Jan. 26, 2003

The second-ranked Iowa Hawkeye wrestling team dominated sixth-ranked Illinois, 40-4, Sunday afternoon in Iowa City at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Senior All-American Matt Lackey was the only Illini bright spot as he extended his winning streak to 24 matches in an 18-6 major decision.

Iowa was able to capitalize early with wins in the first four matches to build a 16-0 lead over the Illini. The match started at 133 pounds where fifth-ranked Cliff Moore of Iowa allowed only escape points and scored four takedowns to win 10-4 over No. 13 Mark Jayne (So., Elyria, Ohio). Illinois' Cal Ferry (Fr., Machesney, Ill.) was overmatched by No. 14 Luke Moffitt in a 11-3 major decision, giving Iowa a 7-0 lead after the 141 pound match.

At 149 pounds, Tony Pedrosa (Fr., Oregon, Ill.) was down 8-3 in the third period before being turned and pinned by No. 13 Ty Eustice at 6:46. Eighth-ranked Alex Tirapelle (Fr., Clovis, Calif.) and No. 17 Joe Johnston battled out a low-scoring match that wasn't indicative of the amount of action. Unfortunately for the Illini Johnston got the upset with a 4-2 decision.

Illinois didn't score its first offensive point until the 165-pound match, four bouts into the dual. Lackey (Moline, Ill.) got a takedown at the 2:02 mark of the first period and never looked back in the 18-6 major decision. Lackey scored at will with six points in the first, three in the second and nine in the third, which included near fall points at the 1:30 mark. With the win, Lackey improved to 24-0 on the season and moved to eighth on the Illinois all-time win list with 106 career victories.

The Illini troubles continued at 174 pounds, as No. 4 Tyler Nixt downed No. 5 Brian Glynn (So., Orland Park, Ill.), 8-4. Glynn also couldn't get his offense going as he scored his four points on escapes. Facing the No. 1 wrestler at 184, Jessman Smith, Pete Friedl (Fr., Orland Park, Ill.), who is wrestling up one weight class for the injured Jason Potter, got caught on his back early in the match and a pin was called at 1:54 to boost Iowa's lead at 25-4.

Sophomore Tyrone Byrd (Clinton, Ill.) gave up a takedown with no time left on the clock to lose a heartbreaker, 10-9 to No. 13 Ryan Fulsaas. Byrd got the first takedown at 2:48 in the first and led the match 6-2 with near fall points before Fulsaas got a reversal in the final minute of the match which ignited a eight-point run.

Freshman Chris Little (Mahomet, Ill.) lasted 3:59 before getting pinned by top-ranked Steve Mocco and due to knee injuries to both freshman Kyle Ott and Twan Pham, forfeited the 125 pound weight class.

#2 Iowa (12-2, 2-0) def. #6 Illinois (6-3, 0-2)                    Team
133: #5 Cliff Moore (Iowa) dec. #13 Mark Jayne (ILL), 10-4             0-3
141: #14 Luke Moffitt (Iowa) major dec. Cal Ferry (ILL), 11-3          0-7
149: #13 Ty Eustice (Iowa) won by fall Tony Pedrosa (ILL), 6:46       0-13
157: #17 Joe Johnston (Iowa) dec. #8 Alex Tirapelle (ILL), 4-2        0-16
165: #1 Matt Lackey (ILL) major dec. Jason D'Agata (Iowa), 18-6	      4-16
174: #4 Tyler Nixt (Iowa) dec. #5 Brian Glynn (ILL), 8-4              4-19
184: #1 Jessman Smith (Iowa) won by fall Pete Friedl (ILL), 1:54      4-25
197: #13 Ryan Fulsaas (Iowa) dec. #20 Tyrone Byrd (ILL), 10-9         4-28
HWT: Chris Little (ILL) vs. #1 Steve Mocco (Iowa), 3:59	              4-34
125: #6 Luke Eustice (Iowa) won by forfeit                            4-40