PISCATAWAY, N.J. — It was a dominant performance on Friday night for No. 14 Rutgers, who controlled their dual meet with No. 21 Indiana.
The 30-11 win saw Rutgers roll out seven wins on the night.
With the win, Rutgers improved to 8-1 (1-0 Big Ten) and in doing so, they avenged their loss at Indiana last year. It was the kind of performance that shows the potential for Rutgers this season.
With a balanced squad where Rutgers had nine ranked wrestlers in their Big Ten opener, there is certainly the potential for the Scarlet Knights to be a top 10 team at season’s end.
It won’t be easy. There are five Big Ten programs ranked in the top 10 of the latest coaches poll. Six teams from the Big Ten are ahead of Rutgers in the poll.
“I love our team – I really do. I love our team. I’ve said it from day one (that) we are going to have a lot of fun,” head coach Scott Goodale said after the match.
“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.”
The story of the night, however, was No. 27 Jackson Turley. A 15-0 win over No. 9 Donnell Washington at 165 pounds saw Turley put together a dominant showing from start-to-finish.
[lawrence-related id=34112,34102]
Turley won by tech fall.
“He is much better now. His training is much better. Everything’s much better,” Goodale said about Turley.
“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.”