March 21, 2002
University of Illinois wrestlers Matt Lackey and Griff Powell won their second round matches to advance in the championship bracket after the two sessions of the NCAA Championships in Albany, N.Y. Thursday. The Illini scored 14.50 points for 14th place in the 79-team tournament, with seven athletes alive for the third session on Friday.
Second-seeded Lackey advanced with a 4-1 win over Charles Martelli of Michigan, winning his 21st consecutive match of the season. No. 10 Powell was a 5-2 winner over Adam Britt of VMI, to record his 101st win of his career. Both Lackey and Powell are one win away from All-America status.
The Illini took six wrestlers into the second-session championship bracket, but dropped four, including three overtime matches. Heavyweight John Lockhart will not have a chance to defend his 2001 national title as he fell in overtime to Clarion's 12th-seeded John Testa, 2-1. Lockhart lost the coin toss and was unable to hold Testa the full 30 seconds. Junior Twan Pham was ridden out in the tie break period to lose 3-2 at 125 pounds. Jason Potter's last minute efforts to tie the match against No. 3 Andy Hrovat came up short as the match went to the tie-break period and fall 6-5 at 184 pounds.
Junior 149-pounder Ryan Berger lost his first two matches, while true-freshman Tyrone Byrd was 1-2 and eliminated in his first NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma leads all competition with 37.50, followed by Minnesota at 35.50. The Illini are only 3.50 points from the Top-10. The third session of the championships begin at 10 a.m. ET on Friday at the Pepsi Arena. The following is a breakdown of each wrestler during Thursday's first and second sessions:
125: #12 seed Twan Pham (27-11), Jr. Palatine, Ill.
Rat Tail Round: Defeated Mario Stuart (LeHigh), 3-1 SV
First Round: Defeated Nathan Peterson (5-0)
Second Round: Lost to #5 Ben VomBaur (Boise St.), 3-2 TB
Up Next: Mason Lenhard, Penn in consolation bracket
133: #11 seed Chad Hay (18-13), Sr. Sandwich, Ill.
First Round: Defeated Dan Hyman (LeHigh), 3-1 SV
Second Round: Lost to #6 Cliff Moore (Iowa), 8-4
Up Next: Joe Cristaldi, Drexel in consolation bracket
149: Ryan Berger (21-14), Jr. Mahomet, Ill.
First Round: Lost to #5 seed Jesse Jantzen (Harvard), 4-0
Consolation: Lost to Marc Hoffer (American), 3-2
Up Next: Berger elimnated
157: #10 seed Griff Powell (23-7), Sr. Morton Grove, Ill.
First Round: Defeated Mitch Morgan (Boise St.), 9-3
Second Round: Defeated Adam Britt (VMI), 5-2
Up Next: #2 Yoshi Nakamura, Penn in the championship bracket
Notes: Powell recorded his 100th and 101st career wins at Illinois ... Nakamura scored a major decision and tech fall in his first two matches Thursday and is 33-1 this season ... Powell has pulled one upset this season over No. 10 Matt Anderson of Iowa ... In his four-year career at Illinois, Powell has never earned All-America honors and with one more win he can guarantee the accolades.
165: #2 seed Matt Lackey (36-1), Jr. Moline, Ill.
First Round: Defeated Carl Fronhofer (Pitt), 5-2
Second Round: Defeated Charles Martelli (Mich.), 4-1
Up Next: Eugene Harris, Oregon in the championship bracket
Notes: For the second straight year, Lackey has advanced to the quarterfinals ... With the win, Lackey is now 2-0 against Martelli this season ... Lackey recorded his 21st straight win of the season and moves to 20th on the all-time Illinois win list ... His 36 wins this season are fifth on the single-season list.
174: Brian Glynn (17-14), Fr. Orland Park, Ill.
First Round: Lost to #4 Greg Parker (Princeton), 4-0
Consolation: Defeated Dustin Kawa (N.C. State), fall 6:59
Up Next: #10 Ty Wilcox, Oklahoma State in consolation second round.
184: Jason Potter (25-11), So. St. Charles, Ill.
First Round: Defeated Justin Johnson (Bloomsburg), 9-4 SV
Second Round: Lost to #3 Andy Hrovat (Mich.), 6-5 TB
Up Next: Pat Popolizio, Oklahoma State in the consolation bracket
Notes: Potter scored a takedown with one second left in the third period to tied Hrovat and send the match to overtime ... After no scoring in the sudden victory overtime, Hrovat won the coin flip, choosing the down position to win the 6-5 tie break.
197: Tyrone Byrd (19-13), Fr. Clinton, Ill.
First Round: Lost to Brent Miller (WVU), 6-2
Consolation Rat Tail: Defeated Jason Gore (N.C. State), 2-0
Consolation Second Round: Lost to David Schenk (Cal Poly), 7-6
Up Next: Byrd eliminated.
Notes: Byrd recorded his first NCAA Tournament win with a 2-0 decision over Gore of NCSU ... Byrd was one of only 14 true freshmen to qualify for the tournament.
HWT: #5 John Lockhart (28-6) Sr. Mahomet, Ill.
First Round: Defeated Eric Webb (Oregon), 3-2
Second Round: Lost to #12 John Testa (Clarion), 2-1 TB
Up Next: Matt Kenny, North Carolina in the consolation bracket
