Feb. 11, 2000

CHAMPAIGNE, Ill. - The sixth-ranked University of Illinois wrestling team lost to No. 1 Iowa 27-9 Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Iowa avenged last year's upset loss to the Illini in Champaign. This was a matchup of undefeated Big Ten powers, and the 4,844 fans in Iowa City seemed to provide too large an obstacle for Illinois. With tonight's loss, the Illini fall to 12-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten Conference. Iowa improves to 16-0 overall and 6-0 in the Big Ten.

The Illini succeeded in winning in three consecutive weight classes, the 174, 184, and 197 pound matches. Ben King scored the lone upset for Illinois, defeating No. 15 Gabe McMahan 11-8. King has now won ten straight matches. At 184, Nate Patrick, ranked fifth in the country, edged Jessman Smith 8-7. The 197 match was a showdown between the number 11 and 12-ranked wrestlers in the nation. No. 11 Pat Quirk lived up to his higher ranking by beating Lee Weber 7-6.

Iowa handed Illinois losses in all but three weight classes on Friday night. No. 2 Jody Strittmatter of Iowa scored the only pin of the evening, beating Ryan Escobar of Illinois in the first match of the evening. From then on, Iowa dominated with help from the intimidating crowd.

"We talked all along how intimidating it is, and we even brought the team here early, but we didn't do a good job responding to the crowd," Head Coach Mark Johnson said. "They got on a roll and it was difficult to stop."

The Hawkeyes won consecutive matches at 133, 141, 149, 157, and 165 pounds to extend their lead to a dominating 24-0. No. 1 Eric Juergens and No. 1 Doug Schwab both won major decisions at 133 and 141 pounds. The Illini's No. 2 Adam Tirapelle was upset for the second time this season by No. 6 Mike Zadick 10-3. That is the second time Tirapelle has lost to Zadick this year, and those two losses account for Tirapelle's only two losses this year. No. 1 T.J. Williams followed up with a major decision over No. 12 Griff Powell, and unranked Matt Anderson of Iowa upset No. 19 Bill Zeman of Illinois 6-4 at 165 pounds.

Coach Johnson gave reasoning for the tough Illini loss. "It was a case where we got outwrestled and outhustled early. I just want to say they wanted to win more than we did."

The match closed with a win by No. 3 Wes Hand of Iowa over No. 5 John Lockhart, 7-3.

The Illini will wrestle again on Sunday afternoon, February 13th, at Northwestern. The match is set for 2 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats are 6-9-1 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten.

No. 1 Iowa 27, No. 6 Illinois 9
February 11, 2000
Carver-Hawkeye Arena -- Iowa City, Iowa

Dual started at the 125-pound match

Wt. - Decision
125 - No. 2 Jody Srittmatter (IOWA) pinned No. 12 Ryan Escobar (ILL), 4:13
133 - No. 1 Eric Juergens (IOWA) major decision Dave Stoltz (ILL), 20-7
141 - No. 1 Doug Schwab (IOWA) major decision No. 8 Carl Perry (ILL), 18-9
149 - No. 6 Mike Zadick (IOWA) defeated No. 2 Adam Tirapelle (ILL), 10-3
157 - No. 1 T.J. Williams (IOWA) major decision No. 12 Griff Powell (ILL), 15-5
165 - Matt Anderson (IOWA) defeated No. 19 Bill Zeman (ILL), 6-4
174 - Ben King (ILL) defeated No. 15 Gabe McMahan (IOWA), 11-8
184 - No. 5 Nate Patrick (ILL) defeated Jessman Smith (IOWA), 8-7
197 - No. 11 Pat Quirk (ILL) defeated No. 12 Lee Weber (IOWA), 7-6
Hwt - No. 3 Wes Hand (IOWA) defeated No. 5 John Lockhart (ILL), 7-3