Feb. 9, 2003

The eighth-ranked University of Illinois wrestling team dominated the No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers, 29-7, winning eight of 10 matches, Sunday afternoon in Madison, Wis. The win included a pin by 157-pounder Alex Tirapelle and a major decision by No. 1-ranked Matt Lackey to keep his unbeaten streak of 27 matches intact. Illinois improved to 9-3 overall, 4-2 in Big Ten action.

Illinois got on the board with the opening win at 149 pounds. Freshman Tony Pedrosa (Oregon, Ill.) took a 6-3 lead into the third period, but Ed Gutnik made it close with two takedowns to narrow the margin. Pedrosa held on to win 10-8 for the decision. Alex Tirapelle (Fr. Clovis, Calif.) extended his record to 26-4 with a pin in 5:46 to give the Illini a 9-0 lead. He led 14-4 with three minutes of riding time before getting a takedown and the fall on a bottom-leg cradle.

Top-ranked Matt Lackey (Sr., Moline, Ill.) was dominant in his 15-6 major decision over Kelly Flaherty at 165. He scored three takedowns in the first period, but allowed a Wisconsin reversal in the final seconds to make the match close at 6-4. He got a takedown and two near fall points in the second to extend his lead to 10-5 and then another two in the third for the win. Sixth-ranked Brian Glynn (Fr., Orland Park, Ill.) scored six takedowns in his match and allowed no offensive scoring by Ryan Flaherty to take a 14-5 major decision at 174 and increase Illinois' lead at 17-0.

Freshman Pete Friedl (Orland Park, Ill.) was a 10-6 winner over Brady Reinke at 184 pounds. Friedl got the match's first score with a takedown at 2:28 in the first and then another at just under a minute, but a Wisconsin takedown at the 30 second-mark tied the match at four apiece. Still tied in the third, Friedl got a takedown at 1:19, but Reinke escaped at :56 for a tight 7-6 lead. Reinke went in for a shot, but Friedl countered, scoring with 22 seconds remaining to preserve the decision. At 197, Tyrone Byrd (So., Clinton, Ill.) faced Ralph DeNisco, ranked 10th at 184 pounds, and was down 2-3 with only 10 seconds remaining in the match. Byrd took two shots and came through on a double-leg for the takedown, scoring at the two-second mark for the dramatic 4-3 win. Illinois led 23-0.

Illinois suffered its first loss of the match at heavyweight as No. 14 Justin Staebler of Wisconsin beat Chris Little (Fr., Mahomet, Ill.) in a 9-0 major decision. Wisconsin continued with a win at 125, which came down to the wire. Twan Pham (Sr., Palatine, Ill.) got the first takedown at 1:28 in the first, but No. 11 Tony Black tied the match with an escape in the second. With 17 seconds left in the second Black got his first offensive score to go ahead 4-2. Pham got a takedown to tie the match at four apiece in the final minute of the third, but cut Black to attempt a match-winning shot. He got in on shot, but time ran out before he could convert for the 5-4 loss.

At 133, it came down to overtime to decide the 12-10 decision by No. 11 Mark Jayne (So., Elyria, Ohio) over Tom Clum. Jayne had to work out of a 5-0 deficit as Clum scored a takedown and got back points in the first. Jayne got out of a hold and scored a takedown with 38 seconds in the first and followed up with two takedowns in the second for a 7-7 tie heading into the third. Both wrestlers got shots in, but it was Clum that scored first to go up 9-7. Jayne escaped then got a takedown of his own at 38 seconds to lead 10-9, but couldn't ride Clum for the rest of the period as he tied the match with only nine second left at 10-10. But it only took 11 seconds in overtime for Jayne to get a takedown and the win.

Freshman Cal Ferry (Machesney, Ill.) scored in the final nine seconds of sudden victory overtime to win 3-1 over Tyler Laudon. The two exchanged only escape points in regulation to send the match into the extra period.

The Illini will be back in action on Thurs. Feb. 13 as they travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on No. 4 Ohio State at 6 p.m. CT in St. John Arena.

149: Tony Pedrosa (ILL) dec. Ed Gutnik (WIS), 10-8                              3-0
157: #7 Alex Tirapelle (ILL) won by fall Chris Borchardt (WIS), 5:46            9-0
165: #1 Matt Lackey (ILL) major dec. Kelly Flaherty (WIS), 15-6                13-0
174: #6 Brian Glynn (ILL) major dec. Ryan Flaherty (WIS), 14-5                 17-0
184: Pete Friedl (ILL) dec. Brady Reinke (WIS), 10-6                           20-0
197: #15 Tyrone Byrd (ILL) dec. #10 Ralph DeNisco (WIS), 4-3                   23-0
Hwt: #14 Justin Staebler (WIS) major dec. Chris Little (ILL), 9-0              23-4
125: #11 Tony Black (WIS) dec. Twan Pham (ILL), 5-4                            23-7
133: #11 Mark Jayne (ILL) dec. Tom Clum (WIS), 12-10 SV                        26-7
141: #17 Cal Ferry (ILL) vs. Tyler Lauden (WIS), 3-1 SV                        29-7