Indiana University’s wrestling team is preparing to compete in the 2026 Big Ten Championships, which will take place March 7-8 at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania. The tournament begins with two sessions on Saturday, covering early rounds through the semifinals, followed by consolation and placement matches on Sunday.
The Hoosiers recently completed their regular season with a close 20-16 win over Purdue at Wilkinson Hall on February 20. Four Indiana wrestlers also participated in the Patriots Last Chance Open two days later. This season, Indiana finished with a 9-5 record in dual meets and went 4-4 within the Big Ten Conference—both marks representing program bests during Angel Escobedo’s tenure as head coach.
This was the first time since the 2009-10 season that Indiana achieved four or more Big Ten victories and the first nine-win dual meet season since 2016-17. The team secured three wins against ranked opponents: No. 22 Little Rock, No. 27 Army, and No. 15 Wisconsin. They also extended their winning streak over Purdue to four consecutive seasons.
Ahead of this weekend’s championships, pre-seed placements were announced for ten Indiana wrestlers across all weight classes: Jacob Moran (No. 4 at 125 lbs.), Blaine Frazier (No. 12 at 133), Henry Porter (No. 9 at 141), Joey Buttler (No.11 at 149), Bryce Lowery (No.11 at 157), Tyler Lillard (No.9 at165), Derek Gilcher (No.6 at174), Sam Goin (No.9 at184), Gabe Sollars (No.8 at197) and Caleb Marzolino (No.14 at285). For seven of these athletes, it will be a return trip to the conference championships; Lowery, Goin, and Marzolino are making their debuts.
Jacob Moran and Henry Porter are looking to return to the podium after placing fifth and eighth respectively last year, while Derek Gilcher previously earned an eighth-place finish in his weight class in2023.
Indiana wrestling has a history that includes13Big Ten team titles and53individual champions but has not had an individual champion since Angel Escobedo himself won the125-pound title as a wrestler for IU in2010.“Indiana is seeking its first Big Ten Champion since head coach Angel Escobedo was an IU wrestler when he took first place at125 lbs.in2010,” states the release.
During Escobedo’s time as head coach,“the Hoosiers have had two semifinalists.Graham Rooks(149)and Brayton Lee(157)reached the semifinals at Big Tens in2023and2024,respectively.”Last year,four Hoosiers reached podium finishes:Jacob Moran(fifthat125lbs.),Angelo Rini(seventhat133lbs.),DJ Washington(seventhat174lbs.),and Henry Porter(eighthat141lbs.).It marked back-to-back years with four podium finishers for Indiana.
Results from this weekend will help determine which wrestlers qualify for the2026NCAA Championships in Cleveland.The Big Ten received multiple automatic qualifying bids per weight class for this year’s event.For each of the past two seasons,sixHoosiers have qualified for NCAAs,the most under Coach Escobedo.