When Rutgers wrestling’s 125-lb starter, Nic Aguilar, started the dual meet off with a surprise loss, flashbacks from a week ago began to kick in. Just seven days ago at the RAC, the bottom-half of Rutgers’ lineup suffered several heartbreaking losses, eventually leading to Rutgers’ dual meet loss to Cornell.

Thankfully for Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights were able to put those doubts to a quick halt, as Rutgers won 8 of 10 bouts to beat the winless Indiana Hoosiers by a score of 29 to 7.

Sammy Alvarez and Jojo Aragona picked up back-to-back wins, giving Rutgers the early lead, 7 – 4. Gerard Angelo followed the two freshman to take on No. 22 Graham Rooks at 149-lbs. It was a notable win that Angelo could desperately use after he was pinned last Friday, while leading in the dual meet against Cornell.

Angelo, who is always one cradle away from busting open a match, did just that. Angelo got a front head on Rooks, andcircled around into a nearside cradle. Though Angelo was unable to pin Rooks, it gave him an early 6-2 lead in the match.

“I felt like I could have done a lot more tonight”, Gerard Angelo said regarding his performance. I felt a little sluggish. I got to my big moves, scored points and wound up winning the match”.

Rooks attempted to rally back, but thanks to a cow-catcher, Angelo was able to pick up a takedown and another set of backs. Angelo was able to fend off the nationally-ranked Rooks the rest of the way, and picked up the 13 – 7 upset victory.

After the intermission, Rutgers did not take their foot off the gas. Brett Donner, Billy Janzer, and Jordan Pagano all picked up decision victories up top for Rutgers. The match was capped off with an exclamation point at heavyweight.

Matt Correnti filled in for the injured Christian Colucci up top, looking to pick up his second dual meet victory of the year. Correnti gave up the first points, as Indiana’s Jake Kleimolastruck first with a takedown. Correnti, however, quickly reversed Kleimola, and locked up a nearside cradle. The official slapped the mat shortly after, giving Correnti the pinfall win, and Rutgers a 29 – 7 dual meet victory.

Rutgers is back in action this Sunday, as No. 16 Purdue. The Boilermakers bring in a tough squad, with a number ofnationally ranked wrestlers. A team win for Rutgers would build plenty of momentum for the Scarlet Knights, as they head into the final months of the season.

“This is a nationally ranked team, in some polls (Purdue) is in the top ten. We feel this is a great opportunity for our guys”, head coach Scott Goodale responded when asked about the Purdue matchup. “We feel like we can win a bunch of matches, but we feel we have to wrestle even better (than tonight)”.