No. 20 Indiana University’s wrestling team faced No. 5 Nebraska on Sunday, February 15, at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington. Despite a strong start with Jacob Moran’s technical fall at 125 pounds, Indiana lost the dual meet 34-5.
Indiana began the match with momentum as No. 14 Jacob Moran defeated Kael Lauridsen by tech fall, giving Indiana an early 5-0 lead. However, Nebraska responded with two consecutive tech falls at 133 and 141 pounds to take a 10-5 advantage.
At 149 pounds, Joey Buttler narrowed the gap late against No. 20 Chance Lamer but ultimately lost in a close decision, 5-3. In another competitive bout, No. 18 Tyler Lillard at 165 pounds mounted a comeback against No. 7 LJ Araujo after trailing early but fell short in a narrow 10-8 decision.
Nebraska secured victories in each of the remaining matches, ending the dual with nine straight wins.
The meet included notable moments for Indiana: Gavin Jendreas made his first career dual appearance, and both Jendreas and Matt Kowalski represented true freshmen in the starting lineup. With his win, Moran improved to a record of 10-3 in duals this season and earned his fifth technical fall victory.
The final team score was Nebraska 34, Indiana 5.
Indiana now holds an overall record of 8-5 and is 3-4 within Big Ten competition this season.
Head coach Angel Escobedo will prepare the team for its next matchup against Purdue on Friday, February 20 at Wilkinson Hall.