Feb. 13, 2004

The fourth-ranked Illinois wrestling team won six of 10 matches against No. 23 Ohio State in a 19-14 win over the Buckeyes, Friday night at Huff Hall. The Illini improve to 12-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big Ten. Top-ranked 157-pounder Alex Tirapelle won a 19-6 major decision to stay undefeated at 27-0.

The match began at heavyweight where No. 1-ranked Tommy Rowlands, former NCAA Champion became the all-time Ohio State win leader with a 28-12 technical fall over Illinois' eighth-ranked Mike Behnke (r-Fr., Villa Park, Ill.) to give Ohio State its only lead of the match, 5-0. The Illini bounced back to win the next three matches to take a 9-5 advantage. At 125 pounds, sophomore Kyle Ott (Huber Heights, Ohio) jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but Jermaine Jones tied the bout at seven apiece with a near fall in the second period. However, Ott got the reversal and scored with an escape and takedown in the third for the final score of 13-8.

Fifth-ranked Mark Jayne (Jr., Elyria, Ohio) won a commanding 12-5 decision over Jesse Leng with five takedowns to improve to 24-2 on the season at 133 pounds. Redshirt-freshman Michael Martin (Norfolk, Va.) evened his record for the season with a hard-fought 7-4 win over Theo Dotson. Martin came shooting out of the gates with a takedown at just 20 seconds into the match, but then got reversed to tie the match at 141. He scored again in the first and got an escape and riding time in the third.

The dual got close again as No. 12 Jeff Ratliff defeated Anton Dietzen (Jr., Elmhurst, Ill.) by a score of 8-2 at 149 pounds to make the team score, 9-8, after five matches. Tirapelle (So., Clovis, Calif.) showed why he is No. 1 in the nation as he dominated Ryan Rhodes, scoring at will in a 19-6 major decision at 157. But the Buckeyes made it a two-point match again with a win at 165 pounds as No. 9 John Clark defeated Ben Hay (Sr., Sandwich, Ill.) 8-4. Down, 7-2, Hay got a takedown in the final period to make the final 8-4.

The Illini pulled away again with a 6-1 decision by No. 9 Pete Friedl (So., Orland Park, Ill.) over Anthony Magistrelli at 174 pounds. Friedl allowed only an escape in the second period, while scoring his offensive points with nine seconds left to go when he got a takedown and two near fall points. Illinois led 16-11 at that point in the match. Ohio State used an upset win at 184 pounds to put the dual within its grasp as No. 15 Blake Kaplan won his third career match over No. 3 Brian Glynn (Jr., Orland Park, Ill.) in a 4-0 shutout.

With the team score 16-14, the 197-pound match became the deciding bout. No. 13 Jason Potter (Sr., St. Charles, Ill.) came through for the Illini with a 5-2 win over No. 20 J.D. Bergman. Potter got a takedown with seven seconds remaining in the first to lead 2-0, then got a another at the 53-second mark of the middle period, adding an escape in the third.

The Illini will return to action against the Purdue Boilermakers on Sun., Feb. 22 at Huff Hall in the season finale. Match time is set for 1 p.m.

Feb. 13, 2004

Hwt: #1 Tommy Rowlands (OSU) tech fall #8 Mike Behnke (IL),
         28-12 6:29 (0-5)
125: #7 Kyle Ott (IL) dec. Jermaine Jones (OSU), 13-8 (3-5)
133: #5 Mark Jayne (IL) dec. Jesse Leng (OSU), 12-5 (6-5)
141: Michael Martin (IL) dec. Theo Dotson (OSU), 7-4 (9-5)
149: #12 Jeff Ratliff (OSU) dec. Anton Dietzen (IL), 8-2 (9-8)
157: #1 Alex Tirapelle (IL) major dec. Ryan Rhodes(OSU),
       19-6 (13-8)
165: #9 John Clark (OSU) dec. Ben Hay (IL), 8-4 (13-11)
174: #9 Pete Friedl (IL) dec. Anthony Magistrelli (OSU), 6-1 (16-11)
184: #15 Blake Kaplan (OSU) dec. #3 Brian Glynn (IL), 4-0 (16-14)
197: #13 Jason Potter (IL) dec. #20 J.D. Bergman (OSU), 5-2 (19-14)

Hwt: #1 Tommy Rowlands (OSU) tech fall #8 Mike Behnke (IL), 28-12 6:29
1st Period: 2:15 OSU TD (0-2), 2:05 ILL esc (1-2), 1:56 OSU TD (1-4), 1:49 ILL esc (2-4), 1: 30 ILL Stalling, 1:10 OSU TD (2-6), 0:44 ILL esc (3-6), 0:20 OSU TD (3-8), 0:13 ILL esc (4-8), OSU riding time 0:49
2nd Period: Illinois choses bottom, 1:50 ILL esc (5-8), 1:31 ILL stalling (5-9), 1:27 OSU TD (5-11), 1:24 ILL esc (6-11), 1:14 OSU TD (6-13), 0:51 ILL esc (7-13), 0:35 OSU TD (7-15), 0:33 ILL esc (8-15), 0:12 OSU TD (8-17), OSU riding time 1:34
3rd Period: OSU chooses top, 1:52 ILL esc (9-17), 1:39 OSU TD (9-19), 1:35 ILL esc (10-19), 1:28 OSU TD (10-21), 1:11 OSU NF2 (10-23), 1:10 ILL esc (11-23), 0:52 OSU TD (11-25), 0:41 ILL esc (12-25), 0:31 OSU (12-27), match ended 6:29

