Jan. 11, 2008

Virginia Duals Bracket

HAMPTON, Va. - No. 17 Illinois moved into the semifinals of the Virginia Duals with a pair of wins over Kent State, 19-15, and Lehigh, 28-3, at Hampton Coliseum. The Illini edged the Golden Flashes in the quarterfinals thanks to convincing wins by No. 1 Mike Poeta, No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy and true-freshmen Ryan Prater and Grant Paswall. Earlier in the day, Illinois took nine of 10 matches against Lehigh for a 28-3 first-round victory.

The Fighting Illini will face No. 23 Old Dominion in Saturday's semifinal round at 1 p.m. (CT). The Monarchs defeated Lock Haven and Virginia Tech by a combined score of 61-6 in their first two matches. The other semifinal pairs No. 3 and top-seeded Oklahoma State with fourth-seeded Penn.

In the second dual of the day, KSU took an early advantage when Nicolas Bedelyon pinned No. 13 Gabe Flores at 125. But four consecutive decisions by Kennedy, Prater and Paswall, and a major decision for Poeta gave the Illini a 13-6 lead at the midway point. Kennedy earned a 5-0 win at 133, followed by an 8-3 decision for Prater (141) and a 10-4 win by Paswall at 149. Poeta then routed Sli Bostelman, 12-2, at 157 for the Illini's only bonus points of the dual.

Kent State won three of the last five bouts, with the Illini's No. 16 John Dergo (174) cruising to an 8-1 win and No. 14 Patrick Bond (197) earning a 4-2 decision for the final margin of 19-15.

Against Lehigh, the Fighting Illini stormed out of the gate with consecutive victories by Flores, Kennedy and Prater. Flores started strong with a 16-2 major decision, followed by Kennedy's 2-0 victory and Prater's thrilling 12-11 win in which he outlasted Jeff Santo. Joey Kotowski dropped a tough 8-4 decision at 149, but Poeta righted the Illini with a 7-4 decision.

No. 15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud edged Mike Galante, 7-6, at 165, and Dergo defeated Alex Caruson, 8-6, in sudden-victory overtime. Dave Gleissner got into the act with a 5-0 whipping of Kadeem Samuels at 184, and Bond was triumphant in his first match in his home state since 2005, soundly defeating Alex Iacocca, 12-6. Sixteenth-ranked heavyweight John Wise finished off the onslaught with a 7-1 victory.

#17 Illinois 28, Lehigh 3
125: #13 Gabe Flores (Illinois) maj. dec. Kellen Aura (Lehigh), 16-2 (4-0)
133: #9 Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) dec. Seth Clasiull (Lehigh), 2-0 (7-0)
141: Ryan Prater (Illinois) dec. Jeff Santo (Lehigh), 12-11 (10-0)
149: Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) dec. Joey Kotowski (Illinois), 8-4 (10-3)
157: #1 Mike Poeta (Illinois) dec. Dave Nakasone (Lehigh), 7-4 (13-3)
165: #15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud (Illinois) dec. Mike Galante (Lehigh), 7-6 (16-3)
174: #16 John Dergo (Illinois) dec. Alex Caruso (Lehigh), 8-6 (SV 1) (19-3)
184: Dave Gleissner (Illinois) dec. Kadeem Samuels (Lehigh), 5-0 (22-3)
197: #14 Patrick Bond (Illinois) dec. Alex Iacocca (Lehigh), 12-6 (25-3)
HWT: #16 John Wise (Illinois) dec. Justin Allen (Lehigh), 7-1 (28-3)

#17 Illinois 19, Kent State 15
125: Nicolas Bedelyon (Kent State) pinned #13 Gabe Flores (Illinois), 6:04 (0-6)
133: #9 Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) dec. #13 Dan Mitcheff (Kent State), 5-0 (3-6)
141: Ryan Prater (Illinois) dec. #14 Drew Lashaway, 8-3 (6-6)
149: Grant Paswall (Illinois) dec. Clint Sponseller (Kent State), 10-4 (9-6)
157: #1 Mike Poeta (Illinois) maj. dec. Sli Bostelman, 12-2 (13-6)
165: #16 Kurt Gross (Kent State) dec. #15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud (Illinois), 6-4 (13-9)
174: #16 John Dergo (Illinois) dec. Chris Estep (Kent State), 8-1 (16-9)
184: #20 Eric Chine (Kent State) dec. Dave Gleissner (Illinois), 8-3 (16-12)
197: #14 Patrick Bond (Illinois) dec. Michael Blackwell (Kent State), 4-2 (19-12)
HWT: #17 Jermail Porter (Kent State) dec. #16 John Wise (Illinois), 3-2 (19-15)