CHAMPAIGN,Ill.— In front of a season-high crowd of 1,451 the Fighting Illini dropped their second straight match to a top-10 opponent to begin Big Ten play in 2016. Although the Orange and Blue overcome a 12-3 deficit to start the match to tie it at 12-12 heading into the 174-pound bout, Iowa reeled off four straight victories to seal the 26-12 victory at Huff Hall on Friday night.
"I think Richards was great beating a really great wrestler, a defending national finalist," said Coach Heffernan. "Isaiah {Martinez} and Steven Rodrigues wrestled really well, and I thought Brock Ervin wrestled pretty well, but he has to learn how to finish matches."
With the match starting at 125 pounds, the Hawkeyes sprinted out of the gate with a 22-5, first period technical fall from No.2 Thomas Gilman over Illinois' Francis Edelen, highlighted by two four-point near falls.
The headliner bout came at 133 pounds where No. 3 Zane Richards and No. 1 Cory Clark put their perfect records on the line. Zane Richards opened the period with a takedown before Clark gained an escape point to end period one trailing the host 2-1. Starting in the down position, Clark leveled the score with an escape in period two. Richards responded with an escape of his own to go up 3-2, but Clark was awarded a penalty point in the third period to send the match into overtime. In the one-minute overtime, Richards scored a takedown against Clark to win 5-3 in sudden victory. The win evened Richard's collegiate record against No. 1 Clark 2-2.
"It's doing things right in the practice room, being consistent and fearless when I'm out on the mat, just knowing I'm better than {Clark}, just sticking to my stuff and I know I can beat him," said Richards. "The score was closer than it needed to be in my opinion"
After 133 pounds required overtime, the 141 bout was equally compelling as Illinois' Brock Ervin and Iowa's Topher Carton exchanged blows through the first two periods, entering the decisive period tied 4-4. In the third period, Ervin and Carton remained deadlocked until a controversial call penalized Ervin for stalling, netting Iowa a 5-4 victory and 8-3 advantage in the team score.
The next three matches saw three of the nation's top wrestlers exert their talent upon their opponent. At 149 pounds, No. 1 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) earned a 16-4 major decision over Kyle Langenderfer with a slew of takedowns. Trailing 12-3 in the match, Illinois took their turn dominating the mat. No.1 Isaiah Martinez remained perfect for his 58th straight match, executing two four-point near falls in route to a 21-5, second-period tech fall. The technical fall matched his total (11) for all of last season and brought the Illini to within four of the visiting Hawkeyes. Senior No. 6 Steven Rodrigues completed the comeback at 165 pounds with a major decision solidified by a two-point takedown in the match's final three seconds.
A combined nine points from Martinez and Rodrigues knotted the match at 12, but that's all Illinois could muster against the talented Iowa grapplers. Iowa took the lead for good when No. 5 Alex Meyer earned a 24-9 technical fall over Isaac Reinemann, who was filling in for starter Zac Brunson for the second straight match. Coach Heffernan applauded Reinemann's effort after the match:
"Isaac Reinemann deserves a lot of credit for the situation he's in, wrestling up four weight classes and competing like he does," said Coach Heffernan."
Unfortunately for Reinemann and the rest of the Illini, Sammy Brooks added to the Illini deficit with a 6-1 decision over Jeff Koepke at 184 pounds. The relentless Iowa attack continued at 197 pounds when No. 5 Nathan Burak used three takedowns in period three to win 13-6, extending the Iowa lead to 23-12. The night ended with a struggle at heavyweight where Iowa's Same Stoll outlasted Brooks Black with an escape and point for riding time to earn a 2-0 individual victory and a 26-12 team victory.
The Fighting Illini will seek to get back to their winning ways when they step outside of the Big Ten this Sunday for a match in DeKalb against the Northern Illinois' Huskies. The dual will begin at 1 p.m. and will be aired live on http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/2740770/illinois-vs-northern-illinois.
"Home or away, we've got some things to clean up," said Hefferna. "A lot of it's just basic stuff and decision making. Decision making we have to get better at, skill stuff we'll keep getting better at, and then start to emphasize more details."
#2 Iowa 26, #10 Illinois 12
125: #2 Thomas Gilman (IA) tech fall Francis Edelen (ILL); 22-5 | 5-0
133: #3 Zane Richards (ILL) dec. #1 Cory Clark (IA); 5-3 SV | 5-3
141: Topher Carton (IA) dec. Brock Ervin (ILL); 5-4 | 8-3
149: #1 Brandon Sorensen (IA) major dec. Kyle Langenderfer (ILL); 16-4 | 12-3
157: #1 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) tech fall #19 Edwin Cooper Jr. (IA); 21-5 | 12-8
165: #6 Steven Rodrigues (ILL) major dec. Patrick Rhoads (IA); 12-4 | 12-12
174: #6 Alex Meyer (IA) tech. fall Isaac Reinemann (ILL); 24-9 | 17-12
184: #9 Sammy Brooks (IA) dec. #16 Jeff Koepke (ILL); 6-1 | 20-12
197: #5 Nathan Burak (IA) dec. Andre Lee (ILL); 13-6 | 23-12
HWT: #10 Sam Stoll (IA) dec. Brooks Black (ILL); 2-0 | 26-12
Highlights
Interviews with Zane Richards and Coach Heffernan
