March 5, 2008

Illinois' Big Ten Championships Notes

#10 ILLINOIS at Big Ten Championships

Illinois Pre-Seeds

125:    5th    #8 Gabe Flores (22-9, 4-4), Sr., Madera, Calif.
133:    1st    #3 Jimmy Kennedy (25-4, 8-0), So., Ingleside, Ill.
141:    8th    #15 Ryan Prater (20-9, 3-5), Fr., Plainfield, Ill.
149:    8th    Grant Paswall (19-9, 1-5), Fr., Katonah, N.Y.
157:    1st    #2 Mike Poeta (28-2, 6-2), Jr., Highwood, Ill.
165:    5th    Roger Smith-Bergsrud (17-7, 5-1), Jr., Lake Bluff, Ill.
174:    5th    #15 John Dergo (23-11, 4-4), So., Morris, Ill.
184:    7th    Ben Friedl (13-11, 3-5), r-Fr., Orland Park, Ill.
197:    3rd    #11 Patrick Bond (23-5, 6-2), So., Chesapeake, Va
Hwt:    5th    #13 John Wise (26-12, 5-3), Jr., Pittsfield, Ill.

Live Results
Live results will be available at www.gophersports.com.

• Mike Poeta (157) grabbed the No. 1 pre-seed for the Big Ten Championships, his second-straight top pre-seed and Illinois' third-consecutive top-seeded 157-pounder (Alex Tirapelle, 2006). Poeta is ranked No. 2 in the nation in the NWCA rankings after tying his longest streak at No. 1 with a nine-week stint at the top.

• #7 Jimmy Kennedy (133) grabbed the No. 1 Big Ten pre-seed after going 8-0 in conference action, Illinois' first top-seeded 133-pounder since Mark Jayne in 2005. He has won his last 11 matches, the longest streak of his career and second-longest by an Illini this season behind Mike Poeta's 22-match streak to start the season. Kennedy scored bonus points in three Big Ten bouts and defeated three other conference opponents by four or more points.

• #11 Patrick Bond (197) grabbed the No. 3 pre-seed for Big Tens after going 6-2 in conference action. His only losses were a 1-0 decision to No. 2 Phil Davis and a 3-0 decision to No. 2 Mike Tamillow. Bond upset No. 4 Dallas Herbst (Wisconsin), 3-2, on Feb.8, the highest-ranked opponent he has beaten in his career.

• Seven Illinois wrestlers (Gabe Flores - 125, Jimmy Kennedy - 133, Ryan Prater - 141, Mike Poeta - 157, John Dergo - 174, Patrick Bond - 197, John Wise - HWT) have reached 20 wins this season, tying the second-most grapplers to top the 20-win mark in Mark Johnson's tenure at Illinois. Eight Illini reached 20 wins in the 2000-01 season.

• Roger Smith-Bergsrud (165) has won five consecutive matches, each by one point, and three of the last four by the same 4-3 score. In fact, he's 4-1 over his last five matches, all decided by a single point. The lone loss was a 1-0 decision to Michigan's third-ranked Eric Tannenbaum, the No. 2 pre-seed at Big Tens. Outside of the two pins he has given up this year, Smith-Bergsrud has five losses by a total of 11 points.

• For the second-straight year, Mark Johnson has two true-freshman in his starting lineup with #15 Ryan Prater wrestling at 141 and Grant Paswall at 149. It marks just the second time in Johnson's career that he has had two rookies in the same lineup after Jimmy Kennedy (133) and John Dergo (184) wrestled as true-freshman in 2006-07. All four wrestlers earned pre-seeds for the Big Ten Championships during their true-freshman seasons.

• Illinois' 13 dual-match wins this season tied for fourth on the Illinois single-season wins list.

Illini Head to Big Ten Championships
After completing the Big Ten dual season two weeks ago, the Fighting Illini now turn their focus toward the more individual-oriented postseason tournaments. First on the list is the Big Ten Championships March 8-9 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. Illinois has finished in the top 5 at Big Tens in 11 of Mark Johnson's 15 seasons as head coach and has finished top-3 six times. Illinois won the 2005 Big Ten title and has the second-most Big Ten championships with 17, behind Iowa's 31.

Recognized as the toughest wrestling conference in the nation, the Big Ten receives 72 automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Wrestling Championships, held March 20-22 in St. Louis, Mo. That means the top seven finishers in each weight class qualify automatically for NCAAs and the final two spots are awarded to two of the eighth-place finishers by vote of the conference coaches.

10 Illini Grab Big Ten Pre-Seeds
All 10 Illinois starters earned preliminary seeds for the Big Ten Championships as announced by the conference on Monday. Jimmy Kennedy (133) and Mike Poeta (157) both garnered top seeds, the third time in the last four years that the Illini have had two or more No. 1 pre-seeds. It is Poeta's second-straight top seed and the third-consecutive No. 1 by an Illini 157-pounder (Alex Tirapelle, 2006). Neither Kennedy nor Poeta has ever had a pre-seed lower than No. 2 as Kennedy was the No. 2 seed at 133 last season and Poeta was the second-seeded 165-pounder in 2006.

