March 4, 2001
Box Score
(Evanston, IL)--The seventh-ranked University of Illinois wrestling team
finished in second place at the 2001 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in
Evanston, Ill., Sunday, to claim its highest conference finish since the
1958 season earning head coach Mark Johnson Big Ten Coach of the Year
honors. Two Illini individuals won titles, Nate Patrick at 184 pounds and
Pat Quirk at 197 pounds, a feat that had not been accomplished since that
same 1958 season.
Patrick defeated Victor Sveda 4-2 in overtime in the championship match,
securing the win with a takedown with 18 seconds remaining in the overtime
period. Quirk beat Jon Bush of Purdue by a 5-2 count.
Minnesota wrapped up the team title prior to the finals and the Illini (five
finalists) and Hawkeyes (four finalists) were set to do battle for second
with no head-to-head matchups and Illinois holding a 10-point advantage over
Iowa at 122.5-112.5. Iowa claimed titles in each of its four matches with
wins at 125 pounds, 133, 141 and 157 to edge ahead of Illinois 129.5-122.5.
Patrick's win moved Illinois to within three points and Quirk's win clinched
second place for Illinois and the final margin of 130.5-129.5.
The Big Ten championship is a NCAA qualifying event with the top seven
wrestlers in each weight class along with two wildcard entrants advancing to
the NCAA championships in Iowa City, Iowa, on March 15-17. The Illini
qualified nine wrestlers, second to Minnesota's 10, with only Kelly Madden
at 133 pounds not finishing in the top seven. Michigan State's Nik Fekete at
197 pounds and Indiana's Greg Schaefer at 125 were the wildcard selections.
Defending NCAA champion Iowa qualified eight wrestlers.
Ryan Escobar finished fourth for Illinois at 125 pounds, Griff Powell third
at 157, Ben King fifth at 174 and Adam Tirapelle, Matt Lackey and John
Lockhart each finished second. One of the most exciting matches of the
afternoon belonged to Mike Castillo at 141 pounds. Wrestling for seventh
place and for qualification into the NCAA tournament, Castillo, trailing by
one point with time winding down, secured a takedown as time expired and
earned a trip to the NCAA championship.
