March 7, 2009
Big Ten Championships Bracket Through Session 1 
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Five Fighting Illini advanced to Saturday night's semifinal round and five more Illini remain alive in the consolation bracket at the 2009 Big Ten Championships. Top-seeded Mike Poeta, No. 5 John Dergo, No. 4 Jordan Blanton, No. 5 Patrick Bond and No. 4 John Wise all won their quarterfinal bouts and advanced in the championship bracket.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Jimmy Kennedy, No. 4 Roger Smith-Bergsrud, No. 7 Ryan Prater and No. 8 Eric Terrazas all dropped their quarterfinal matches and No. 8 B.J. Futrell fell in his pigtail bout. All five wrestlers will compete in the consolation bracket during the evening session, with Prater and Terrazas each earning byes into the second round of consolation action.
In his pigtail at 125, eighth-seeded B.J. Futrell got a leg early and finished the takedown 11 seconds into the bout against Michigan State's Eric Olanowski. The Spartan escaped 55 seconds later and after nearly putting Olanowski on his back, Futrell broke the MSU wrestler's high crotch and finished the takedown. Futrell rode him out for the 4-1 lead with 1:55 of riding time after the first period. After a neutral start in the second, Olanowski finished and takedown and locked in a cradle, pinning Futrell in 4:01.
No. 3 and third-seeded Jimmy Kennedy scored an early takedown against Wisconsin's Tom Kelliher in their pigtail bout at 133 and scored another before the end of the period for the 4-1 lead after the first period. In the second, Kennedy started down and got a reversal before Kelliher escaped. But Kennedy got another takedown and turned Kelliher, pinning him in 4:41, the third time this season that Kennedy has stuck the Badger.
In Illinois' final pigtail, No. 8 and fourth-seeded John Wise gave up an early takedown to Penn State's Cameron Wade, but Wise escaped with 1:29 left in the first to cut Wade's lead to 2-1 after a period. Wise started down in the second and escaped with 59 seconds left, then shot and finished the double-leg with 27 seconds to go in the period for the 4-2 lead. Wade started down in the third and Wise rode him hard, finally turning him and pinning him with three seconds remaining in the bout.
Kennedy wrestled Illinois' first quarterfinal match, taking on 2007 All-American and sixth-seeded Jake Strayer from Penn State. Kennedy scored a takedown with 41 seconds left in the first and Strayer started down in the second and escaped with 59 seconds left. Strayer then finished a takedown on the edge with eight seconds left for a 3-2 lead after two periods. Kennedy started down in the third and Strayer rode him hard. Kennedy nearly scored a reversal as time ran down, but he couldn't slide his head out of the crook of Strayer's left arm as the Nittany Lion took the 3-2 win. Kennedy will face Northwestern's Eric Metzler in the consolation first round.
No. 7 seed Ryan Prater squared off with second-seeded and No. 2 Kellen Russell (Michigan) and Russell got the first takedown with 1:48 left in the first. Prater escaped with 1:15 remaining to make it 2-1 after three minutes. Russell started down in the second and got a reversal in 16 seconds, but Prater escaped nine seconds later to cut his lead to 4-2 after two periods. Prater started down in the third and scored a reversal with 1:04 left to tie the bout at 4, but Russell escaped with 46 seconds left and fended off Prater's late offense for the 5-4 win. Prater will get the bye in the consolation first round, meaning he will next wrestle the winner of Northwestern's Keith Sulzer and Michigan State's Collin Dozier.
At 149, Eric Terrazas struggled against top-ranked and No. 1 seed Brent Metcalf, with Metcalf scoring four takedowns before turning the Illini freshman and pinning him in 2:31. Terrazas also will receive a bye in the first consolation round, meaning his next match will be against the winner of Michigan's Mark Beaudry and Purdue's fifth-seeded and seventh-ranked Jake Patacsil.
Top-seeded and second-ranked Mike Poeta didn't have any problem with Wisconsin's Ben Jordan, earning a 19-4 technical fall in 6:50. Poeta took down Jordan 50 seconds into the bout and scored a pair of three-point near-falls for an 8-0 lead after the first period. Poeta started down in the second and escaped with 59 seconds left then scored a pair of takedowns before time ran out for the 13-2 lead after five minutes. In the third, Jordan started down and escaped quickly, but Poeta scored two more takedowns to finish the technical fall. He will face Minnesota's fourth-seeded and 20th-ranked Tyler Safratowich in the semifinals.
No. 15 and fourth-seeded Roger Smith-Bergsrud fought through a pair of scoreless periods with Purdue's fifth-seeded and 16th-ranked Luke Manuel, with Manuel riding out Smith-Bergsrud in the second period. Manuel started down in the third and escaped in two seconds for a 1-0 lead and Smith-Bergsrud wasn't able to connect on any shots as the Boilermaker took the 2-0 win. Smith-Bergsrud will face Northwestern's Dominic Marella in the consolation first round.
