March 9, 2003

University of Illinois senior wrestler Matt Lackey kept his unbeaten streak alive and won his second straight Big Ten title with his 5-3 win over No. 3-seed Jacob Volkmann of Minnesota. The team added three more NCAA qualifiers for a total of eight for the tournament to lead the Illini to their fifth-place finish.

Lackey (Sr., Moline, Ill.) struck first with a takedown at the 1:12 mark for a first period score of 2-1. He added an escape seven seconds into the second and then took Volkmann down for a second time 33 seconds later. With a Minnesota escape, Lackey led 5-2 at the end of two. Volkmann started the third in the down position and escaped at the 1:53 mark to cut Lackey's lead to two points at 5-3, but was enough for Lackey to hold on for his second straight Big Ten title. It is Illinois' 64th conference champion and first back-to-back winner since Jon Llewellyn in 1989-91.

Freshman Tony Pedrosa (Oregon, Ill.), who entered the tournament as the No. 5-seed won his final match to place fifth, winning 6-4 over Purdue's Dan Jankowski. He, along with Lackey earned the only points of the final session for the Illini to put the team at 92.0, one-half point behind Michigan State, heading into the 184-pound match. Illini freshman Pete Friedl (Orland Park, Ill.) needed a win over three-seed Ty Matthews of Indiana to move the squad into fourth. He scored a takedown at the 1:30 mark of the third period to tie the match at seven apiece, but a Matthews escape gave him a 8-7 lead. The loss gave him a fourth-place finish in his first trip to the Big Ten Championships.

At 133 pounds, the No. 3-seed Mark Jayne (So., Elyria, Ill.) took fourth place with a loss to the fourth-seed Josh Moore of Penn State. Moore got the first takedown in the opening period and never looked back for the 6-1 win. Brian Glynn (So., Orland Park, Ill.) had beaten Rashad Evans of Michigan State twice this season, including once earlier in the tournament, but couldn't hold on losing 5-1 to the five-seed.

Three Illinois wrestlers earned berths to the NCAA Championships with wins in the seventh-place match. Senior Twan Pham (Palatine, Ill.) won a 4-2 decision over Penn State's Adam Smith for seventh at 125 and his second straight trip to nationals. Freshman Alex Tirapelle (Clovis, Calif.) was a 6-4 winner over Clovis Crane of Purdue at 157 and Tyrone Byrd (So., Clinton, Ill.) became a two-time NCAA Qualifier at 197 pounds with his victory over Northwestern's Matt Delguyd, 4-0, for the second time in the tournament. Freshman Cal Ferry (Machesney, Ill.) failed to qualify, but took eighth in a close 4-1 loss to Michigan's Clark Forward in tiebreak overtime.

The Illini began the morning with the consolation semifinals, which determine the placing matches, sending three to the third-place bouts and one to fifth. Jayne advanced to the third-place match at 133 pounds by pinning Rene Hernandez of Purdue in 3:25. He led the match 2-1 after one period and quickly turned Hernandez needing only 35 seconds of the second period to get the fall. Glynn faced and beat Wisconsin's Brady Reinke for the second time in the tournament, winning by a 5-3 decision. Friedl earned bonus for the team with his major decision over Ohio State's Casey Kaputska, 11-3. Pedrosa faced off with Karl Nadolsky of Michigan State in the morning session, falling 5-3 to move to the fifth-place bout.

The Illini will have one week to prepare for the 2003 NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 20-22 at Kansas City's Kemper Arena. Illinois took nine qualifiers to the championships last season where they placed 10th, the school's sixth Top-10 finish under head coach Mark Johnson.

Team Standings 1. Minnesota - 126.5
2. Iowa - 121.0
3. Penn State - 111.5
4. Michigan State - 92.5
5. Illinois - 92.0
6. Michigan - 90.5
7. Purdue - 84.5
8. Ohio State - 84.0
9. Wisconsin - 71.5
10. Indiana - 36.0
11. Northwestern - 12.0

Big Ten Placewinners
1st: Matt Lackey (165)
4th: Mark Jayne (133), Brian Glynn (174), Pete Friedl (184)
5th: Tony Pedrosa (149)
7th: Twan Pham (125), Alex Tirapelle (157), Tyrone Byrd (197)
8th: Cal Ferry (141)