125: #7 Kyle Ott (IL) dec. Jermaine Jones (OSU), 13-8
1st Period: 1:40 ILL TD (2-0), 0:56 ILL NF3 (5-0),
2nd Period: OSU choose down, 1:09 OSU esc (5-1), 0:56 ILL TD (7-1), 0:44 OSU TD (7-2), 0:22 OSU TD (7-4), 0:13 OSU NF3 (7-7), 0:13 ILL RV (9-7), ILL riding time 2:36
3rd Period: ILL chooses down, 1:56 ILL esc (10-7), 1:19 ILL TD (12-7), 0:30 OSU esc (12-8), ILL riding time 3:21 (13-8)

133: #5 Mark Jayne (IL) dec. Jesse Leng (OSU), 12-5
1st Period: no score
2nd Period: ILL chooses bottom, 1:47 ILL esc (1-0), 1:36 ILL TD (3-0), 0:38 OSU esc (3-1), 0:20 ILL TD (5-1), ILL riding time 1:02
3rd Period: OSU chooses bottom, 1:25 OSU esc (5-2), 1:08 ILL TD (7-2), 1:00 OSU esc (7-3), 0:45 OSU Stalling, 0:40 ILL TD (9-3), 0:37 OSU esc (9-4), 0:23 ILL TD (10-4), 0:14 OSU esc (10-5), ILL riding time 1:54

141: Michael Martin (IL) dec. Theo Dotson (OSU), 7-4
1st Period: 2:39 ILL TD (2-0), 2:02 OSU RV (2-2), 1:46 ILL esc (3-2), 1:38 ILL TD (5-2), 0:40 OSU esc (5-3), ILL riding time 1:19
2nd Period: OSU chooses bottom, 1:38 OSU esc (5-4), ILL riding time 1:42
3rd Period: ILL chooses bottom, 1:53 OSU stalling, 1:53 ILL esc (6-4), ILL riding time 1:34 (7-4)

149: #12 Jeff Ratliff (OSU) dec. Anton Dietzen (IL), 8-2
1st Period: 0:32 OSU TD (0-2), OSU riding time 0:32
2nd Period: OSU chooses bottom, 1:52 OSU esc (0-3), 1:25 OSU TD (0-5), 1:05 ILL esc (1-5), OSU riding time 0:45
3rd Period: ILL chooses bottom, 1:20 ILL esc (2-5), 0:27 OSU TD (2-7), OSU riding time 1:52 (2-8)

157: #1 Alex Tirapelle (IL) major dec. Ryan Rhodes (OSU), 19-6
1st Period: 1:47 ILL TD (2-0), 1:31 OSU esc (2-1), 0:05 ILL TD (4-1), 0:00 ILL NF3 (7-1)
2nd Period: ILL chooses bottom, 1:57 ILL esc (8-1), 1:31 ILL TD (10-1), ILL riding time 1:48
3rd Period: OSU chooses bottom, 1:58 OSU esc (10-2), 1:40 ILL TD (12-2), 1:29 OSU esc (12-3), 1:23 ILL TD (14-3), 1:12 OSU stalling, 0:34 OSU esc (14-4), 0:31 ILL TD (16-4), :26 OSU esc (16-5), 0:18 ILL TD (18-5), 0:11 OSU esc (18-6), ILL riding time 3:01 (19-6)

165: #9 John Clark (OSU) dec. Ben Hay (IL), 8-4
1st Period: 1:45 OSU TD (0-2), 1:31 ILL esc (1-2), 0:19 OSU TD (1-4), OSU riding time 0:32
2nd Period: ILL chooses bottom, 1:54 ILL esc (2-4), 0:11 OSU TD (2-6), OSU riding time 0:49
3rd Period: OSU chooses bottom, 1:51 OSU esc (2-7), 1:28 ILL TD (4-7), 1:21 OSU esc (4-8)

174: #9 Pete Friedl (IL) dec. Anthony Magistrelli (OSU), 6-1
1st Period: no score
2nd Period: OSU chooses bottom, 0:38 OSU esc (0-1), 0:15 OSU stalling, ILL riding time 1:21
3rd Period: ILL chooses bottom, 1:56 ILL esc (1-1), 0:09 ILL TD (3-1), 0:02 ILL NF2 (5-1), ILL riding time 1:21 (6-1)

184: #15 Blake Kaplan (OSU) dec. #3 Brian Glynn (IL), 4-0
1st Period: no score
2nd Period: OSU chooses bottom, 1:53 OSU esc (0-1), 1:35 OSU TD (0-3), OSU riding time 1:27
3rd Period: ILL chooses neutral, 0:15 OSU stalling, OSU riding time 1:27 (0-4)

197: #13 Jason Potter (IL) dec. #20 J.D. Bergman (OSU), 5-2
1st Period: 0:07 ILL TD (2-0)
2nd Period: OSU chooses bottom, 1:56 OSU esc (2-1), 0:53 IL TD (4-1), 0:34 OSU esc (4-2), ILL riding time 0:30
3rd Period: ILL chooses bottom, 1:52 ILL esc (5-2)