Day 1 Brackets
IOWA CITY, IOWA — After being bounced out of the championships bracket in the quarterfinals, former Illini Jimmy Kennedy reeled off three straight victories to wrestle back to the third-place match where he lost a heartbreaker to Zain Retherford of Penn State. Former Illini BJ Futrell also competed today, going 1-2 overall but losing to Kennedy in the second round of the consolation bracket.
In the opening round of the 65kg/143lbs championship bracket, Jimmy Kennedy cruised to 12-2 technical fall over Dean Hall. The three-time All-American and U.S. Open champion, used three early takedowns to jump out to an 8-0 lead. After a Heil takedown at the end of the first period, Kennedy added two more takedowns to start period two to seal the victory.
Elsewhere in the opening round, BJ Futrell dropped a 10-0 technical fall to Logan Stieber. The two-time All-American at Illinois fell behind early and was unable to overcome the former NCAA Ohio State Buckeye, and four-time NCAA champion, in the opening round.
In the quarterfinals, Kennedy faced off against Reece Humphrey. Kennedy took a 1-0 lead on a push out. However, Humphrey responded with four points off of a Kennedy chest lock to take a 4-1 advantage. After Kennedy battled back with a takedown to close the gap to 4-3 to end period one, Humphrey increased his advantage to begin period two with two takedowns to push the lead out to 8-3. Kennedy continued to battle back, getting to within 10-9, but could not quite regain the lead over Humphrey. Two more takedowns sealed the victory for Humphrey, winning by a decision of 14-11.
Moving to the consolation bracket, Futrell bounced back in the with a strong performance in route to a decision victory over James Green. Futrell opened with an early caution point against Green. However, Green took the lead with a takedown towards the end of period one and another to start the second period. With just two minutes remaining, and Futrell trailing 4-1, the former Illini grappler went to work with a takedown with a minute and a half left. With just under 40 seconds remaining, Futrell executed the victorious blow as Futrell reversed Green's momentum to get a takedown and a 5-4 lead. Futrell tacked on one more takedown for good measure on his way to an 8-4 victory.
With Kennedy's quarterfinal loss and Futrell's consolation victory, the two Illini were pitted against one another in the second round of the consolation bracket.
Futrell was the first to score in the all-Illini match-up, taking a 2-0 lead just 30 seconds into the match. With a minute to go in the first period, Kennedy got even with a takedown. The duo remained knotted at 2-2 for the remaining minute of first-period action. In period two, Kennedy surged ahead with a takedown 20 seconds into the period. Kennedy added two more takedowns to cushion his lead, winning the bout by a score of 8-2.
Facing Kellen Russell in round three of the consolation bracket, Jimmy Kennedy fell behind early, 2-0. Kennedy fought back at the end of period one with a takedown to tie the score entering the final three minutes. In period two, Kennedy took control of the match with a takedown and never looked back. The former Illini tacked on two more takedowns on his way to a 7-2 victory to advance to the consolation bracket semifinal.
In the semifinal, Kennedy squared off against former Ohio State Buckeye Logan Stieber who defeated Futrell earlier in the day. After an early caution point against Kennedy, Kennedy dominated the remaining time of period one with a four-point takedown followed by three leg laces to forge ahead 10-1. In the final period, Kennedy held Stieber off of the board until the final moments to defeat Stieber 10-1 to advance to the third-place bout.
After knocking off Stieber, Kennedy met 2016 NCAA Champion Zain Retherford in the third-place match with a spot on the national team on the line. Kennedy scored first with a takedown, but Retherford responded with one of his own to tie the score, 2-2. With the two grapplers were unable to land any more advances in the match, Retherford received the victory based on him being the most recent wrestler to have scored.
The two former Illini grapplers concluded competition with Kennedy placing fourth, one spot shy of making the national team, while Futrell finished 1-2 on the day.
Up next, Illini volunteer assistant coach Wynn Michalak will take his shot at the Olympic team as he wrestles in the 97kg/214lbs freestyle division tomorrow morning. Competition begins at 9am and continues through the best of three championships series at 6pm.
Sunday, April 10
Men's freestyle (57 kg, 74 kg, 86 kg, 97 kg)
Women's freestyle (48 kg, 53 kg, 75 kg)
Greco-Roman (75 kg and 130 kg)
8:00 a.m. – Doors open to Carver-Hawkeye Arena
9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Preliminaries through Challenge Tournament finals
5:00 p.m. – Doors open to Carver-Hawkeye Arena
6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Best two of three Championship Series.
