Feb. 17, 2008

Complete Results

EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 8 Illinois got a dominating win from Ben Friedl at 184 to start the dual, but No. 12 Northwestern won seven of the last nine bouts to take a 22-11 win at Welsh-Ryan Arena. No. 2 Mike Poeta recorded an impressive 15-1 major decision and No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy scored a 12-3 major decision, but the Illini came out on the wrong end of overtime bouts at 125 and 141, and three matches within three points at 197, 165 and 174.

"It's just a very disappointing loss for us," Illinois coach Mark Johnson said. "We knew coming in that 125, 141 and 174 would be the key matches, and when you lose all three you're not going to win a dual like this."

Friedl, a redshirt-freshman, scored his second career Big Ten win after getting a takedown in the first period, then rattling off an escape and two more takedowns in the second for a 7-0 lead and over two minutes of riding time. Northwestern's Adil Kolovic started down in the third and escaped, but Friedl was awarded a stalling point and looked to be on his way to a major decision. However, Kolovic found an opening with less than a minute left, shooting in for a takedown. Friedl managed an 11-5 win to put the Illini up 3-0.

But the Wildcats' second-ranked Mike Tamillow was able to hold No. 11 Patrick Bond off the entire match at 197, with Tamillow scoring a takedown when there was just 45 seconds left in the first period. The Northwestern grappler started down in the second and escaped, then worked away from Bond's offense the rest of the period. In the third, the two started neutral and neither was able to score, Tamillow taking a 3-0 win.

At heavyweight, Northwestern's Dustin Fox showed early on why he's ranked No. 1 in the nation, scoring a takedown on No. 15 John Wise just 14 seconds into the match. Wise quickly escaped, but Fox notched another takedown 1:35 into the match. Fox started down in the second period, escaped quickly and held off Wise the rest of the period. Wise started down in the third and worked out of Fox's grasp with just over a minute left, but couldn't generate any offense against the Wildcat, falling 6-2 as Northwestern took a 6-3 lead in the dual.

In one of the marquee matchups of the day, No. 9 Gabe Flores squared off against fifth-ranked Brandon Precin and neither managed to score in the first period. In the second, Precin started down and escaped after Flores rode him for 55 seconds. But Flores notched a takedown right before the whistle, leading 2-1 after two periods. In the third, Flores started down and couldn't escape, meaning Precin held 1:03 of riding time to tie the match at 2 and send it to overtime. In the first sudden-victory period, the two scrambled for a few seconds before Precin gained control for the takedown and the 4-2 win.

At 133, Kennedy started working early against Eric Metzler, securing a takedown in 30 seconds. Metzler escaped at 1:08 and Kennedy got another takedown at 1:35. After allowing Metzler up, Kennedy took him down again at 2:23 for the 6-2 lead after a period. Kennedy started down in the second and escaped after 1:07, then quickly turned and got a takedown for a 9-2 margin. Metzler started down in the third and Kennedy let him up right away before scoring the final takedown with 1:16 left in the match for the 12-3 major decision, cutting Northwestern's lead to 9-7.

The day's second swing match followed at 141 pounds, with No. 11 Ryan Prater facing No. 18 Keith Sulzer. In the first, Sulzer secured a takedown with 40 seconds left in the period to lead 2-0 after three minutes. Sulzer started down in the second and Prater rode him the entire period, scoring two near-fall points 1:15 into the period to tie the bout at 2 with Prater holding a 1:03 riding time advantage. In the third, Prater started down and notched a reversal with 1:07 left in the match. But Sulzer scored a reversal of his own with just 25 seconds left to send the bout into overtime. Neither wrestler scored in sudden-victory time and, in the first tiebreak period, Prater started down and gave up a two-point near-fall. Sulzer started down in the second tiebreak and after Prater worked him over for the first 20 seconds, Sulzer escaped to ice the 7-4 win.

At 149, Grant Paswall ran into a hungry fifth-ranked Ryan Lang, who notched a takedown 10 seconds into the bout for a 2-0 lead after one period. Lang started down in the second and got a reversal five seconds into the period before Paswall was warned for stalling. Paswall escaped with 47 seconds left in the period to cut the deficit to 4-1 after two periods. Paswall started down in the third and gave up a stalling point 50 seconds in, before escaping with 51 seconds left in the bout. Lang got a takedown with 25 seconds left and Paswall escaped 10 seconds later, only to give up another takedown with just nine seconds remaining. Thanks to over five minutes of riding time for Lang, the Wildcat got the 11-3 major decision victory and staked his squad to a 16-7 lead.

No. 2 Mike Poeta once again looked hungry to regain his top ranking, making short work of Andrew Nadhir with a 15-1 major decision. Poeta got a takedown in 18 seconds, then scored a three-point near-fall nearly a minute later. Nadhir escaped to cut Poeta's lead to 5-1 after a period. Poeta started down in the second and escaped in 11 seconds, then was awarded a stalling point with 1:04 left in the second. Twenty-one seconds later, Poeta got another takedown for a 9-1 lead after two periods. The two started neutral in the third, with Poeta scoring a takedown in 26 seconds and getting another three-point near-fall with 44 seconds left in the match. Poeta worked the rest of the bout to get more back points, but Nadhir avoided the technical fall as Poeta pulled the Illini within 16-11.

At 165, Clint Arlis stepped in for Roger Smith-Bergsrud against Northwestern's Dominic Marella. Marella was given a point in the first period when Arlis was called for fleeing the mat after getting his leg hooked. Marella started down in the second and escaped in 50 seconds, then notched a takedown as time expired for a 4-0 lead. Arlis started down in the third and escaped in 41 seconds, but Marella got a takedown 15 seconds later to ice the match. Arlis reversed him 12 seconds later, but the Wildcat took the 6-3 win to secure the dual-match win.

At 174, No. 15 John Dergo and No. 12 Nick Hayes fought to a scoreless first period, and Dergo started down in the second. The Illini sophomore got a reversal after 24 seconds and Hayes escaped 14 seconds later to give Dergo a 2-1 lead after two periods. Hayes started down in the third and escaped in four seconds to tie the match at 2. After Dergo took his second injury timeout of the bout, Hayes was given choice of position and chose down. He then scored a reversal with nine seconds left in the match for the 4-2 win and the 22-11 team victory.

#12 Northwestern 22, #8 Illinois 11
Match started at 184
184: Ben Friedl (ILL) dec. Adil Kolovic (NU), 11-5 (3-0)
197: #2 Mike Tamillow (NU) dec. #11 Patrick Bond (ILL), 3-0 (3-3)
HWT: #1 Dustin Fox (NU) dec. #15 John Wise (ILL), 6-2 (3-6)
125: #5 Brandon Precin (NU) dec. #9 Gabe Flores (ILL), 4-2 (SV1) (3-9)
133: #9 Jimmy Kennedy (ILL) maj. dec. Eric Metzler (NU), 12-3 (7-9)
141: #17 Keith Sulzer (NU) dec. #11 Ryan Prater (ILL), 7-4 (TB1) (7-12)
149: #5 Ryan Lang (NU) maj. dec. Grant Paswall (ILL), 11-3 (7-16)
157: #2 Mike Poeta (ILL) maj. dec. Andrew Nadhir (NU), 15-1 (11-16)
165: Dominic Marella (NU) dec. Clint Arlis (ILL), 6-3 (11-19)
174: #12 Nick Hayes (NU) dec. #15 John Dergo (ILL), 4-2 (22-11)