Dec. 28, 2002
The sixth-ranked University of Illinois wrestling team is third after the first day of competition at the 40th Annual Midlands Tournament in Evanston, Ill., Saturday afternoon. The team will send 125-pounder Kyle Ott, 165-pounder Matt Lackey and 174-pound Brian Glynn to the semifinals, to be held Sunday at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Ott (Fr., Huber Heights, OH), ranked 10th nationally won three matches on Saturday, including a 5-1 decision over ninth-ranked Chris Rodrigues of North Carolina in the quarterfinals to advance. Ott (13-2) will take on the top seed and No. 1 ranked 125-pounder in the country in Iowa's Luke Eustice. Eustice was the NCAA runner-up at 125 pounds last season.
Top-ranked Lackey (Sr., Moline, IL) won a 3-1 decision over No. 11 Nick Passolano of Iowa State in his quarterfinal match. The win was one of four for the senior on Saturday which moved him up the Illinois career win chart to 12th with 96 victories. Lackey (14-0) will face No. 5 Troy Letters of Lehigh in the semis.
The third semifinalist is fifth-ranked Glynn (So., Orland Park, IL) who notched a 6-2 win over East Stroudsburg's John Carr. Glynn (13-1) will be looking for his third tournament final this season, but to do so must beat the No. 1 seed and third-ranked wrestler in the world, Joe Williams, who is also a USA World Team member. Williams is going for a tournament record ninth-straight Midlands title.
"This tournament is one of the most grueling we will be in this year," head coach Mark Johnson said. "We did some good things today and I am really impressed by the way Kyle Ott and Brian Glynn wrestled today. But there are definitely some things we need to work on and a tournament like this shows exposes our youth."
The Illini also will have three wrestlers alive in the consolation bracket. Freshmen Tony Pedrosa (149) and Alex Tirapelle (157) and sophomore Mark Jayne (133) made it to the quarterfinals before registering their first loss of the day. Each wrestler needs one more win to insure a placing in the tournament.
No. 2 Iowa leads the collegiate team scoring with 74.5 points, followed by No. 5 Ohio State with 63.0 and No. 6 Illinois with 49.5. (The Sunkist Wrestling Club has scored 63.5 points for second, but is a team made up of former collegiate standouts.)
The Illini will resume action at the Midlands on Sunday beginning at Noon with semifinals and consolation competition. The finals and placewinner matches will begin at 7 p.m.
125 - #10 Kyle Ott (Fr., Huber Heights, Ohio) 13-2
1st Round: Dec. Marlon Felton (N. Illinois), 4-2
2nd Round: Dec. Mario Stuart (Lehigh), 7-3
Quarterfinals: Dec. #9 Chris Rodrigues (North Carolina), 5-1
Up Next - Semifinals: #1 Luke Eustice (Iowa)
133 - #16 Mark Jayne (So., Elyria, Ohio) 12-3
1st Round: Dec. Travis Drake (Appalachain St.), 9-3
2nd Round: #10 Phil Mansueto (Cleveland St.), 2-1 TB
Quarterfinals: Lost to Mike Simpson (Ariz St.), 7-4
Consolation 5th Round: Brad Metzler (Stanford)
141 - #16 Cal Ferry (Fr., Machesney, Ill.) 10-5
1st Round: Dec. Mike Unger (Oregon St.), 2-1
2nd Round: Lost to Josh Wooten (N. Illinois), 3-2
Consolation 3rd Round: Dec. Brian Baglio (North Carolina), 5-1
Consolation 4th Round: Lost to #1 Aaron Holker (Iowa St.), 12-1
149 - Tony Pedrosa (Fr., Oregon, Ill.) 8-4
1st Round: Dec. Paul Augle (Northwestern), 7-3
2nd Round: Dec. Jeff Harrison (N. Illinois), 11-9
Quarterfinals: Lost to #11 Jon Masa (Hofstra), 14-8
Up Next - Consolation 5th Round: Nathan Galloway (Penn St.)
