Feb. 1, 2008

Final Stats

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - No. 15 Illinois started strong, getting a pin from No. 9 Gabe Flores and a major decision from No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy, but the Illini dropped six consecutive matches as they fell to No. 6 Michigan, 22-16, in their first Big Ten dual of the season at Cliff Keen Arena. No. 13 Patrick Bond and No. 19 John Wise each earned late decisions, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Wolverines' wins through the heart of the dual.

"It's just a disappointing loss," Illinois coach Mark Johnson said. "We had a chance to get a win against a really tough team and we didn't get it done."

No. 9 Gabe Flores got the Illini off on the right foot with a second-period pin of Michael Watts in 4:05. Flores got a takedown in just 14 seconds then got another with just 21 seconds left in the period and led 4-1 after three minutes. The Madera, Calif., native got an early escape in the second period after choosing down, then scored a takedown at 3:54 before earning the fall at 4:05.

No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy followed up Flores' quick victory with a 16-8 major decision of his own. Kennedy earned four points in the first period with a takedown and a two-point near-fall, then extended his lead to 7-1 with a reversal, a takedown and a three-point near-fall. Kennedy allowed an escape to start the third, then got a takedown to go up 9-2. After another escape, Michigan's Chris Diehl got a takedown at the six-minute mark, but Kennedy earned a reversal before giving up another escape. Diehl kept fighting, getting another takedown, but Kennedy's riding time point gave him the 16-8 major-decision victory.

No. 11 Ryan Prater fought hard against No. 4 Kellen Russell, but Russell grabbed a narrow 4-3 decision in the last seconds. Russell earned a takedown at 0:40 and Prater escaped at 1:23 to finish the first period with Russell leading 2-1. Russell started down in the second period and Prater rode him out the entire two minutes, leaving the Illini youngster down 2-1 after two periods but controlling the momentum. Prater started down in the third and earned an escape. After a stall warning on Prater, the two scrambled around and Russell got a takedown with just 22 seconds left in the match. Prater escaped with 17 seconds left and nearly had a takedown, but Russell held on to Prater's ankle to win, 4-3.

"That was a controversial call," Johnson said. "The TV analyst thought it was a takedown, we all thought it was a takedown, but we didn't get the call, and that could've changed the final outcome for us."

At 149, Grant Paswall found himself against No. 8 Josh Churella, and Churella's experience showed through as he pinned the young Illini in 4:39. Churella got a first-period takedown, then started down in the second and got a quick escape. Less than 30 seconds later, Churella earned another takedown and got Paswall on his back for the fall at 4:39.

No. 1 Mike Poeta found himself in a dogfight from the beginning at 157, with Michigan's Jeff Marsh firing out early after the opening whistle. Poeta got a takedown at 0:28, but Marsh escaped to make the score 2-1 after a period. Poeta started down in the second period but escaped quickly. Marsh then scored a takedown with 3:25 and got two quick back points for a 5-3 lead. Poeta escaped with just seven seconds left in the period to cut the deficit to 5-4. Marsh started down in the third, where Poeta rode him long enough to clear the riding time point before allowing him to escape and take a 6-4 lead. Poeta scored a takedown with 0:50 left in the match, but let Marsh escape five seconds later, giving the Wolverine a 7-6 lead. After some hand-fighting, Poeta looked for some late offense but Marsh got a takedown with three seconds left to give Poeta his first loss of the season, 9-6.

Roger Smith-Bergsrud took three-time All-American and No. 3 Eric Tannenbaum to the limit, but Tannenbaum's second-period escape after starting in the down position held up for a 1-0 win to give Michigan the 15-10 lead in the dual. At 174, No. 17 John Dergo gave up an early takedown to No. 4 Steve Luke but scored an escape to narrow the Wolverine's lead to 2-1 after a period. Dergo got a quick escape after starting down in the second, but Luke scored a takedown to grab a 4-2 lead after two periods. Luke got an escape early in the third and that proved to be the only scoring in the period before Luke's riding time was added for the 6-2 decision and the 18-10 dual lead.

At 184, Ben Friedl faced off against No. 2 Tyrel Todd, who started off fast, leading 11-3 after one period. Todd continued on the attack, pulling ahead 15-4 after the second period and looking for the technical fall. Todd extended his lead to 20-6 with riding time on the board, but Friedl scored a late takedown and cleared the riding time before dropping the 22-9 major decision.

Next up, No. 13 Patrick Bond earned a 4-2 decision despite a scoreless first period. Bond started down in the second, then got an escape and a takedown in less than a 30-second span. Michigan's Eddie Phillips escaped to cut the deficit, then started down in the third period and got another escape to slice Bond's lead to 3-2. But Bond had already racked up riding time and held on for the 4-2 win.

Wrapping up the night, No. 19 John Wise started off with a first-period takedown against Chad Bleske, then escaped early in the second after starting down. He scored a takedown 35 seconds later before giving up an escape and getting another takedown for a 7-1 lead after two periods. Wise continued to wrestle strong in the third period and took the 9-4 decision, but the Illini dropped the dual, 22-16.

#6 Michigan 22, #15 Illinois 16
125: #9 Gabe Flores (ILL) pinned Michael Watts (MICH), 4:05 (6-0)
133: #9 Jimmy Kennedy (ILL) maj. dec. Chris Diehl (MICH), 16-8 (10-0)
141: #4 Kellen Russell (MICH) dec. #11 Ryan Prater (ILL), 4-3 (10-3)
149: #8 Josh Churella (MICH) pinned Grant Paswall (ILL), 4:39 (10-9)
157: Jeff Marsh (MICH) dec. #1 Mike Poeta (ILL), 9-6 (10-12)
165: #3 Eric Tannenbaum (MICH) dec. Roger Smith-Bergsrud (ILL), 1-0 (10-15)
174: #4 Steve Luke (MICH) dec. #17 John Dergo, 6-2 (10-18)
184: #2 Tyrel Todd (MICH) maj. dec. Ben Friedl (ILL), 22-9 (10-22)
197: #13 Patrick Bond (ILL) dec. Eddie Phillips (MICH), 4-2 (13-22)
HWT: #19 John Wise (ILL) dec. Chad Bleske (MICH), 9-4 (16-22)