March 20, 2003
The Illinois wrestling team won three of their six second-round matches to send top-seeded Matt Lackey at 165 pounds, No. 8-seed Mark Jayne and No. 9-seed Alex Tirapelle to the quarterfinals at the 2003 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City, Mo. The team stands in fifth after one full day of competition with all-eight wrestlers still alive in the tournament.
At 165 pounds, it took a takedown with 20 seconds remaining in the match for Lackey (Sr., Moline, Ill.) to secure the 4-2 decision over Oscar Santiago of Purdue. Lackey led 1-0 at the end of two periods before being reversed by Santiago in the third to fall behind 2-1. An escape tied the score at 2 apiece leading to the match-winning takedown. Lackey will take his 35-0 season record into the quarters when he faces Matt R. King of Edinboro, who he beat 12-6 at the Virginia Duals.
Jayne (So., Elyria, Ohio) was the first Illini to qualify for the quarterfinals with this 8-6 win over the ninth-seed Shawn Bunch of Edinboro at 133 pounds. The score was identical to the match the two wrestled earlier in the season at the Virginia Duals. Tirapelle (Fr., Clovis, Calif.) was down to Jim Mederios of Fresno State, 3-2, in the third period, but got a takedown and rode him out for the final 57 seconds to take the win at 157. Both wrestlers will be meeting the defending national champions and No. 1 seeds in their bracket in the next round. Jayne will see Oklahoma State's Johnny Thompson and Tirapelle will look to get past Minnesota's Luke Becker.
At 174 pounds, Brian Glynn (So., Orland Park, Ill.) went to overtime with Pittsburgh's Carl Fronhofer, losing a heart-breaking 3-2 match in tie break OT. Fronhofer escaped Glynn's hold with only six seconds left to get the win. Pete Friedl (Fr., Orland Park, Ill.) got caught on his back by the sixth-seed Josh Lambrecht of Oklahoma at 184 pounds and No. 2-seed Muhammad Lawal was too much for Tyrone Byrd (So., Clinton, Ill.) as he lost 13-3.
In the consolation bracket, Twan Pham (Sr., Palatine, Ill.) had to wrestle two matches at 125 winning both to stay alive in the tournament. He downed Adam Renner of Slippery Rock, 6-3, and Rich Caisse of Appalachian State, 3-2. Freshman Tony Pedrosa (Oregon, Ill.) bounced back from his first-round loss with an 8-5 decision over Anthony Coleman of Cleveland State.
All eight wrestlers will be back in action at Kemper Arena on Friday with quarterfinal competition and wrestle backs in the morning session beginning at 10 a.m. and the semis in the night session.
Team Scores through 2nd Round (Top-10 only)
1. Oklahoma State - 35.0
2. Lehigh - 25.0
3. Oklahoma - 22.0
4. Minnesota - 21.5
5. Illinois - 18.5
5. Iowa - 18.5
7. Arizona State - 17.0
8. West Virginia - 16.0
9. Purdue - 15.5
9. Northern Iowa - 15.5
125: Twan Pham (Sr., Palatine, Ill.) 16-6
1st Round: Lost to Bobby Stinson (Rider), 10-5
Consolation Rat Tail: Dec. Adam Renner (Slippery Rock), 6-3
Consolation 1st Round: Dec. Rich Caisse (Appalachian St.), 3-2
Up Next - Consolation 2nd Round: #5-seed Nick Simmons (Michigan St.)
133: #8-seed Mark Jayne (So., Elyria, Ohio), 28-10
Rat Tail: Major Dec. Bernard Gardner (Army), 16-5
1st Round: Pinned Joe Alexander (Virginia), 6:32
2nd Round: Dec. #9-seed Shawn Bunch (Edinoboro), 8-6
Up Next - Quarterfinals: #1-seed Johnny Thompson (Oklahoma State)
149: Tony Pedrosa (Fr., Oregon, Ill.), 19-14
1st Round: Pinned by Justin Giovinco (Pitt), 6:46
Consolation 1st Round: Anthony Coleman (Cleveland State)
157: #9-seed Alex Tirapelle (Fr., Clovis, Calif.), 31-7
1st Round: Dec. Tim Foley (Virginia), 3-1
2nd Round: Dec. Jim Medeiros (Fresno State), 4-3
Up Next - Quarterfinals: #1-seed Luke Becker (Minnesota)
165: #1-seed Matt Lackey (Sr., Moline, Ill.) 35-0
1st Round: Dec. Leighton Brady (Boston U), 13-6
2nd Round: Dec. Oscar Santiago (Purdue), 4-2
Up Next - Quarterfinals: Matt R. King (Edinboro)
174: #8-seed Brian Glynn (So., Orland Park, Ill.), 28-8
1st Round: Dec. Erik Wince (Garner-Webb), 7-1
2nd Round: Lost to Carl Fronhofer (Pitt), 3-2 TB
Up Next - Consolation 2nd Round: Nate Yetzer (Edinboro)/Eddy Gifford (Fresno St.) winner
184: Pete Friedl (Fr., Orland Park, Ill.), 22-8
1st Round: Major dec. #11-seed Travis Frick (Lehigh), 13-5
2nd Round: Pinned by #6-seed Josh Lambrecht (Oklahoma), 2:53
Up Next - Consolation 2nd Round: Rowdy Lundgreen (CS-Fullerton)/Jed Pennell (Oregon St.)
197: Tyrone Byrd (So., Clinton, Ill.), 22-12
1st Round: Dec. Chris Jones (Drexel), 2-1 TB
2nd Round: Lost to #2-seed Muhammad Lawal (Oklahoma State), 13-3
Up Next - Consolation 2nd Round: TBA