157 - #10 Alex Tirapelle (Fr., Clovis, Calif.) 13-3
1st Round: Major dec. Chad Roush (E. Michigan), 10-0
2nd Round: Dec. Matt Nagel (Minnesota), 6-1
Quarterfinals: Lost to #8 Derek Jenkins (Rider), 5-2
Up Next - Consolation 5th Round: Frank DeFilippis (E. Illinois)
157 - Anton Dietzen (So., Elmhurst, Ill.) 5-5
1st Round: Dec. James Woodall (Penn St.), 11-4
2nd Round: Lost to #9 Derek Zinck (Lehigh), 5-2
Consolation 3rd Round: Dec. Brian Cobb (CS-Bakersfield), 4-3
Consolation 4th Round: Lost to Frank DeFilippis (E. Illinois), 6-2
165 - #1 Matt Lackey (Sr., Moline, Ill.) 14-0
Rat Tail: Dec. Rich Ferguson (Penn), 9-2
1st Round: Dec. Brad Anderson (Central Mich.), 8-1
2nd Round: Dec. Jed Pennell (Oregon St.), 5-3
Quarterfinals: Dec. #11 Nick Passalano (Iowa St.), 3-1
Up Next - Semifinals: #5 Troy Letters (Lehigh)
165 - Anthony Castillo (So., Western Springs, Ill.) 3-6
1st Round: Lost to #6 Johnny Clark (Ohio St.), 7-3
Consolation 2nd Round: Lost to Matt Ellis (Oregon St.), 5-2
174 - #5 Brian Glynn (So., Orland Park, Ill.) 13-1
1st Round: Dec. Jason Erwinski (Northwestern), 5-1
2nd Round: Dec. Bill Lowney (N. Illinois), 3-1
Quarterfinals: Dec. John Carr (East Stroudsburg), 6-2
Up Next - Semifinals: #1-seed Joe Williams (Sunkist)
174 - Peter Friedl (Fr., Orland Park, Ill.) 11-4
1st Round: Dec. Anthony Regalbuto (West Va.), 7-4
2nd Round: Lost to #6 Eric Hauan (N. Iowa), 6-4
Consolation 3rd Round: Dec. Ryan Hagan (Stanford), 3-1
Consolation 4th Round: Lost to Andy Roy (Rutgers), 8-6
184 - #10 Jason Potter (Jr., St. Charles, Ill.) 6-3
1st Round: Major dec. Matt Sassalino (Triton), 13-3
2nd Round: Lost to Aaron Simpson (Sunkist), 3-1
Consolation 3rd Round: Lost to Mauricio Wright (San Fran. St.), 3-2
197 - #17 Tyrone Byrd (So., Clinton, Ill.) 11-5
1st Round: Dec. Woodley Milord (Iowa St.), 5-2
2nd Round: Lost to #6-seed Pat Popolizio (Atlas WC), 3-0
Consolation 3rd Round: Dec. Drew Dunbar (San Fran St.), 6-0
Consolation 4th Round: Lost to #14 Matt Greenberg (Cornell), 10-3
Hwt - Chris Little (Fr., Mahomet, Ill.) 4-7
1st Round: Lost to #9-seed Nick Preston (Sunkist), 7-2
Consolation 2nd Round: Dec. Pete Mueller (Lincoln), 5-3
Consolation 3rd Round: Dec. Jack Dennis (N. Illinois), 3-1 SV
Consolation 4th Round: Lost to Henry Lossen (Michigan St.), 3-1
Hwt - Matt Fletcher (Fr., LaSalle, Ill.) 1-2
1st Round: Lost to Brian Keck (WWC), 13-4
Consolation 2nd Round: Dec. Dathen Miller (Lassen), 3-2
Consolation 3rd Round: Lost to John Wechter (Michigan St.), 14-3
