Jan. 29, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - No. 20 Illinois won four of six bouts in the middle of the match at No. 14 Indiana, but the Hoosiers took six of the 10 total bouts and tacked on three more bonus points than the Illini as the Hoosiers took a 22-13 win at University Gym Friday. No. 2 John Dergo extended his winning streak to 12 with a major decision and the Illini also got wins from No. 14 Jordan Blanton (174), No. 15 Ryan Prater (141) and No. 20 Eric Terrazas (149) as they fall to 6-5 overall, 1-2 in the Big Ten.

"We gave one away at 133 and got it back at 149, but the bottom line was we needed to get a couple bonus points in there and didn't," Illinois head coach Jim Heffernan said. "We just need to get more out of our guys. Nothing bothers me more than when you're losing and not trying to fight your way back into a match, and that happened a few times tonight."

The bout started at 125, where John Deneen had a rough go against No. 1 Angel Escobedo. Deneen looked to avoid the technical fall as time ran down but Escobedo got a pair of two-point near-falls to finish the 22-6 technical fall and give the Hoosiers a quick 5-0 lead.

Daryl Thomas and Matt Ortega wrestled to a scoreless first period at 133 before Ortega started down in the second and escaped in 14 seconds. He notched a takedown but Thomas escaped quickly before Ortega countered with a quick takedown for a 5-1 lead. Thomas got out before the end of the period then started down in the third and escaped to cut Ortega's lead to 5-3. Thomas got in on a takedown but Ortega fought him off and scored one of his own after a restart. Thomas nearly reversed him after a restart but was held to an escape, making Ortega's lead 7-4. The Illini redshirt-freshman couldn't land any late offense as Ortega took the victory.

At 141, Indiana's Danny Monaco got a quick takedown against Prater but Prater got out quickly. The two then set off on a series of wild scrambles that didn't result in any points as the period ended with Monaco leading 2-1. The Hoosier started down and Prater locked in a cradle for three back points and a 4-2 lead before riding him out. Prater started down in the third and got a reversal, then rode out Monaco and added a riding-time point for the 7-2 win, cutting Indiana's lead to 8-3.

Terrazas and Matt Coughlin wrestled to a scoreless first period before Coughlin started down and escaped after 35 seconds. Terrazas fought off a front headlock by the Hoosier and went into the third period down 1-0. The Illini sophomore started down and got out quickly to tie the bout 1-1, which is where the period ended, sending it to sudden-victory overtime. Terrazas landed the first shot in overtime, sealing the takedown for the 3-1 win and bringing the Illini within 8-6.

But the Hoosiers took the next two bouts as Conrad Polz battled against No. 6 Kurt Kinser at 157 but couldn't get anything going as Kinser rode him out in the second period, started down in the third, escaped and got a takedown before adding a riding-time point for a 4-0 lead and an 11-6 margin in the team score. At 165, No. 13 Paul Young kept Joe Barczak from putting together any offense in an 11-2 major decision for the Hoosier, pushing IU's lead to 15-6.

Illinois fought back as Blanton got a quick takedown against Trevor Perry at 174 and Perry escaped. The two stayed neutral through the rest of the period before Blanton started down in the second and got up and out quickly for a 3-1 lead. That's where the score stood heading into the third, when Perry started down. Perry got out after 15 seconds but Blanton got in on a shot and worked hard to finish it to go up 5-2. Perry was hit with his second stalling call to give Blanton a point before the Hoosier escaped, but Blanton fended off the late offense and added a riding-time point for the 7-3 win, cutting IU's lead to 15-9.

Dergo also went to work quickly with a fast takedown and added two more before the end of the period, while racking up over a minute of riding time on his way to a 6-2 lead. Cameron started down in the second and got out, but Dergo notched two more takedowns for a 10-4 lead after five minutes. Dergo started down in the third and escaped, but Cameron slipped in a takedown to cut Dergo's lead to 11-6. However, Dergo escaped and got a late takedown before riding out the Hoosier and adding the riding-time point for a 15-6 major decision, bringing the Illini within 15-13.

The Illini either needed bonus points in one of the last two bouts or victories in both, but Indiana iced the victory as Matt Powless topped No. 9 Patrick Bond, 4-2, at 197. Bond got an early takedown but Powless escaped. Bond nearly got another takedown on the edge but it wasn't called and the period ended with Bond leading 2-1. Bond started down in the second and nearly got put on his back but avoided giving up points. He wasn't able to escape, though, as Powless rode him out and chose neutral in the third. The two battled in that position for most of the period before Powless took a late shot and scored the takedown with one second left in the bout for the 4-2 upset to seal the IU victory at 18-13.

At heavyweight, Pat Walker managed to hold No. 2 Nate Everhart to only one takedown in the first period. Everhart started down in the second and escaped before being awarded a stalling point and tacking on another takedown to go up 6-0 after two periods. Walker started down and escaped, but Everhart slid down the leg for a takedown and an 8-2 lead after he cut the Illini redshirt-freshman loose. Everhart tacked on another takedown and added a riding-time point for an 11-2 major decision and a final score of 22-13.

The Illini finish up their January road trip when they travel to Northwestern on Sunday for a 2 p.m. dual that will be televised on the Big Ten Network at 6 p.m.

#14 Indiana 22, #20 Illinois 13
125: No. 1 Angel Escobedo (IU) tech. fall John Deenen (ILL), 22-6 (6:37) (0-5)
133: Matt Ortega (IU) dec. over Daryl Thomas (ILL), 7-4 (0-8)
141: No. 15 Ryan Prater (ILL) dec. over Danny Monaco (IU), 7-2 (3-8)
149: No. 20 Eric Terrrazas (ILL) dec. over Matt Coughlin (IU), 3-1 SV (6-8)
157: No. 6 Kurt Kinser (IU) dec. over Conrad Polz (ILL), 4-0 (6-11)
165: No. 13 Paul Young (IU) maj. dec. over Joe Barczak (ILL), 11-2 (6-15)
174: No. 14 Jordan Blanton (ILL) dec. over Trevor Perry (IU), 7-3 (9-15)
184: No. 2 John Dergo (ILL) maj. dec. Eric Cameron (IU), 15-6 (13-15)
197: Matt Powless (IU) dec. over No. 9 Patrick Bond (ILL), 4-2 (13-18)
HWT: No. 2 Nate Everhart (IU) maj. dec. Pat Walker (ILL), 11-2 (13-22)