CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini swept the three duals today in New York as they beat Maryland (34-9) and Drexel (31-9) convincingly at Madison Square Garden before outlasting No. 25 Princeton 20-15 at the New York Athletic Club.
Against Maryland, true freshman Francis Edelen opened the scoring with his first career victory at Illinois. The Oak Forest native claimed a hard-fought victory over Jhared Simmons, coming back from down 6-4 in the 3rd period to earn the 8-6 decision.
"Francis has competed hard in every match he's wrestled this year," said Coach Heffernan. "He fought hard and gave himself some chances to score. He did a great job."
Coach Heffernan's top wrestlers again led the way with dominating performances against Maryland. Zane Richards accelerated the Illini's advantage to 9-0 with a pin at 133 pounds (4:20), his second of the season. With the lead at 12-3, No. 1 Isaiah Martinez dominated #16 Louis Mascola with a 24-5 technical fall, before Brunson sealed the victory with his fifth pin in six matches this season. Maryland closed the gap with a pin at 184, but Andre Lee's first tech fall of the season paired with a 6-1 decision by Brooks Black finalized the 34-9 victory.
"Zane {Richards}'s looked really good so far but needs to be consistent for a full season," said Heffernan. "He had a good summer and fall and keeps getting better."
In the second dual at Madison Square Garden, the Orange and Blue fell behind 3-0, but quickly regained control as Zane Richards improved to 7-0 on the season with a 15-6 major decision. The Fighting Illini put some distance between them and the Dragons when Brock Ervin earned a 16-0 tech fall and Martinez pinned Mike Comunale to extend the lead out to 15-6. Rodrigues, Koepke, Lee, and Black combined for 16 points to seal the 31-9 victory over Drexel.
In their final dual meet of the day, The Illini came back from a 9-5 deficit to defeat No. 25 Princeton 20-15 at the New York Athletic Club. After dropping three of the four bouts to start the match, Isaiah Martinez turned the tide with a 19-4 technical fall. Veterans Rodrigues, Brunson, and Koepke combined for 10 points to pull away from the Tigers 20-9. Princeton won two decisions to end the match, but the Illini came away victorious 20-15.
"Princeton is a very solid team and we knew they would be our biggest challenge today," explained Heffernan. "We need to work in a lot of things still. We got beat to the punch in a few matches and didn't do anywhere enough offense in some other matches when we were behind."
Illinois defeated Maryland 34-9
125 - Francis Edelen (Illinois) over Jhared Simmons (Maryland) Dec 8-6
133 - Zane Richards (Illinois) over Tyler Goodwin (Maryland) Fall 4:20
141 - Brock Ervin (Illinois) over Alfred Bannister (Maryland) Dec 3-2
149 - Wade Hodges (Maryland) over Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois) Dec 3-1
157 - Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) over Louis Mascola (Maryland) TF 24-5
165 - Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) over Brendan Burnham (Maryland) Dec 13-8
174 - Zac Brunson (Illinois) over Josh Snook (Maryland) Fall 3:22
184 - Jaron Smith (Maryland) over Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois) Fall 4:14
197 - Andre Lee (Illinois) over Sean Twigg (Maryland) TF 18-3
285 - Brooks Black (Illinois) over Youssif Hemida (Maryland) Dec 6-1
Illinois defeated Drexel 31-9
125 - Zachary Fuentes (Drexel) over Francis Edelen (Illinois) Dec 6-0
133 - Zane Richards (Illinois) over David Pearce (Drexel) Maj 15-6
141 - Brock Ervin (Illinois) over Anthony Canfora (Drexel) TF 17-0
149 - Matthew Cimato (Drexel) over Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois) Dec 3-2
157 - Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) over Michael Comunale (Drexel) Fall 1:49
165 - Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) over Austin Rose (Drexel) Maj 17-4
174 - Nicholas Elmer (Drexel) over Emory Parker (Illinois) Dec 7-3
184 - Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois) over Stephen Loiseau (Drexel) Inj 4:11
197 - Andre Lee (Illinois) over Nezar Haddad (Drexel) Dec 4-1
285 - Brooks Black (Illinois) over Joseph Goodhart (Drexel) Dec 6-1
Illinois defeated Princeton 20-15
125 – Pat D'Arcy (Princeton) over Francis Edelen (Illinois) Dec 2-1
133 - Zane Richards (Illinois) over Trey Aslanian (Princeton) TF 25-10
141 – Jordan Laster (Princeton) over Brock Ervin (Illinois) Dec 5-2
149 – Chris Perez (Princeton) over Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois) Dec 11-8
157 - Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) over Francesco Fabozzi (Princeton) TF 17-2
165 - Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) over Judd Ziegler (Princeton) Dec 14-3
174 – Zac Brunson (Illinois) over Jonathan Shleifer (Princeton) Dec 12-7
184 - Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois) over Abram Ayala (Princeton) Dec 6-3
197 - Brett Harner (Princeton) over Andre Lee (Illinois) Dec 3-2
285 - Ray O'Donnell (Princeton) over Brooks Black (Illinois) Dec 4-3
