March 5, 2000

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - University of Illinois wrestler Adam Tirapelle defeated Minnesota's Jared Lawrence 4-2 to earn the 149-pound Big Ten title Sunday afternoon at the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, Ind. Tirapelle becomes the Illini's 59th individual Big Ten champion and second under head coach Mark Johnson. He is Illinois' first Big Ten champion since Ernest Benion won the 158-pound crown in 1997.

The Illini, ranked fifth in the nation, finished third behind top-ranked Iowa and second-ranked Minnesota. Iowa claimed the team championship with 139.50 points followed by Minnesota with 132.50. Illinois finished third with 96.50 team points. For the first time in school history the Illini will send 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Nine Illini finished in the top seven of their respective weight classes and Ryan Escobar received one of the Conference's two wild-card berths after finishing eighth. Minnesota and Iowa each only qualified nine. The NCAA Championships will take place March 16-18 in St. Louis, Mo.

"Our goal all along was to qualify 10 guys," head coach Mark Johnson said. "That shows our depth and that's been our strength all year long. We definitely made some gains from the Iowa meet. We knew we had to step it up and even though we lost some matches, we closed the gap. We wrestled well and I think that will help our confidence going into the national tournament."

Nate Patrick, the Illini's only other finalist, had to medically forfeit the 184-pound title to Minnesota's Brandum Eggum. Patrick injured his knee in the first period of his semifinal win over Michigan's Andy Hrovat and opted not to risk further injury after securing an NCAA berth on the tournament's first day.

Tirapelle (34-2), ranked fifth in the nation and seeded third in the championship, trailed 1-0 going into the final period of the 149-pound title match, but earned an escape six seconds into the final stanza to knot the score at 1-1. He opened up a 3-1 advantage gaining the match's only takedown at 1:12, then rode Lawrence, seeded No. 1, for the next 1:06 before Lawrence earned an escape to close to within one point at 3-2. The match ended with both wrestlers on their feet and Tirapelle was awarded one point for riding time for the 4-2 final score.

"Adam Tirapelle did a great job," Johnson said. "This win should secure the No. 1 seed at the national tournament. He wrestled a smart tournament and did a great job."

"The match didn't go as I had planned," Tirapelle said. "But I won and that's the main thing. I wanted to come out and score a few more points, open the match up a little bit and put the pressure on him."

Complete results follow.

86th Annual Big Ten Wrestling Championships

Final Results
March 5, 2000
West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue University
Mackey Arena

Team Scores:

1.	Iowa	139.50
2.	Minnesota	132.50
3.	Illinois	96.50
4.	Michigan State	87.50
5.	Michigan	73.00
6.	Northwestern	51.00
7.	Wisconsin	48.00
8.	Ohio State	47.50
	Penn State	47.50
9.	Indiana	45.00
10.	Purdue	23.00

Coach of the Year: Jim Zalesky, Iowa
Wrestler of the Year: Jeremy Hunter, Penn State
Freshman of the Year: Jared Lawrence, Minnesota
Outstanding Wrestler of the Big Ten Championship: Jody Stirttmatter, Iowa
Wildcard NCAA Selections: Ryan Escobar, Illinois and Ty Matthews, Indiana

Illinois Results:
125-Ryan Escobar, Eighth place
133-David Stoltz, Fifth
141-Carl Perry, Fourth
149-Adam Tirapelle, First
157-Griff Powell, Sixth
165-Bill Zeman, Fifth
174-Ben King, Fourth
184-Nate Patrick, Second
197-Pat Quirk, Sixth
Hwt-John Lockhart, Third

125 Pounds-
Seventh Place: No. 4 Jason Silverstein (Purdue) defeated No. 6 Ryan Escobar (Illinois), 12-3

133 Pounds-
Wrestlebacks: No. 3 Joe Warren (Michigan) defeated No. 8 David Stoltz (Illinois), 6-3
Fifth Place: No. 8 Stoltz (IL) defeated No. 4 Brett Lawrence (Minnesota), 3-1

141 Pounds-
Wrestlebacks: No. 3 Carl Perry (IL) defeated Grant Hoerr (Wisconsin), 7-4
Third Place: No. 5 Damion Logan (Michigan) defeated No. 3 Perry (IL), 4-2

149 Pounds-
Finals: No. 3 Adam Tirapelle (Illinois) defeated No. 1 Jared Lawrence (Minnesota), 4-2

157 Pounds-
Wrestlebacks: No. 6 Corey Wallman pinned No. 5 Griff Powell (Illinois), 6:43
Fifth Place: No. 4 Kevin Stanley (Indiana) defeated No. 5 Powell (IL), 3-2

165 Pounds-
Wrestlebacks: No. 6 Matt Anderson (Iowa) defeated No. 4 Bill Zeman (Illinois), 5-4
Fifth Place: No. 4 Zeman (IL) defeated No. 5 Greg DeGrand (Michigan State), 5-1

174 Pounds-
Wrestlebacks: No. 2 Ben King (Illinois) defeated Charles Martelli (Michigan), 11-4
Third Place: No. 1 Kole Clauson (Wisconsin) defeated No. 2 King (IL), 7-3

184 Pounds-
Final: No. 1 Brandon Eggum (Minnesota) wins by injury default over No. 3 Nate Patrick (Illinois)

197 Pounds-
Wrestlebacks: No. 6 Ross Thatcher (Penn State) defeated No. 4 Pat Quirk (Illinois), 5-1
Fifth Place: No. 5 Owen Elzen (Minnesota) defeated No. 4 Quirk (IL), 3-2

Heavyweight-
Wrestlebacks: No. 3 John Lockhart (Illinois) defeated No. 4 Matt Brink (Michigan), 3-2
Third Place: No. 3 Lockhart (IL) defeated No. 5 Matt Lamb (Michigan State), 2-1


Individual Championship Finals

125: No. 2 Jody Strittmatter (Iowa) defeated No. 1 Jeremy Hunter (Penn State), 3-2,
133: No. 1 Eric Juergens (Iowa) defeated No. 2 Pat McNamara (Michigan State), 4-2
141: No. 2 Doug Schwab (Iowa) defeated No. 1 Scott Schatzman (Northwestern), 5-2
149: No. 3 Adam Tirapelle (Illinois) defeated No. 1 Jared Lawrence (Minnesota), 4-2
157: No. 1 T. J. Williams (Iowa) defeated No. 2 Luke Becker (Minnesota), 10-4
165: No. 1 Don Pritzlaff (Wisconsin) defeated No. 2 Brad Pike (Minnesota), 6-2
174: No. 4 Mark Bybee (Northwestern) defeated No. 3 Gabe McMahan (Iowa), 9-2
184: No. 1 Brandon Eggum (Minnesota) injury default over No. 3 Nate Patrick (Illinois)
197: No. 1 Nick Muzashvili (Michigan State) defeated No. 2 Nick Preston (Ohio State), 8-3
Hwt: No. 2 Brock Lesnar (Minnesota) defeated No. 1 Wes Hand (Iowa), 2-1