The Online Reflector

By James Allen
Staff Writer

In the small back corner in the last hallway in the basement of Ruth Lilly Fitness Center, the men of the University of Indianapolis wrestling team are preparing for the upcoming season with workouts and drills.

According to head wrestling coach Jay Yates, the preseason Division II polls have come out, and the team is ranked 11th.

Yates said that a No. 11 ranking is not good enough. His goal for the team is to be in the top five by season’s end, but he said that he knows that it will be a challenge for the Greyhounds because they are such a young team. Yates has been with the team since 2001.

“The team does need a little work, and we still have a ways to go,” Yates said.

The team’s biggest strength, according to Yates, is the experience and leadership of the lower weight classes, which will help the younger members of the team who have little experience at the college level.

Yates is confident that some of the seniors will mentor the younger team members.

Three of last year’s national qualifiers have returned to the team this season. One of them, sophomore All-American Matt Irwin, said that he learned from his experience last year as a freshman and is looking forward to taking what he has learned and pushing himself further.

The individual wrestling polls have Irwin ranked second in Division II wrestling. Although Irwin has been wrestling since he was about five years old, he said he still remembers how it feels to experience the intensity of the college level for the first time.

“It feels a lot different. The level of wrestling is so much higher,” Irwin said. “[In college], everyone is a big name from their town here.” said Irwin

Yates said that he looks to Irwin as a leader on the team who will use his experience to help his less experienced teammates develop into better wrestlers and better men.

Assistant coach Steven Bradley said he is ready to get the season started. He has been with the team since he graduated from UIndy in 2004. He started as a student assistant and worked his way to the position of assistant coach.

Bradley has been wrestling since kindergarten and is using his life’s experience to mold the UIndy wrestlers into stronger competitors on the mat.

“I knew back in high school that I wanted to coach college wrestling,” Bradley said.

Bradley also said that he has confidence in the team this year and will be helping the men with some of their technique.

The men had their interteam dual Nov. 3. The first official meet will be Nov. 10 at Steven’s Point, Wisc.