Dec. 29, 2002
Top-ranked 165-pounder Matt Lackey got the monkey off his back with his 9-5 victory over last season's NCAA Champion Joe Heskett, formerly of Iowa State for the 2002 Midlands Tournament title in at Northwestern University. Lackey and Heskett have met over a half dozen times, including each of the last three Midlands and in the 2002 NCAA Championships. With the win, the sixth-ranked Illinois wrestling team took third place with 92.5 points. Iowa won the tournament with 129.5 and Ohio State took second with 96.5. Illinois' six placewinners tied Iowa for most in the tournament.
After a scoreless first period, Heskett jumped on the board with an escape at 1:47 in the second. At the :55 mark, Lackey (Moline, IL) scooped in for a single-leg and with a footsweep got his first takedown and a 2-1 lead. Heskett escaped again for a 2-2 tie heading into the third. Lackey then exploded in the third period with a double leg, lifting Heskett and earning four points for the takedown and nearfall, along with an earlier escape, gave him a 7-2 lead. Heskett escaped then got a takedown of his own with :36 remaining to cut the lead to 7-5. Lackey earned two more points on an escape at 14 seconds and a caution point for the final 9-5 decision. The win keeps Lackey undefeated for the season and gives him his third tournament win this year (Missouri Open, 11/24 and Las Vegas Invite, 12/7).
"Of course, this is a confidence booster," Lackey said. "I have always wrestled him close and I knew I could win. The first takedown helped, but I knew that it was a long match and needed at least one more to win - and the back points were just icing."
Sophomore No. 5-seed Brian Glynn (Orland Park, IL) was the final competitor of the evening for the Illini at 174 pounds, winning a 5-2 decision over the tournament's third-seed Nathan Coy, formerly of Oregon St. now wrestling for Orange Crush. Glynn scored first with a takedown in the first period and Coy got on the board with an escape the same period. Coy got an escape in the second and Glynn got his second takedown in the final 30 seconds of the second for a 4-2 score. Glynn then got an escape in the third for the 5-2 win. Glynn has now placed in his third tournament of the season, following afirst-place finish at Missouri and second in Las Vegas.
Unseeded Tony Pedrosa (Oregon, IL) took No. 12 Ty Eustice of Iowa to sudden victory overtime at 149 with Eustice scoring a takedown with :17 remaining in the match for a 3-1 win. After a scoreless first period, Eustice escaped for a 1-0 lead at 1:14 in the second. Pedrosa matched the scored with an escape just three seconds into the third period. Both wrestlers took shots in the remaining seconds that were called out of bounds to send the match to OT. Pedrosa got out of one hold before giving up two points to end the match.
At 157 pounds, freshman Alex Tirapelle (Clovis, CA) also wrestled his opponent to overtime this time Illinois was a winner with a 5-4 tiebreak win, upsetting eighth-ranked Derek Jenkins of Rider. Tirapelle jumped on Jenkins early with the first takedown of the match at 1:25 in the first and added to that with an escape in the second. But with :36 left in the second Jenkins cut the score to 3-2 with a takedown of his own. He caught Tirapelle off guard with a second takedown in the third, but a quick escape tied the score back at 4 apiece. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Tirapelle won the toss for the tiebreaker. He chose the down position and with two stalling calls against Jenkins was awarded the winning point.
Freshman 125-pounder Kyle Ott (Huber Heights, OH) took fifth after ninth-ranked Chris Rodrigues of North Carolina medically forfeited. Ott beat Rodrigues, 5-1, in the quarterfinals earlier in the tournament.
The Illini will be back in action at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 10-11 in Norfolk, Va.
TEAM SCORES
1. Iowa - 129.5
2. Ohio State - 96.5
3. Illinois - 92.5
4. Penn State - 84.5
5. Lehigh - 77.5
6. Iowa State - 75.5
7. Cornell - 73.0
8. Hofstra - 72.0
9. Michigan - 66.5
10. Northern Iowa - 57.5
ILLINOIS PLACEWINNERS
1st: Matt Lackey (165)
3rd: Brian Glynn (174)
5th: Kyle Ott (125), Alex Tirapelle (157)
6th: Tony Pedrosa (149)
7th: Mark Jayne (133)
MIDLANDS FINAL RESULTS
125: #10 Kyle Ott (Illinois) won by forfeit (5th)
133: #16 Mark Jayne (Illinois) dec. Ricky Laforge (Hofstra), 7-2 (7th)
149: #12 Ty Eustice (Iowa) dec. Tony Pedrosa (Illinois), 3-1 SV (6th)
157: #10 Alex Tirapelle dec. #8 Derek Jenkins (Rider), 5-4 TB (5th)
165: #1 Matt Lackey dec. #1-seed Joe Heskett (Sunkist), 9-5 (1st)
174: #5 Brian Glynn dec. #3-seed Nathan Coy (Orange Crush), 5-2 (3rd)
