Big Ten Network Tailgate Show comes to Bloomington for IU-Western Kentucky Football Game Saturday
The Big Ten Network’s BTN Tailgate Show is coming to Bloomington Saturday morning, and Hoosier fans are invited to join in on the festivities. From 10 a.m.-Noon Saturday, the Big Ten Network’s Saturday morning college football preview show will air live from outside the west entrance of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Host Mike Hall will be joined by Brock Vereen to discuss the Hoosiers’ match-up against the Hilltoppers as well as the rest of the action in the Big Ten.
Other guests who will make appearances on Saturday’s show include former IU Football All-American Anthony Thompson, Olympic gold medalist and eight-time NCAA swimming champion Lilly King, and social media sports impersonator Joey Mulinaro. This marks the first time that the BTN Tailgate Show has come to Bloomington since Sept. 21, 2019. Hoosier fans are encouraged to come by the free event, which gets way shortly after the completion of “The Walk.”
Indiana University Men’s Soccer announces schedule updates
The Indiana men’s soccer program announced Wednesday that three home matches within its 2022 slate have been rescheduled. The adjustments are in response to the postponement of IU’s Sept. 3 match versus Notre Dame. The Hoosiers will now play the Fighting Irish on October 5, Kentucky on October 22 and Trine on October 27. All three contests will kick off at 7 p.m. ET on Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Ticket information for these matches and for the remaining 2022 Indiana men’s soccer schedule can be found here.
Mike Dixon returns to Indiana University Wrestling coaching staff
Indiana University Wrestling head coach Angel Escobedo has announced Mike Dixon will return to the coaching staff as the team’s associate head coach. Dixon coached on the Indiana staff under Escobedo in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons and is an Indiana Wrestling alumnus, graduating in 2001. Prior to his return, Dixon worked as the Director of Wrestling and Enrichment for the wrestling club, Beat the Streets Chicago. The organization’s mission focuses on helping Chicago-area youth from age five to 18 develop and compete in the sport of wrestling, while also teaching valuable life skills. He started working for the club in September 2020. Following his time at Beat the Streets Chicago, Dixon is back in his previous role at Indiana as associate head coach. When coaching the Hoosiers from 2018-2020, he helped the team produce five NCAA Qualifiers, a second-place finish at the 2018 Navy Classic and dual wins over No. 12 North Carolina and No. 25 Stanford, among other achievements. Before IU, Dixon coached in both the collegiate and high school ranks.
Through the 2017-2018 season, Dixon was on the coaching staff at Old Dominion, where he coached for 13 years as an integral part of the program’s growth. In his time there, the Monarchs were 109-82-2 in duals and won two Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season titles. The team also had six NWCA All-Academic honors alongside two NCAA Elite 89 awards, given annually to the NCAA Championships participant with the highest GPA. Tristan Warner became just the second wrestler in Division-I to win back-to-back Elite 89 honors. In the 2007-08 season, Old Dominion earned their first top-20 ranking in program history with six NCAA Championships qualifiers, then a school record. The next year, Old Dominion captured a top-20 NCAA Championships while Ryan Williams (141 lbs.) became the program’s first NCAA finalist in 15 years.
The 2011-12 season saw the Monarchs raise the bar with a program-best seven NCAA qualifiers and an outstanding dual meet season that included ranked upsets over Iowa State, Rutgers, and Central Michigan. Two wrestlers, Scott Festejo and Te Edwards, claimed individual titles at the 2012 CAA Championships. Dixon helped guide a seamless transition to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in the 2013-14 season, as all six NCAA qualifiers finished in fourth-place or better at the ensuing MAC Championships. In just their second season as a MAC member, Dixon and the Monarchs took runner-up at the conference championships in 2015. Dixon was named the SAAC Staffer of the Year and led two wrestlers, Chris Mecate and Alexander Richardson, to the All-American podium. That marked the first time Old Dominion earned two NCAA All-Americans in one season since 1991. Mecate became Old Dominion’s first back-to-back All-American with a fifth-place finish the next season.
Dixon assisted in the development of Kevin Beazley, one of the most prominent wrestlers in program history, as he achieved All-American status at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Most recently, Beazley took a Greco-Roman bronze medal finish at the 2018 City of Sassari International in Italy. Before Old Dominion, was an assistant on the coaching staffs at James Madison University after coaching in his hometown at the University of Indianapolis and at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis. Dixon guided two conference podium finishes and revitalized their recruiting strategy at James Madison after the university dropped athletic scholarships in 2000. As an assistant at the University of Indianapolis, Dixon oversaw five national qualifiers and three top-12 finishes. At Arsenal Tech High School, he guided four conference champions, two sectional champions, and the school’s first-ever freshman to win a city championship.
In his time as a student, Dixon was a 2001 graduate of Indiana University with a degree in management from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Dixon was an NCAA qualifier at 275 lbs. in 1998. He earned the team’s Most Improved Wrestler award in 1998 and the prestigious Billy Thom Leadership award in 2001. Also in the 2001 season, Dixon became a University National Freestyle Champion and earned a fourth-place finish in the 2001 Pan-American Games at 97kg. Dixon earned his master’s degree in education from Old Dominion University in 2012.
Ball State Football to play at University of Georgia in 2023
The Ball State and Georgia Football teams have agreed to play between the hedges as the Cardinals are slated to make the trip to Athens, Ga during the 2023 season. The game, set to take place at Sanford Stadium, is slated for Sept. 9. Ball State has faced teams from the currently constructed Southeastern Conference 11 times in program history, including this season’s opener at Tennessee losing 59-10. Ticket information, game time and television network designation will be released at a later date.
Indianapolis Indians Coverage
Indians Lose Series Opener to Toledo
Josh VanMeter ripped two doubles as the Indianapolis Indians were held to just five hits in their series-opening loss to the Toledo Mud Hens on Tuesday night, 9-1. The Mud Hens (75-60) brought across a run in each of their first three plate appearrances and broke open the game with a four-run fifth to extend the lead to 7-0. Following a leadoff triple by Brendon Davis, in the top of the second, Ali Sanchez brought home the would-be winning run on a sacrifice fly. Major league rehabber David Bednar (L, 0-1) opened for the Indians (70-65). After issuing a leadoff walk, he surrendered the contests first run on an RBI double by shortstop Zack Short. Bednar would go on to retire the next three batters, two of the outs came way of strikeout. Toledo’s starting pitcher Daniel Ponce De Leon (W, 7-11) struck out seven in 6.0 one-run innings. After a VanMeter double and Carter Bins single to put runners on the corners for the Indians with one out in fifth, Ponce De Leon surrendered the Indians lone run when Jared Oliva grounded into a force out to score VanMeter.
Follow us on Facebook
For more local news . . .
Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson here