Nov. 22, 2009

VESTAL, N.Y. - No. 17 Illinois won two of its three duals at the Journeymen/ASICS Sprawl & Brawl Sunday, defeating Davidson 47-0 and West Virginia by a 23-15 score, while dropping an 18-15 match to Pittsburgh. Against the Panthers, the Illini won five of the 10 bouts but Pitt earned a technical fall at 141 and a major decision at heavyweight for the decisive bonus points. In the Davidson match, Illinois scored bonus points in seven bouts - including three pins and two forfeits - and against WVU, the Illini won six bouts and scored bonus points in four.

"I really thought we competed hard against Pitt, which is a pretty solid team," Illinois head coach Jim Heffernan said. "Being short-handed just caught up with us. As a team, we wrestled well and put ourselves in a position to win, but we missed out on a couple of bonus points that could've won it for us. We had a pretty good showing against West Virginia, too."

The Illini also sent some of their reserves to the Missouri Open on Sunday. Freshman Sam White took fifth in the open division at 125, while classmate John Van Duyne took third at 141 in the fresh-soph division and fellow rookie Nate Millman finished sixth at 149 in the fresh-soph division.

At Sprawl & Brawl, Illinois started the day against Pitt, where John Deneen dropped a 4-2 bout to Anthony Zanetta at 125. But redshirt-freshman Daryl Thomas continued his strong start to the season with a 12-5 decision to tie the dual at 3. At 141, No. 10 Tyler Nauman scored a 16-0 technical fall over Illinois' 17th-ranked Ryan Prater, putting the Panthers up 8-3. Sophomore Eric Terrazas responded with an 8-6 win at 149, but Clint Arlis dropped a 2-1 bout at 157 as Pittsburgh extended its lead to 11-6.

The Illini continued to claw its way back as redshirt-freshman Conrad Polz scored a 6-2 win over Karl DeCiantis at 165 and No. 7 Jordan Blanton notched an 11-6 victory at 174 to give Illinois its first lead of the day, 12-11. No. 8 John Dergo extended the margin with his 9-4 win over Zac Thomusseit at 184, pushing the Illini ahead 15-11. But Pitt responded in the two upper weights, as Illinois' Marty Smith dropped a 6-0 bout to No. 20 Matt Wilps at 197 and Pat Walker lost, 11-0, to No. 20 Ryan Tomei as the Panthers pulled away for an 18-15 win.

Against Davidson, Illinois started taking out its frustrations on the Wildcats early with Deneen's 3-0 win at 125 and a 12-3 victory for Thomas at 133. Prater responded to the technical fall loss in the first match by pinning his opponent in 1:12, pushing the Illini to a 13-0 lead. Terrazas stayed hot, winning 6-1 at 149, and redshirt-freshman Kyle Dooley earned a 16-5 major decision at 157 in his first dual start.

Joe Barczak got a forfeit win at 165 and Clinton Polz stepped in at 174 against the Wildcats in place of Blanton, only to notch a 7-1 win. Dergo recorded a pin in 2:01 and Smith notched a pin in 1:11 before Walker got Illinois' second forfeit win of the match to finish the 47-0 demolishing, the ninth-most points Illinois has ever scored in a dual and the most by an Illini team since the 2006-07 season.

In the final dual of the day, Deneen opened with a 15-7 major decision but Thomas got pinned just before the end of the second period as West Virginia took a 6-4 lead. Prater wrestled well once again, notching an 18-1 technical fall in 5:41 and Terrazas scored a 5-3 win to put the Illini ahead 12-6.

Arlis earned a 13-5 major decision at 157 and Conrad Polz upset No. 13 Donnie Jones, 6-4, at 165 to increase Illinois' lead to 19-6. A hobbled Blanton dropped an 11-8 match to No. 20 Chance Lifton at 174, but Dergo stayed hot with a 16-4 major decision, pushing Illinois' margin to 23-9 and locking up the dual win. Smith lost 3-0 to Kyle Rooney at 197 and Walker fell, 7-2, to Brandon Williamson, to account for the final 23-15 margin.

Pittsburgh 18, #17 Illinois 15
125: Anthony Zanetta (PITT) dec. John Deneen (ILL), 5-2 (0-3)
133: Daryl Thomas (ILL) dec. Zach Grove (PIT), 10-5 (3-3)
141: #10 Tyler Nauman (PIT) tech. fall #17 Ryan Prater (ILL), 16-0 (3-8)
149: Eric Terrazas (ILL) dec. Eric Albright (PIT), 8-3 (6-8)
157: Mark Powell (PIT) dec. Clint Arlis (ILL), 2-1 (6-11)
165: Conrad Polz (ILL) dec. Karl Deciantis (PIT), 6-2 (9-11)
174: #7 Jordan Blanton (ILL) dec. Dave Sullivan (PIT), 11-6 (12-11)
184: #8 John Dergo (ILL) dec. Zac Thomusseit (PIT), 9-4 (15-11)
197: #20 Matt Wilps (PIT) dec. Martin Smith (ILL), 6-0 (15-14)
HWT: #20 Ryan Tomei (PIT) dec. Pat Walker (ILL), 11-0 (15-18)

#17 Illinois 47, Davidson 0
125: John Deneen (ILL) dec. Ben Altman (DAV), 3-0 (3-0)
133: Daryl Thomas (ILL) maj. dec. William Ray (DAV), 12-3 (7-0)
141: #17 Ryan Prater (ILL) pinned Ben Thompson (DAV), 1:12 (13-0)
149: Eric Terrazas (ILL) dec. David DeCamp (DAV), 6-1 (16-0)
157: Kyle Dooley (ILL) maj. dec. Joe McGinley (DAV), 16-5 (20-0)
165: Joe Barczak (ILL) wins by forfeit (26-0)
174: Clinton Polz (ILL) dec. Jorge Estrada (DAV), 7-1 (29-0)
184: #8 John Dergo (ILL) pinned Ike Crews (DAV), 2:01 (35-0)
197: Martin Smith (ILL) pinned Mark Jeevratnam (DAV), 1:11 (41-0)
HWT: Pat Walker (ILL) wins by forfeit (47-0)

#17 Illinois 23, West Virginia 15
125: John Deneen (ILL) maj. dec. Anthony Curcio (WVU), 15-7 (4-0)
133: Colin Johnston (WVU) pinned Daryl Thomas (ILL), 4:59 (4-6)
141: #17 Ryan Prater (ILL) tech. fall Trey Ayala (WVU), 18-1 (5:41), (9-6)
149: Eric Terrazas (ILL) dec. Mark Tsikerdanos (WVU), 5-3 (12-6)
157: Clint Arlis (ILL) maj. dec. Ryan Goodman (WVU), 13-5 (16-6)
165: Conrad Polz (ILL) dec. #13 Donnie Jones (WVU), 6-4 (19-6)
174: #20 Chance Lifton (WVU) dec. #7 Jordan Blanton (ILL), 11-8 (19-9)
184: #8 John Dergo (ILL) maj. dec. Matt Ryan, 16-4 (23-9)
197: Kyle Rooney (WVU) dec. Martin Smith (ILL), 3-0 (23-12)
HWT: Brandon Williamson (WVU) dec. Pat Walker (ILL), 7-2 (23-15)