Dec. 2, 2005
The University of Illinois wrestling team battled themselves into the top-five on Friday night at the Las Vegas Invitational. Top seeds Alex Tirapelle (157), Pete Friedl (184) and No. 4-seed Junior Donny Reynolds (174) led the veteran team by winning all their matches. Redshirt-freshman No. 6-seed Mike Poeta (165) continued his winning ways by also advancing to the semifinal round. With six wrestlers remaining, the Illini move up four spots to fourth overall, but stand 22 and a half points behind first-place Michigan. Cornell is currently second, followed by Missouri. Edinboro is in fifth-place to round out the top-5.
Tirapelle (Clovis, Calif.) became the first semifinalist of the day by winning a decision over ninth-seeded Charles Jones (Fresno St.), 4-1. Poeta (Highwood, Ill.) was dominant in his 6-0 decision over third-ranked Justin Nestor of Pitt. Reynolds (Frankfort, Ill.) gave a solid performance as he won a decision over Ohio State's twelfth-seeded Blake Maurer, 10-6. Friedl (Orland Park, Ill.) needed a takedown in sudden-death overtime to edge eighth-seeded Joe Rovelli of Hofstra, 6-4.
Junior heavyweight Matt Weight (Batavia, Ill.) cruised through his consolation bracket match by winning a major decision over Brown's Levon Mock, 13-0.
Fifth-ranked Tyrone Byrd (197) suffered a tough loss as he lost a very close decision to fourth-ranked Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell. Byrd (Clinton, Ill.) will drop down to the consolation bracket's fourth round competition.
Competition resumes on Saturday with the third session of the tournament beginning at 9 a.m. PT/11 a.m. CT. Finals and third-place matches will take place at 5 p.m. PT/7p.m. CT, tomorrow evening.
157: #1 Alex Tirapelle (No. 1 Seed), Sr., Clovis, Calif.
1st Round: Maj. dec. Ryan Williams (Cal Poly), 13-2
2nd Round: Maj. dec. Jake Frerichs (Ohio), 10-2
Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 9-seed Charles Jones (Fresno St.), 4-1
Up next - Semifinals: # 7 No. 4-seed Matt Lebe (West Virginia)
165: Mike Poeta (No. 6 Seed), r-Fr., Highwood, Ill.
1st Round: Dec. Cody Henriksen (Augustana), 8-2
2nd Round: Maj. dec. No. 11-seed Chris Vondruska (Hofstra), 12-4
Quarterfinals: Dec. # 7 No. 3-seed Justin Nestor (Pitt), 6-0
Up next - Semifinals: # 4 No. 2-seed Matt Pell (Missouri)
174: Donny Reynolds (No. 4 Seed), Jr., Frankfort, Ill.
Pigtail: TF Matt Lively (Lessen College), 17-2 7:00
1st Round: Pinned Adam Swift (USAF Acad), 3:41
2nd Round: Dec. Darius Caldwell (The Citadel), 9-5
Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 12-seed Blake Maurer (Ohio St.), 9-5
Up next - Semifinals: # 1 No. 1-seed Ben Askren (Missouri)
184: # 3 Pete Friedl (No. 1 Seed), Sr., Orland Park, Ill.
1st Round: Dec. Richard Escobar (SF State), 3-2
2nd Round: Maj. dec. Matt Moyer (George Mason), 16-6
Quarterfinals: Dec #13 No. 8-seed Joe Rovelli (Hofstra), 6-4
Up next - Semifinals: No. 12-seed Louis Caputo (Harvard)
197: #11 Tyrone Byrd (No. 5 Seed), Sr., Clinton, Ill.
Pigtail: TF. Jack Sullivan (Penn), 15-0 3:00
1st Round: Maj. dec. Blair Alderman (Dana College), 16-0
2nd Round: Dec. No. 12-seed Jared Villers (West Virginia), 2-1
Quarterfinals: Lost to #10 No. 12-seed Jerry Rinaldi (Cornell), 1-0
Up next - Quarterfinals consolation: #9 No. 3-seed Casey Phelps (Boise St.)
Hwt: Matt Weight (No. 11 Seed), Jr., Batavia, Ill.
1st Round: Lost to Andy Patrick (Boise St.), 5-3
Consolation 1st Round: Dec. Aaron Keough (Purdue), 3-1
Consolation 2nd Round: Maj. dec. Peter Bozynski (Penn), 10-0
Consolation 3rd Round: Dec. Janior Palma (NC State), 2-1
Consolation 4th Round: Maj. dec. Levon Mock (Brown), 13-0
Up next - Consolation 5th Round: No. 10-seed Cody Parker (Fresno St.)
