Jan. 13, 2010
Illinois-Iowa State Match Notes 
#19 Illinois at #2 Iowa State
Jan. 16 // Hilton Coliseum // 7 pm // Ames, Iowa
Illinois (5-2) Probable Wrestlers
125 -/-/- John Deneen (6-5), Jr.
133 -/-/- Daryl Thomas (12-8), r-Fr.
141 10/8/10 Ryan Prater (9-3), Jr.
149 20/-/- Eric Terrazas (10-0), So.
157 -/-/- Conrad Polz (12-8), r-Fr.
165 -/-/- Joe Barczak (10-5), Jr.
174 14/17/10 Jordan Blanton (11-3), So.
184 2/2/4 John Dergo (19-2), Sr.
197 10/18/13 Patrick Bond (14-7), Sr.
HWT -/-/- Marty Smith (10-8), So.
OR -/-/- Pat Walker (10-11), r-Fr.
Rankings are listed in Intermat / W.I.N. / AWN format
Iowa State (6-2) Probable Wrestlers
125 5/5/5 Andrew Long (18-3), r-Fr.
133 11/12/10 Nick Fanthorpe (9-5), Sr.
141 1/1/- Nick Gallick (5-0), Sr.
OR -/-/13 Dalton Jensen (11-6), So.
149 10/11/8 Mitch Mueller (18-6), Sr.
157 -/-/- Nate Carr Jr. (5-3), Jr.
OR -/-/- Andrew Sorenson (18-5), So.
165 4/4/5 Jon Reader (14-3), Jr.
174 13/16/- Duke Burk (10-8), Sr.
184 8/8/7 Jerome Ward (15-3), So.
197 1/1/1 Jake Varner (17-0), Sr.
HWT 4/5/2 David Zabriskie (13-1), Sr.
OR -/-/- Kyle Simonson (13-6), So.
Rankings are listed in Intermat / W.I.N. / AWN format
Quick Hits
• No. 2 John Dergo is having a banner senior season after moving up to 184, holding a 19-2 record, with both losses coming to top-7 opponents. Dergo won the Midlands title by beating three consecutive two-time All-Americans in Missouri's No. 1 Max Askren, American's No. 2 Mike Cannon and Harvad's Louis Caputo. His two losses on the season have come to Askren and No. 7 Kirk Smith (Boise State). The 19-2 start is a career-best beginning to a season for the Morris, Ill., native and he moved into a tie for 24th in all-time wins in program history with his win against SIU Edwardsville on Jan. 8.
• After a strong freshman year, sophomore No. 15 Jordan Blanton is enjoying his move down to 174 pounds this season with a 9-1 start and six pins. His six falls are more than halfway to his total of eight from a year ago.
• Junior No. 13 Ryan Prater (141) wrestled only four matches prior to Midlands because of injuries, but he returned to the lineup at the tournament as the No. 7 seed and out-performed his seed by finishing fifth with two wins over ranked opponents, including Iowa's No. 7 and second-seeded Dan LeClere in the quarterfinals.
• Injuries have been a big story already for the Fighting Illini, as four starters were missing at the Las Vegas Invitational. B.J. Futrell (125 pounds) and No. 15 Jordan Blanton (174) returned for the duals against Findlay and McKendree, but Futrell is done for the season after re-aggravating the shoulder injury that has plagued him all season. No. 13 Ryan Prater (141) returned to the lineup at Midlands and placed fifth, and Eric Terrazas (149) was in the lineup against SIUE on Jan. 8.
• Terrazas, a sophomore who jumped into the Intermat rankings this week at No. 20 - marking his first career week being ranked - battled through a tough freshman year but has burst out to a fast start this season before breaking his foot over Thanksgiving break. He's 10-0 with a first-place finish at the Lindenwood Open and a dual win over Missouri's Brandon Wiest. Terrazas didn't get his first dual win against a Division I opponent until Feb. 20 last season.
#19 Illini Travel to #2 Iowa State
No. 19 Illinois will hit the road for its first true road dual meet of the season when it travels to Ames, Iowa, for a Saturday night affair with the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones. The Illini are fresh off a 48-0 waxing of SIU Edwardsville on Jan. 8, while the 'Clones finished second to arch-rival Iowa last weekend at the NWCA National Duals. The Illini are 5-2 on the dual season, while Iowa State is 6-2.
