu (4X Oregon State Champion) Derek Gilcher (3X Michigan State Champion) and Jacob Moran (Indiana 2018 State Champion).
With a condensed, Big Ten only schedule due to Covid-19, Escobedo said he will be changing lineups often to give various guys experience and to see what Indiana has on the mats.
"We are going to switch lineups probably every weekend. I want our freshmen to get matches in and these guys are going to get a lot of experience. We haven’t had opportunity to wrestle freshman right away. We will use everybody we can on our roster, if you’re looking great in practice I will throw you out there and see how you do. Everyone thinks they are competing so everyone is pushing forward," he said.
As for the unit, Escobedo notes he is "really excited" about the team, pointing to how some of his wrestlers did a year ago, especially this year's sophomore crew.
"Coming into this year look at all the rankings, we have seven different guys ranked in the country out of ten and it speaks volumes about what our true freshmen did last year and who they beat. Now I want to see how far can we climb and at end of the day, it is their program, not mine. I tell them let’s see how far we can go," Escobedo said.
Against Illinois, the Hoosiers will look to knock off a team they have struggled with in recent history.
Last year, Illinois picked up a 32-3 win over the Hoosiers, who have lost seven straight to the Illini. Graham Rooks provided the only points for Indiana, scoring a 6-1 decision over Mosa Jodeh as he got a takedown with five seconds left in the first period to get out to an early lead. Illinois had six ranked wrestlers in their lineup in the dual.
For Escobedo, the match is a great opportunity for his wrestlers, regardless of the outcome as he knows what is at stake in a very fragile season.
"They’ve taken it real serious. We have to be really diligent and strict on making sure we are doing everything right and not breaking our bubble that we created. We are getting tested six days a week and we are pretty protected in this bubble. I've told the guys to be grateful for opportunity. Be thankful to compete and the Big Ten has created protocols that we can compete against the best guys. No other conference can say that. For us, it’s going out and competing against Illinois, let’s see what we can do," Escobedo said.
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