At 174, fifth-seeded John Dergo and fourth-seeded Dave Rella battled through a scoreless first period and Dergo started down in the second. Dergo escaped with 1:26 left in the period and remained on the offensive, but wasn't able to finish any shots as he took a 1-0 lead into the third. Rella started down in the third and escaped with 1:36 left, but Dergo fought off a shot and turned the corner, securing the takedown with 54 seconds left for the 3-1 lead. Rella escaped off the restart after taking injury time and he nearly got the winning takedown, but Dergo spun out of it and walked away with the 3-2 win. He'll face Michigan's top-seeded and top-ranked Steve Luke in the quarterfinals.
Fourth-seeded Jordan Blanton got the takedown against Minnesota's Sonny Yohn with 55 seconds left in the first period and rode him out. Then Blanton started down in the second and got the quick reversal for a 4-0 lead. Yohn escaped with 46 seconds left but Blanton spun behind him for the takedown five seconds later to go up 6-1. Yohn started down in the third and escaped in 30 seconds but Blanton got another takedown with 56 seconds left. Yohn escaped but Blanton finished another takedown and added the riding-time point for the 11-3 major decision. Blanton will square off with top-seeded and top-ranked Jake Herbert (Northwestern) in the semifinals.
Fifth-seeded Patrick Bond wrestled through a scoreless first period with Minnesota's fourth-seeded Gordon Bierschenk and Bond started down in the second. Bond escaped with 35 seconds left then got one ankle and controlled the other for a takedown with two seconds left, taking a 3-0 lead after two periods. Bierschenk started down in the third and escaped with 55 seconds left, but Bond blocked a shot and countered it for a takedown with 47 seconds remaining and a 5-1 margin. Bierschenk escaped with five seconds left, but it wasn't enough as Bond moved into the semifinals against top-seeded and third-ranked Dallas Herbst (Wisconsin) with a 5-2 win.
Fourth-seeded and eighth-ranked John Wise and fifth-seeded Nate Everhart of Indiana fought to a scoreless first period, but Wise started down and escaped off the whistle in the second. That was the only scoring in the period and Everhart started down in the third. Everhart escaped in 22 seconds and shot with a minute left, but Wise eventually fought it off, broke Everhart's high crotch hold and finished the takedown on the edge to go up 3-1. He rode out the Hoosier to add the riding-time advantage point for a 4-1 win. He'll take on top-seeded and seventh-ranked Dan Erekson of Iowa in the semifinals.
TEAM STANDINGS (through session 1)
1. Iowa 81.0
2. ILLINOIS 53.5
3. Wisconsin 47.0
4. Penn State 38.0
5. Ohio State 37.0
6. Northwestern 36.0
7. Indiana 33.0
Michigan 33.0
9. Minnesota 20.0
10. Michigan St. 18.5
11. Purdue 15.0
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT RESULTS
125: No. 8 seed, B.J. Futrell (Fr., 22-11)
Pigtail: Pinned by Eric Olanowski (MSU), 4:01
Up Next - Consolation 1st Round: No. 7 seed, #18 Mike Watts (MICH)
133: No. 3 seed, #3 Jimmy Kennedy (Jr., 25-4)
Pigtail: Pinned Tom Kelliher (WIS), 4:41
Quarterfinals: Dec. by No. 6 seed, #9 Jake Strayer (PSU), 3-2
Up Next - Consolation 1st Round: Eric Metzler (NU)
141: No. 7 seed, Ryan Prater (So., 10-14)
Quarterfinals: Dec by No. 2 seed, #2 Kellen Russell (MICH), 5-4
Consolation 1st Round: Bye
Up Next - Consolation 2nd Round: Winner of Keith Sulzer (NU)/Collin Dozier (MSU)
149: No. 8 seed Eric Terrazas (Fr., 14-16)
Quarterfinals: Pinned by No. 1 seed, #1 Brent Metcalf (IOWA), 2:31
Consolation 1st Round: Bye
Up Next - Consolation 2nd Round: Winner of No. 5 seed, #7 Jake Patacsil (PUR)/Mark Beaudry (MICH)
157: No. 1 seed, #2 Mike Poeta (Sr., 11-0)
Quarterfinals: Tech. fall Ben Jordan (WIS), 19-4 (6:50)
Up Next - Semifinals: No. 4 seed, #20 Tyler Safratowich (MINN)
165: No. 4 seed, #15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud (Sr., 17-8)
Quarterfinals: Dec by No. 5 seed, #16 Luke Manuel (PUR), 2-0
Up Next - Consolation Round 1: Dominic Marella (NU)
174: No. 5 seed, John Dergo (Jr., 13-6)
Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 4 seed Dave Rella (OSU), 3-2
Up Next - Semifinals: No. 1 seed, #1 Steve Luke (MICH)
184: No. 4 seed, #12 Jordan Blanton (Fr., 26-7)
Quarterfinals: Maj. dec. Sonny Yohn (MINN), 11-3
Up Next - Semifinals: No. 1 seed, #1 Jake Herbert (NU)
197: No. 5 seed Patrick Bond (Jr., 14-12)
Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 4 seed Gordon Bierschenk (MINN), 5-2
Up Next - Semifinals: No. 1 seed, #3 Dallas Herbst (WIS)
HWT: No. 4 seed, #8 John Wise (Sr., 19-6)
Pigtail: Pinned Cameron Wade (PSU), 6:57
Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 5 seed Nate Everhart (IND), 4-1
Up Next - Semifinals: No. 1 seed, #7 Dan Erekson (IOWA)