Matchups to Watch
The Big Ten Championships, colloquially referred to as "mini-NCAAs," is annually one of the top events on the collegiate wrestling calendar. A major reason it garners so much interest is the fact that many of the wrestlers met during the dual-match season. However, some of this year's more intriguing matchups could come between grapplers who did not face off during the regular season. Here is a look at some potentially key matches for Illini wrestlers, should the pre-seeds hold:

133: #1 Jimmy Kennedy (ILL) vs. #2 Joe Slaton (IOWA)
In what could be a rematch of a bout from just two weeks ago - which Kennedy won, 8-4 - the two top seeds could collide for the third time this season. Slaton won 6-0 at Midlands, but Kennedy earned the victory in the teams' dual. Kennedy has won 11 straight bouts dating back to Jan. 20, while Slaton had won 11 straight before losing to Kennedy on Feb. 24. The two have met one other time in their careers, with Kennedy winning by a 3-1 score in the third-place bout of the UNI Open in 2006.

141: #1 Kellen Russell (MICH) vs. #8 Ryan Prater (ILL)
Barring any pigtail matches, Prater could get another shot at Russell early in the Championships in what could be a burgeoning rivalry between the two true-freshmen. Russell pulled out a narrow and controversial 4-3 win at Cliff Keen Arena on Feb. 1, where Prater was not awarded the decisive takedown as the buzzer sounded despite appearing to have control. Furthering the storyline, Russell is the reason Prater is in the starting lineup, as early-season starter Troy Tirapelle was shelved for the year after suffering a rotator cuff injury in his 6-5 loss to Russell at the Las Vegas Invitational.

157: #1 Mike Poeta (ILL) vs. #4 C.P. Schlatter (MINN)/#5 Craig Henning (WIS)
Should Poeta reach the Big Ten semifinals for the third-straight year, he would have the opportunity to exact revenge on one of the opponents that defeated him in last season's conference tournament. Schlatter downed Poeta 2-1 in the first round of tiebreak periods at last year's Championships, but Poeta holds a 2-1 series lead over the Gopher after defeating him in last season's dual and last year's NCAA Championships. Schlatter missed this year's dual with an injury. Or, Poeta could face Henning, who topped Poeta in last season's Big Ten third-place match. Poeta has defeated the Badger three times this year, pinning him at the NWCA All-Star Classic, downing him 6-1 in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational and beating him 1-0 in the teams' dual. Poeta is 3-1 all-time against Henning.

197: #2 Phil Davis (PSU) vs. #3 Patrick Bond (ILL)
In what could be one of the best semifinal matchups of the Championships, Bond would look to avenge a 1-0 defeat from the teams' dual earlier this year. Bond is 0-2 lifetime against Davis, getting pinned by the Nittany Lion in last year's dual.

HWT: #4 Matt Fields (IOWA) vs. #5 John Wise (ILL)
Another rematch from the season's final dual, Wise controlled the bout for six minutes before being called twice for stalling in the match's final minute. That stalling point allowed Fields to send the bout to overtime, where he won it with a takedown in the sudden-victory period. Wise is 1-2 all-time against Fields, defeating him 2-1 in the seventh-place match at Midlands this year and dropping a 12-3 major decision to the Hawkeye at the 2006 Loras Open.

Illini History at Big Tens
All seven Illini starters who wrestled last season placed at the 2007 Big Ten Championships, with Mike Poeta, Gabe Flores and Jimmy Kennedy earning fourth-place finishes a year ago, John Dergo and Patrick Bond placing fifth, Roger Smith-Bergsrud finishing sixth and John Wise taking seventh.

Poeta and Flores have placed at Big Tens each of the last two years, while 2007 was the first conference placing for the other five Illini.

Seven Illini Reach 20-Win Mark
No. 2 Mike Poeta (157), No. 9 Gabe Flores (125), No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy (133), No. 15 John Dergo (174), No. 11 Patrick Bond (197) and No. 15 John Wise (HWT) surpassed the 20-win after four Big Ten dual matches, marking the first time it happened in Mark Johnson's 16-year tenure at Illinois. No. 15 Ryan Prater (141) joined the 20-win crew on Feb. 22 against Purdue, giving the Illini seven total. Poeta currently stands at 28-2, Flores is 22-9, Kennedy sits at 25-4, Dergo is 23-11, Bond holds a 23-5 mark and Wise is 26-12. Illinois' seven 20-win wrestlers ties the second-most in school history, behind the eight Illini grapplers in 2000-01 who topped 20 victories.

Kennedy Avoids Sophomore Slump
No. 7 Jimmy Kennedy (133) has found a groove in his sophomore season, rattling off 11 consecutive wins dating back to Jan. 20, including a perfect 8-0 Big Ten record. It is the longest winning streak of his career and second-longest of the season by an Illini behind Mike Poeta's (157) 22-match streak to start the year. Kennedy has scored bonus points in two of his last three matches and in five bouts during the unbeaten streak.

Bond Tops Herbst, Wins 14 of Last 16
No. 13 Patrick Bond won 11 consecutive matches at 197 before dropping a tight 1-0 decision to No. 2 Phil Davis (Penn St.) on Feb. 3. He has since recovered by winning five of his last six bouts, including a 3-2 victory over No. 4 Dallas Herbst (Wisconsin). Bond is now 23-5 on the season, with his only losses coming to Davis, Mike Tamillow (Northwestern), Missouri's Max Askren (twice) and UNC Greensboro's Daren Burns, all of whom were ranked higher than Bond at the time of their matches.

Poeta Moves Up Illini Record List
After suffering his first two losses of the season, junior All-American Mike Poeta now stands in third place on Illinois' career winning percentage record list. Poeta's career .871 percentage (81-12 in two-plus seasons) ranks behind Matt Lackey's .896 (120-14) mark and Alex Tirapelle's .877 (128-18) percentage.

*Complete notes available in above PDF