Raley, Walsh Win Titles for Runner-Up Hoosiers

Indiana placed six grapplers, including four finalists and two champions

Nov. 24, 2013

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Hoosier Wrestling placed second at the 2013 Keystone Classic, besting three Top-25 teams in the final standings. Indiana's strong performance came on the back of four individual finalists, including tournament champions Ethan Raley (141 lbs) andTaylor Walsh (157 lbs).

Complete Results & Team Standings

In addition to titles for Raley and Walsh, runne-ups Luke Sheridan (184 lbs) and Adam Chalfant (285 lbs) also reached the finals. Joe Duca(125 lbs) and Ryan LeBlanc (165 lbs) each placed fifth in their respective weight classes.

#21 Bloomsburg took the team crown with 117 points, followed by Indiana's 108 points. The rest of the top-6 (out of 12 teams) read like this: 3rd - #18 Northwestern, 100.5; 4th - #13 Pittsburgh, 95; 5th - Arizona State, 84; 6th - #22 Rider, 82.

Walsh's redshirt junior campaign has been impeccable to this point; reflected by three tournament championships (EMU Open, MSU Open & Keystone Classic), a flawless 15-0 season record that includes an impressive 12 pins.

Cornell's Kyle Dake led all of Division-I wrestling with 18 falls for the entire 2012-13 season. Just four weeks into this season, Walsh's 33 career pins already rank as the ninth most in school history and the dozen falls in '13 are just one shy of cracking the single-season top-10. Walsh capped off his Keystone Classic trophy run by sticking Penn's Raamiah Bethea in front of the home Quakers crowd. He completely dominated the finals bout, leading 13-0 at the time of the pin.

Raley improved to 13-3 on the year, picking up four wins en route to his 141-pound crown. He had to get through the #1 seed along the way, topping Northwestern's top-seeded and 28th-ranked Pat Greco by the final score of 14-11 in a wild semifinals showdown.

Sheridan earned his third top-3 finish in as many tournaments this season, including his second straight trip to the finals. His season mark sits at 14-3 after taking three of four bouts at the Keystone Classic.

Chalfant suffered his first defeat of the season, but not before reaching his second straight tournament finals (won the MSU Open on Nov. 9). The loss was a tough one, dropping a 3-1 decision in the first tiebreaker. Chalfant, the 2012 Keystone Classic champion, handed 29th-ranked Eloheim Palma (Campbell) an 8-3 decision in the semifinals.

Duca tallied four wins on the day with his two losses both coming against nationally-ranked foes. He put an exclamation point on his performance at the end, pinning Boston's Chris McGinley in the fifth-place bout.

LeBlanc has found the stand in all three tournaments of 2012-13, placing fifth in Philadelphia. He opened the championship bracket with a tech fall and the wrestleback with a fall. In total, LeBlanc went 4-2 on Sunday to move his overall mark to 16-4.

Redshirt freshman Nate Jackson made his Hoosier debut, splitting four matches at 174 pounds. Both his wins brought bonus points along, further aiding the IU team score with a pin and major decision. 

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Kyle Kuhlman
Indiana University Athletics
Assistant Director of Media Relations
(Baseball, Secondary Football, Wrestling)
OFFICE: 812-855-4770
CELL: 419-308-8292