ISU is a rare dual opponent for Illinois, as the two have squared off only eight times and the most recent meeting happened in 1964 when Iowa State downed the Illini 28-4. Illinois holds a 5-3 edge in the all-time series. But a few wrestlers from the two teams have faced each other this year or in past seasons. Then-No. 9 Jordan Blanton dropped a 9-8 match to then-No. 11 Duke Burk at Midlands, and Blanton defeated Jerome Ward 3-2 last season when both wrestled at 184. Patrick Bond (197) was pinned by No. 1 Jake Varner in their Midlands semifinal match and Marty Smith (HWT) dropped a 12-5 decision to No. 5 David Zabriskie at Midlands. Illini 149-pounder Eric Terrazas also dropped a 4-3 loss to Dalton Jensen, who is likely filling in at 141 pounds for the Cyclones.
Dergo Dials up Midlands Title
Entering the Midlands Championships, No. 6 John Dergo had never finished higher than sixth at the event and had beaten only one opponent ranked higher than No. 10. But that all changed as Dergo charged through the 184-pound bracket to bring home his first major-tournament title.
Dergo downed No. 1 Max Askren (Missouri), No. 2 Mike Cannon (American) and fourth-seeded Louis Caputo (Harvard), who was unranked because he hadn't wrestled yet this season. Caputo, Askren and Cannon all are two-time All-Americans and Dergo had never beaten any of them, losing to Caputo at the 2006 Midlands, to Cannon at the 2009 NCAA Tournament and to Askren earlier this year in a dual. The victories also gave Dergo wins over opponents ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3 this season (Askren and Cannon at Midlands and Mike Pucillo at the Las Vegas Invitational).
Illini Notch Plenty of Pins
Just past the halfway point of the season, Illinois already has registered 32 pins by non-redshirting wrestlers, on pace to reach the top 10 in school history for single-season pins. The tenth-best entry on that list is 37 pins, which the Illini are well within range of. Leading the way so far is No. 2 John Dergo (184) with a career-high seven falls - half of his career total - and No. 9 Jordan Blanton (174), who has six.
Polz Drops Down to 157
Redshirt-freshman Conrad Polz wrestled the first half of the season at 165 pounds, collecting a 10-6 record and being ranked as high as No. 17. But he dropped down to 157 for Midlands and will wrestle there the rest of the season. So far, he's 2-2 at 157 this season.
The Redshirts are Coming!
After seeing Mike Poeta and John Wise graduate and with senior Jimmy Kennedy redshirting this season, the Illini have turned to a trio of redshirt-freshmen to fill the classes of 133, 157 and heavyweight. Daryl Thomas, of Edwardsville, Ill., Conrad Polz, of Orland Park, Ill., and Pat Walker, of Lombard, Ill., have compiled a 34-27 record thus far. Plus, that recruiting class is holding down four starting spots when you include classmates and true-sophomores Eric Terrazas (149) and No. 15 Jordan Blanton (174). Terrazas currently holds a 10-0 record, while Blanton is 11-3.
Dergo, Blanton Switch Spots in Lineup
After both John Dergo and Jordan Blanton had strong seasons in 2009, few would've predicted the move they have executed for 2010 - switching weight classes. Dergo has bumped up to 184 pounds - where he wrestled as a true freshman, going 24-12 and placing fifth at the Big Ten Championships - and Blanton has dropped to 174 after going 27-11 with a fourth-place Big Ten finish at 184 a year ago. So far the results bear out the switch, as Dergo is 19-2 with titles at Midlands and the Lindenwood Open, a second-place finish at the Las Vegas Invitational and wins over No. 1 Max Askren (Missouri), No. 2 Mike Cannon (American) and No. 3 Mike Pucillo (Ohio State). Blanton also has thrived from the switch despite battling injuries early in the season, going 11-3 with a Lindenwood Open title. All three of Blanton's losses have come to ranked opponents.
#20 Illini Wallop SIUE, 48-0
Junior John Deneen started the No. 20 Fighting Illini off with a pin in 3:46 at 125 pounds against SIU Edwardsville on Friday, and Illinois rolled from there, blasting the Cougars 48-0 at Huff Hall. No. 2 John Dergo (184 pounds) and No. 15 Jordan Blanton (174) also added falls to the effort and No. 13 Ryan Prater notched a technical fall just 47 seconds into the second period as the Illini scored bonus points in eight of the 10 bouts and didn't allow a takedown all night.
