Feb. 1, 2004
The third-ranked University of Illinois wrestling team won its 10th-straight dual this year, 15th consecutive dating back to the 2003 season, with a dominating 32-7 performance over the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston, Ill., Sunday afternoon. Illinois' No. 1-ranked 157-pounder Alex Tirapelle won his 24th match of the season to remain unbeaten for the year. The Illini were victorious in eight of 10 matches on the day to improve to 10-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten.
"It was a very good weekend for us," head coach Mark Johnson said. "I thought all-in-all we wrestled well, but it is just going to get tougher from here on out. It will be nice to be back home for the next couple weeks and get our fans out to see what an exciting team we have this year."
"Overall with back-to-back Big Ten meets, I think we did well," 184-pounder Brian Glynn said. "It is the heart of the season now and I am looking forward to the even tougher competition we have coming up next week."
Illinois jumped on the board with a 6-0 lead after Northwestern's John Velez of defaulted in the middle of the third period at 125 pounds. Third-ranked Kyle Ott (So., Huber Heights, Ohio) led 7-2 with over three minutes of riding time when No. 15 Velez's shoulder kept him from completing the match. Redshirt-freshman Cassio Pero (Chicago Heights, Ill.), wrestling at 133 pounds for Mark Jayne who is traveling to the All-Star Dual, got a 8-2 decision over Jon Ott. He reversed Ott and got three near fall points to take a commanding 7-1 lead at the end of the second period. In a back-and-forth match at 141, Illinois' Michael Martin (r-Fr., Norfolk, Va.) got a reversal and back points to break a 4-4 tie in the third period and get the 9-4 decision over Paul Augle, giving Illinois a 12-0 lead.
At 149, Anton Dietzen (Jr., Elmhurst, Ill.) got two takedowns in the first period and never looked back as he defeated Josh Ballard, 9-2. He led 4-2 in the third period, but got a takedown and three back points in the final seconds of the match for the win. Top-ranked Alex Tirapelle (So., Clovis, Calif.) got his 24th win of the season in the form of a 9-1 major decision over Mike Kimberlin, to remain undefeated this season at 157 pounds. Northwestern got their first points of the day at 165 pounds as Nick Hayes gave 20th-ranked Donny Reynolds (r-Fr., Frankfort, Ill.) his first loss of the season in a 2-0 decision. Hayes rode Reynolds for the entire second period to rack up a point in riding time and got an escape for the only two points of the match.
The Illini got back to winning with two matches at 174 and 184. Sophomore eighth-ranked Pete Friedl (Orland Park, Ill.) got a shutout major decision win over Andrew Curran, 9-0, scoring his final takedown with just eight seconds remaining in the match. One match later, No. 4 Brian Glynn (Jr., Orland Park, Ill.) came out shooting with a takedown at the 2:28 mark of the first period. He got Joseph Gulotta in a cradle and pinned him in 1:30 to give Illinois a 29-3 team lead. The Illini lost their second match of the day at 197 pounds as Matt Delguyd got a major decision over Matt Weight (r-Fr., Batavia, Ill.), 10-1. At heavyweight, redshirt-freshman Mike Behnke rebounded from his loss yesterday with a 7-3 decision over Michael Little in the dual's finale.
After nine consecutive road matches, the Illini finally return home to the friendly confines of Huff Hall as they host the remaining four Big Ten duals of the season, beginning Friday, Feb. 6. Illinois will face 12th-ranked Minnesota, two-time NCAA Champions, on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. matchup on Sunday, Feb. 8 against No. 14 Wisconsin
#3 Illinois 32, Northwestern 7
125: #3 Kyle Ott (ILL) won by injury default #15 John Velez (NU) 6-0
133: Cassio Pero (ILL) dec. Jon Ott (NU), 8-2 9-0
141: Michael Martin (ILL) dec. Paul Augle (NU), 9-4 12-0
149: Anton Dietzen (ILL) dec. Josh Ballard (NU), 9-2 15-0
157: #1 Alex Tirapelle (ILL) major dec. Mike Kimberlin (NU), 9-1 19-0
165: Nick Hayes (NU) dec. #20 Donny Reynolds (ILL), 2-0 19-3
174: #8 Pete Friedl (ILL) major dec. Andrew Curran (NU), 9-0 23-3
184: #4 Brian Glynn (ILL) won by fall Joseph Gulotta (NU), 1:30 29-3
197: Matt Delguyd (NU) major dec. Matt Weight (ILL), 10-1 29-7
Hwt: #9 Mike Behnke (ILL) dec. Michael Little (NU), 7-3 32-7
