Dec. 8, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois earned its first two dual-meet wins of the season Saturday, defeating Findlay, 30-10, and McKendree College, 31-9, in front of 525 fans at Huff Hall. Six Illini wrestlers went undefeated, with No. 12 Gabe Flores, No. 7 Jimmy Kennedy, Ryan Prater, Grant Paswall, No. 12 John Dergo and No. 12 Patrick Bond each winning a pair of bouts.

"It was a take care of business kind of day," Illinois coach Mark Johnson said. "We knew we wouldn't be as strong as we'd like with the makeshift lineup we had to put together today, but we got the job done."

With action going on two mats, the Illini started with their wrestlers from 125 pounds to 157 pounds facing McKendree's grapplers in those weight classes, while McKendree's heavier weights faced Findlay. Flores got the Illini off to a quick start with an 11-3 major decision and Kennedy followed up with a 12-3 major of his own. The true-freshmen then got into the act as Ryan Prater won, 6-2, and 149-pounder Grant Paswall continued his strong early-season performances with an 18-3 technical fall in 6:07 to post Illinois to an early 16-0 lead.

"Gabe and Kennedy did well, but you also have to look at Prater and Paswall because they're both true-freshmen," Johnson said. "They both had pretty tough opponents and they did a terrific job for us."

Following Matthew Lee's 8-2 loss at 157, Clint Arlis pounded McKendree's Kyle Reid, 14-2, at 165. Dergo followed up with a 17-5 major, scoring on six takedowns, a reversal and a near-fall while allowing Bryant just five escape points. Pat Brownson gave up a pin late in the third period, but Bond put a 9-1 major decision on Adam Hicks and No. 12 John Wise earned a 10-3 decision for the 31-9 dual victory.

Against Findlay, Flores once again gave Illinois an early advantage with his 23-8 second-period technical fall. He scored on eight takedowns and two near-falls while giving up only escape points. While fans were still wowed by Flores' performance, Kennedy got a takedown just 10 seconds into his match against Jeremy Espinoza and pinned the Findlay grappler 10 seconds later, earning the fastest fall by an Illini this season.

Prater fell behind early against Findlay's Josh Falk, trailing 4-1 late in the first period before getting an escape to change the momentum. Starting down in the second period, Prater got an escape, a takedown and a near-fall in the first minute of the second period for a 7-4 lead. Falk scored a takedown to open the third period, but Prater escaped, got a takedown and earned a two-point near-fall in just 30 seconds for a 12-6 lead. Falk got a late escape, but Prater earned the 12-7 win.

Lee dropped his second match of the day and redshirt-freshman Joe Barczak fell, 6-5, in the second tiebreak overtime period, but Dergo turned the dual around with an 18-6 major. Redshirt-freshman Ben Friedl posted a 13-2 major and Bond blasted Findlay's Don Stevenson, 20-5, for a technical fall. Wise wrestled into overtime, but dropped a 3-1 decision in sudden-victory time as Illinois downed the Oilers, 30-10.

Illinois has the next two weekends off for final exams and the holidays before heading to the Midlands Championships, Dec. 29-30.

Illinois 31, McKendree 9
125: #12 Gabe Flores maj. dec. Anthony Ciccarelli (MC), 11-3
133: #7 Jimmy Kennedy maj. dec. Wade Lowe (MC), 12-3
141: Ryan Prater dec. Ryan Jahn (MC), 6-2
149: Grant Paswall tech. fall Jermaine Waye (MC), 18-3, 6:07
157: Aaron Winning (MC) dec. Matthew Lee (ILL), 8-2
165: Clint Arlis (ILL) maj. dec. Kyle Reid (MC), 14-2
174: #12 John Dergo maj. dec. Josh Bryant (MC), 17-5
184: Tanner Wolk (MC) pinned Pat Brownson (ILL), 6:46
197: #12 Patrick Bond maj. dec. Adam Hicks (MC), 9-1
HWT: #12 John Wise dec. Zak Adomanis (MC), 10-3

Illinois 30, Findlay 10
125: #12 Gabe Flores (ILL) tech. fall Alex Shumaker (UF), 23-8, 4:55
133: #7 Jimmy Kennedy (ILL) pinned Jeremy Espinoza (UF), 0:20
141: Ryan Prater (ILL) dec. Josh Falk (UF), 12-7
149: Grant Paswall (ILL) dec. Andrew Vasquez (UF), 8-1
157: Antonio Guerra (UF) maj. dec. Matthew Lee (ILL), 8-0
165: Justin Shannon (UF) dec. Joe Barczak (ILL), 6-5 (TB2)
174: #12 John Dergo (ILL) maj. dec. Jeff Havelka (UF), 18-6
184: Ben Friedl (ILL) maj. dec. Hiram Smith (FU), 13-2
197: #12 Patrick Bond (ILL) tech. fall Dan Stevenson (UF), 20-5, 7:00
HWT: Travis Clark (UF) dec. #12 John Wise (ILL), 3-1 (SV)

McKendree 25, Findlay 15
125: Anthony Ciccarelli (MC) dec. Alex Shumaker (UF), 3-0
133: Wade Lowe (MC) maj. dec. Jeremy Espinoza (UF), 15-6
141: Josh Falk (UF) dec. Jermaine Waye (MC), 5-3
149: Ryan Jahn (MC) dec. Andrew Vasquez (UF), 1-0
157: Aaron Winning (MC) pinned Antonio Guerra (UF), 6:03
165: Justin Shannon (UF) dec. Kyle Reid (MC), 8-6
174: Jeff Havelka (UF) dec. Josh Bryant (MC), 7-5
184: Tanner Wolk (MC) pinned Hiram Smith (UF), 0:21
197: Andrew Sanchez (MC) dec. Dan Stevenson (UF), 2-0
HWT: Travis Clark (UF) pinned Zak Adomanis (MC), 1:52