**NCAA Qualifier**
125: No. 5-seed (#9) Twan Pham - Sr., Palatine, Ill., 14-5
Rat Tail: Dec. John Velez (Northwestern), 2-1 TB
Quarterfinals: Lost to No. 4-seed Luke Eustice (Iowa), 3-1
Consolation Quarterfinals: Lost to Bobby Lowe (Minnesota), 4-2 SV
7th-Place Match: Dec. No. 7-seed Adam Smith (Penn State), 4-2

**NCAA Qualifier**
133: No. 3-seed (#9) Mark Jayne - So., Elyria, Ohio, 25-10
Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 6-seed Tom Clum (Wisconsin), 7-4
Semifinals: Lost to No. 2-seed Cliff Moore (Iowa), 10-4
Consolation Semifinals: Won by fall No. 8-seed Rene Hernandez (Purdue), 3:25
3rd-Place Match: Lost to No. 4-seed Josh Moore (Penn State), 6-1

141: Cal Ferry - Fr., Machesney, Ill., 16-16
Rat Tail: Dec. No. 8-seed John Giacche (Northwestern), 2-1
Quarterfinals: Lost to No. 1-seed Coyte Cooper (Indiana), 11-1
Consolation Quarterfinals: Lost to Tyler Laudon (Wisconsin), 5-2
7th-Place Match: Lost to No. 7-seed Clark Forward (Michigan), 4-1 TB

**NCAA Qualifier**
149: No. 5-seed Tony Pedrosa - Fr., Oregon, Ill., 19-13
Quarterfinals: Pinned by No. 4-seed Ryan Churella (Michigan), 4:39
Consolation Quarterfinals: Dec. Nathan Galloway (PSU), 3-0
Consolation Semifinals: Lost to No. 3-seed Karl Nadolsky (Michigan St.), 5-3
5th-Place Match: Dec. No. 7-seed Dan Jankowski (Purdue), 6-4

**NCAA Qualifier**
157: No. 3-seed (#6) Alex Tirapelle - Fr., Clovis, Calif., 29-7
Quarterfinals: Lost to No. 6-seed Ryan Bertin (Michigan), 3-2
Consolation 1st Round: Major dec. Isaac Knable (Indiana), 16-3
Consolation Quarterfinals: Lost to No. 7-seed Nate Wachter (Penn State), 2-2 TB
7th-Place Match: Dec. No. 8-seed Clovis Crane (Purdue), 6-4

**NCAA Qualifier**
165: No. 1-seed (#1) Matt Lackey - Sr., Moline, Ill., 33-0
Rat Tail: Won by fall Kelly Flaherty (Wisconsin), 1:00
Quarterfinals: Major dec. No. 8-seed Matt Anderson (Iowa), 10-1
Semifinals: Major dec. No. 4-seed Oscar Santiago (Purdue), 14-3
Finals: Dec. No. 3-seed Jacob Volkmann (Minnesota), 5-3

**NCAA Qualifier** 174: No. 4-seed (#8) Brian Glynn - So., Orland Park, Ill., 27-7
Rat Tail: Major dec. Brady Reinke (Wisconsin), 8-0
Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 5-seed Rashad Evans (Michigan St.), 3-1
Semifinals: Lost to No. 1-seed Tyler Nixt (Iowa), 5-2
Consolation Semifinals: Dec. Brady Reinke (Wisconsin), 5-3
3rd-Place Match: Lost to No. 5-seed Rashad Evans (Michigan St.), 5-1

**NCAA Qualifier**
184: No. 5-seed (#18) Pete Friedl - Fr., Orland Park, Ill., 21-7
Rat Tail: Won by fall Matt Nagel (Minnesota), 4:09
Quarterfinals: Major dec. No. 4-seed Ralph DeNisco (Wisconsin), 14-6
Semifinals: No. 1-seed Lost to Jessman Smith (Iowa), 5-2
Consolation Semifinals: Major dec. No. 7-seed Casey Kaputska (Ohio State), 11-3
3rd-Place Match: Lost to No. 3-seed Ty Matthews (Indiana), 8-7

**NCAA Qualifier**
197: No. 7-seed (#13) Tyrone Byrd - So., Clinton, Ill., 21-11
Rat Tail: Dec. Matt Delguyd (Norhwestern), 6-0
Quarterfinals: Lost to No. 2-seed Damion Hahn (Minnesota), 9-3
Consolation Quarterfinals: Lost to Ryan Cummins (PSU), 2-1
7th-Place Match: Matt Delguyd (Northwestern), 4-0