March 18, 2006

Oklahoma City - Pete Friedl (184) ended his illustrious career at Illinois with a third place finish at the 2006 NCAA Championships. The Orland Park, Ill. native becomes only the eighth wrestler to garner three All-America honors for the Illini. With one session left in the tournament, Oklahoma State has first place locked up with 114.5 points. Illinois is in 23rd place with 29.0 points.

The sixth-seeded Friedl (Orland Park, Ill.) had to win two matches in the morning session to place third. He defeated fourth-seeded Joseph Mazzurco (Cornell), 7-5, to get him into the third place match. In the third place match, Friedl manhandled top-seeded Josh Glenn (American), 13-2. Friedl came out firing and scored a takedown and a three-point nearfall to open the first period. The Illini senior never looked back as he added two more takedowns en route to the major decision.

"I wanted to go out with a bang," Friedl said about his final match as an Illini.

Friedl leaves Illinois as an All-American at 184-pounds. He had two All-America nods at 174-pounds the previous two years. He moved up to third in the record books for career wins with 125 - three behind teammate Alex Tirapelle, and two behind 2001 National Champion, Adam Tirapelle. He is also a four-time NCAA qualifier. He was the 2005 Big Ten Champion as well as a two-time finalist. The third place finish is the highest finish for Friedl in the national tournament - he finished fourth and seventh the past two years.

"Pete was the one bright spot of the tournament for us," said head coach Mark Johnson. "He was the one work horse we could count on all year when we needed it."

TELEVISION: ESPN will air the championships live at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 18.

Team Standings
1. Oklahoma State - 114.5
2. Oklahoma - 80.5
3. Minnesota - 76.0
4. Iowa - 70.0
5. Arizona State - 61.5
23. ILLINOIS - 29.0

184: No. 6 seed #7 Pete Friedl (Sr., Orland Park, Ill.) 32-5
1st Round: Won by maj. dec. Derrick Morgan (Lock Haven), 11-3
2nd Round: Won by dec. No. 11 seed Alex Camargo (Kent St.), 3-1
Quarterfinals: Won by dec. No. 3 seed Ben Wissel (Purdue), 3-1 sv
Semifinals: Lost by dec. to No. 2 seed Roger Kish (Minnesota), 3-2
Consolation Semifinals: Won by dec. No. 4 seed Joseph Mazzurco (Cornell), 7-5
Third Place: Won by maj. dec. No. 1 seed Josh Glenn (American), 13-2