New Brunswick, N.J. – Fighting Illini wrestling dropped a back-and-forth dual against No. 13 Rutgers, 19-17, on Friday night at the Rutgers Athletic Center. Evenly matched, the Illini (1-1, 0-1) and Scarlet Knights (7-1, 2-0) traded blows throughout the night, as both teams won five matches. With the Illini leading 17-13 through eight bouts, Rutgers responded with back-to-back victories to defeat the 11th-ranked Illini. Zane Richards (133), Eric Barone (149), Isaiah Martinez (165), Zac Brunson (174) and Emery Parker (184) earned victories to lead the Illini.
"As a team we found a way to lose a very winnable match," said Head Coach Jim Heffernan. "It was a huge win for Barone in his first varsity dual meet, beating a very good opponent who placed high in the Big Ten Tournament last year. He showed a lot of fire and heart. Parker seemed to be in control most of the match and figured out a way to get it done in overtime. For Brunson, he let his opponent hang around too much and that's why the match was closer than it should have been. He found a way to win at the end. Getting lost in all of this was a good effort by Langenderfer who was ahead by 7 points when he got pinned. It's going to be very important for Kyle, deuce, Andre, Travis, and Mousa to bounce back on Sunday at Maryland. I saw some fight out of our guys that we didn't have at weights last week."
It came down to the final bout as the Illini led 17-16 entering the heavyweight match, and Coach Heffernan turned to Deuce Rachal. Facing Razohnn Gross, the two heavyweights traded escapes in the second and third periods to enter the final minute tied, 1-1. However, it was Gross who was to get a takedown on, hanging on for a 3-2 decision to clinch the victory for the Scarlet Knights.
The dual started with a heartbreaking loss for Illinois' Travis Piotrowski, as the Illini freshman lost his first career Big Ten dual on a last-second takedown by Brandon Paetzell (10-3). Tied 1-1 late in the third period, Piotrowski (8-7) had clinched the riding time point but gave up a takedown with one second remaining in the period. The Illini challenged that the takedown came after time expired, but the takedown was upheld to give Paetzell the 3-2 decision.
Trailing 3-0, Coach Heffernan turned to fourth-ranked Zane Richards at 133 pounds to get the Illini on the board. Scott DelVecchio (13-6) took an early 2-0 lead, but Richards responded with takedowns in the first and second periods to even the score, 5-5, entering the final two minutes. In the final period, Richards used an escape and a takedown to gain control of the match, holding off a late DelVecchio reversal for the 9-7 decision.
After Rutgers regained the lead with a 10-0 major decision by No. 6 Anthony Ashnault (15-3) over Mousa Jodeh (8-9) at 141 pounds, the Illini received a big boost from redshirt freshman Eric Barone at 149 pounds. Wrestling in his first collegiate dual match, Barone gave up an early takedown and second-period stalling penalty to trail 3-1 entering the third period. However, Barone battled back with four points in the final period, highlighted by a takedown with under a minute remaining to take the lead. Adding on a point for riding time, Barone earned a 5-3 decision to bring the Illini to within 7-6.
Kyle Langenderfer continued the momentum early in the 157-pound bout as he jumped out to a 7-0 lead over No. 19 John Van Brill (Rutgers) midway through the second period. However, Van Brill responded with a takedown and four-point near fall to take control. Continuing to ride Langenderfer, Van Brill was able to get Langenderfer on his back once more, this time earning the fall with 4:46 on the clock. With the momentum-switching pin, Rutgers led the match 13-6 heading into the intermission.
Trailing by seven points, the Illini turned to top-ranked Isaiah Martinez at 165 pounds to cut into the deficit. Martinez (13-0) jumped out to an 11-4 advantage through three minutes, and then cruised to a 24-8 technical fall to cut the Rutgers lead to 13-11.
Following Martinez's victory, No. 12 Zac Brunson and No. 14 Emery Parker won thrilling overtime decisions to retake the lead for the Orange and Blue.
Brunson (18-3) gave the Illini a 14-13 lead with a sudden-victory defeat of Phillip Bakuckas (10-4). Tied 1-1 after seven minutes, the Illini senior wrapped up Bakuckas 26 seconds into the extra period for his team-leading 18th victory on the season.
A much more offensive match than at 174 pounds, Parker (17-3) and No. 11 Nicholas Gravina (12-3) traded blows throughout the match on their way to a 6-6 tie after three periods. In overtime, Parker and Gravina got into a scramble midway through the one-minute period where the Illini redshirt sophomore was able to turn the Scarlet Knight grappler for the takedown. The win over Gravina marked Parker's second over a ranked opponent this season.
The dual took one final turn, as Matthew Correnti defeated Illinois' Andre Lee (7-6) in a high-octane dual, winning by a 16-12 decision, to trim the Illini lead to 17-16 before Gross won the winner-take-all heavyweight bout over Rachal, 3-2.
The Fighting Illini (1-1, 0-1) will look to bounce back at Maryland on Sunday, January 8 when the Illini take on the Terrapins at 10 a.m. central time. The dual will be streamed live on BTN Plus with a paid subscription.
#13 Rutgers 19, #11 Illinois 17 (Full Play-By-Play)
125: Brandon Paetzell (Rutgers) won by decision over Travis Piotrowski (ILL), 3-2 | 0-3
133 – #4 Zane Richards (ILL) won by decision over Scott DelVecchio (RU), 9-7 | 3-3
141 – #6 Anthony Ashnault (RU) won by major decision over Mousa Jodeh (ILL), 10-0 | 3-7
149 – Eric Barone (ILL) won by decision over Anthony Giraldo (RU), 5-3 | 6-7
157 – #19 John Van Brill (RU) won by fall over Kyle Langenderfer (ILL) #19 John Van Brill (RU), 4:46 | 6-13
165 - #1 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) won by technical fall over Willie Scott (RU), 24-8 | 11-13
174 - #12 Zac Brunson (ILL) won by sudden victory over Phillip Bakuckas (RU), 3-1 | 14-13
184 - #14 Emery Parker (ILL) won by sudden victory over (ILL) #11 Nicholas Gravina (RU), 8-6
197 – Matthew Correnti won by decision (RU) Andre Lee (ILL), 16-12 | 17-16
HWT – Razohnn Gross (RU) wins by decision over Deuce Rachal (ILL), 3-2 | 17-19
Illini Notes:
- Illinois falls to 1-1 all-time against Rutgers. Illinois won the first meeting in 2015 with a 24-9 victory in Champaign
- Zane Richards (13-1) notched his 95th win of his career, just one behind Nate Patrick for 24th place on Illinois' all-time wins list.
- Isaiah Martinez earned his 80th victory of his career and his 11th victory this season by major decision or greater
- Redshirt freshman Eric Barone (3-2) earned his first dual victory with a 5-3 decision of Anthony Giraldo
- Emery Parker earned his second upset victory of the season, the eight overall for the Illini this season.
- Parker's sudden victory over Gravina was his second overtime victory of the season. Parker won in sudden victory, 11-8, over John Filipek (McKeendree) in the Kaufman Brand title bout.
- Tonight's match marked the first dual matches for Eric Barone (r-Fr.) and Deuce Rachal (r-So.). It was the first Big Ten dual for true freshman Travis Piotrowski
