By Kyle Klingman, W.I.N. Writer

According to Indiana assistant coach Mike Mena, the name Angel says it all.

            And who could argue with Mena’s take on things. The Hoosiers’ lightweight coach has built a mini dynasty at the 125-pound weight class. Over the past four seasons Indiana has had two different wrestlers win three NCAA titles.

            The first was Joe Dubuque. He won NCAA titles in 2005 and 2006. This year, Indiana sophomore Angel Escobedo continued the tradition by winning an NCAA title of his own.

            But this Angel entered the NCAA tournament with a broken wing or at the very least a shoulder injury. When Escobedo walked on the elevated stage at the Scottrade Center his entire left shoulder was covered with a black brace, indicating that an injury had occurred.

            “One thing I want people to know about Angel is that he tore his shoulder last summer and our trainer Kip Smith did a great job with it,” said Indiana head coach Duane Goldman. “He wrestled all year with his shoulder bugging him and that thing popped out in his (quarterfinal) match against (Brandon) Precin. He wrestled in a lot of pain and did a great job against a great opponent.”

            The injury against Precin nearly cost him his shot at an NCAA title. During the match Precin nearly reversed Escobedo to take the lead, but the Northwestern senior had to settle for an escape when the official stopped the action because of the injury. Escobedo eventually escaped with a 2-2 tiebreaker win because he had more riding time in the second overtime period.

            Escobedo’s championship run ended with an impressive 10-3 win over Minnesota sophomore Jayson Ness, an opponent he had defeated twice in the past two years. This was also a rematch of the Big Ten finals where Escobedo defeated Ness, 4-2.

            Known for his aggressive style, Ness stayed on the offensive throughout the match. But takedowns by Escobedo in the first and third period made the ultimate difference in how the match played out. Leading 5-3 with five seconds to go, Escobedo took Ness to his back when the Minnesota sophomore attempted a desperation throw.

            “Watching (Ness) throughout the year, I knew he was really offensive,” said Escobedo. “I knew it was going to be a hard seven-minute match. Whether he’s down by two or five, he’s still going to try a big blow or a big move. So I knew I had to keep the tempo up.”

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