Nov. 1, 2004

Head coach Mark Johnson heads into this 13th season at the University of Illinois with a Top-5 wrestling squad on his hands. Fans will get their first look at the team in the annual wrestle-offs at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6 in Huff Hall, prior to the Illinois football game against Indiana, The matches help determine the staring lineup this season. Admission is free to the event.

The Illini return five All-Americans from a year ago and eight NCAA qualifiers. The wrestle-offs will feature seven returning starters from last season. Kyle Ott, Mark Jayne, Michael Martin, Alex Tirapelle, Pete Friedl, Brian Glynn, and Mike Behnke were all starters in their respective weight classes. Tyrone Byrd, who redshirted the 2004 season, will be competing for the 197-pound weight class where he was a two-year starter in 2002 and 2003.

Among the potential highlights will be at the 125-pound weight class, where returning NCAA finalist Kyle Ott will take on redshirt-freshman Gabe Flores, one of the top recruits in his class. Another exciting match-up could be at 141 pounds when Cassio Pero makes the jump from 133 pounds to wrestle returning starter Michael Martin.

MATCHUPS
125: Kyle Ott (Jr.) vs. Gabe Flores (r-Fr.)
133: Mark Jayne (Sr.) vs. Ryan Klinger (r-Fr.)
141: Michael Martin (So.) vs. Cassio Pero (So.)
149: Cal Ferry (Jr.) vs. Dan Zeman (r-Fr.)
157: Alex Tirapelle (Jr.) vs. Mike Boyd (Sr.)
165: Donny Reynolds (So.) vs. Anthony Castillo (Sr.)
174: Pete Friedl (Jr.) vs. Matt Winterhalter (So.)
184: Brian Glynn (Sr.) vs. Matt Harding (So.)
197: Tyrone Byrd (Jr.) vs. Matt Weight (So.)
HWT: Mike Behnke (So.) vs. Matt Fletcher (Jr.)