Final Results
University Park, Pa. – Illinois sophomore Lucas Byrd placed third at 133-pounds, leading all Fighting Illini wrestlers at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. Senior Dylan Duncan went 3-2 overall and defeated Michigan's Drew Mattin in a 6-2 decision to secure 7th place at 141-pounds while sophomore Luke Luffman ended his second conference tournament with an 8th place finish at heavyweight. The Illini finished in 11th place in the team standings with 32.0 points.
Lucas Byrd went 4-1 in his first Big Ten tournament, capped off with a 7-1 decision over Northwestern's Chris Cannon to take third place at 133-pounds. The sophomore had an impressive weekend, with his only loss coming against Iowa's Austin DeSanto, a 5-4 decision on Saturday night in the 133-pound semifinals.
Dylan Duncan finished the weekend with a 7th-place finish at 141-pounds, going 3-2 with a pair of major decision victories on day one.
Danny Braunagel and Zac Braunagel both earned 9th place finishes in the 165-pound and 184-pound weight classes, respectively. Danny went 2-2 on the weekend, losing his first two matches, but coming back strong on Sunday, winning both bouts by decision and earning 9th place. Zac Braunagel also went 2-2 on the weekend, losing his first two matches on day one, but following up with an impressive showing on Sunday. Zac would earn a 10-1 major decision victory over Northwestern's Jon Halvorsen in his first bout of day two, followed by a 5-4 decision in his second to secure 9th place at 184-pounds.
Justin Cardani battled in his first match of the weekend, but would lose in a 2-0 decision to Purdue's Devin Schroder, who would end up advancing to the 125-pound championship. Cardani went 1-3 overall, picking up a dominant win over Maryland's Zach Spence, an 11-0 major decision.
Johnny Mologousis and DJ Shannon both went 1-3. Mologousis's win was a lopsided 17-2 tech fall over Indiana's Luke Baughman. Shannon earned a 3-2 decision victory over Maryland's Phillip Spadafora in his second bout on day one. Christian Kanzler and Matt Wroblewski both went 0-2 on the weekend.
TEAM STANDINGS:
1: Iowa – 159.5
2: Penn State – 124.0
3: Nebraska – 105.5
4: Michigan – 92.0
5: Minnesota – 77.5
6: Purdue – 76.0
7: Northwestern – 74.0
8: Michigan State – 73.5
9: Ohio State – 69.5
10: Rutgers – 52.0
11: Illinois – 32.0
12: Wisconsin – 30.5
13: Indiana – 22.0
14: Maryland – 2.0
ILLINOIS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:
(#10) Justin Cardani (1-3)
Devin Schroder (Purdue) over Justin Cardani (ILL) (Dec 2-0)
Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) over Justin Cardani (ILL) (SV-1 5-3)
Justin Cardani (ILL) over Zach Spence (Maryland) (MD 11-0)
Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) over Justin Cardani (ILL) (MD 12-2)
(#3) Lucas Byrd (4-1)
Lucas Byrd (ILL) fall Shane Metzler (Rutgers) 6:06
Lucas Byrd (ILL) over Boo Dryden (Minnesota) (Dec 12-5)
Austin DeSanto (Iowa) over Lucas Byrd (ILL) (Dec 5-4)
Lucas Byrd (ILL) over Jacob Rundell (Purdue) (MD 8-0)
Lucas Byrd (ILL) over Chris Cannon (Northwestern) (D 7-1)
(#5) Dylan Duncan (3-2)
Dylan Duncan (ILL) over Matt Santos (Michigan State) (MD 8-0)
Chad Red (Nebraska) over Dylan Duncan (ILL) (MD 12-3)
Dylan Duncan (ILL) over Marcos Polanco (Minnesota) (MD 8-0)
Parker Filius (Purdue) over Dylan Duncan (ILL) (D 11-7)
Dylan Duncan (ILL) over Drew Mattin (Michigan) (D 6-2)
(#13) Christian Kanzler (0-2)
Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) over Christian Kanzler (ILL) (Dec 8-2)
Scharenbrock (Wisconsin) over Christian Kanzler (ILL) (Dec 10-5)
(#12) Johnny Mologousis (1-3)
Brady Berge (Penn State) over Johnny Mologousis (ILL) (MD 13-4)
Johnny Mologousis (ILL) over Luke Baughman (Indiana) (TF 17-2)
Will Lewan (Michigan) over Johnny Mologousis (ILL) (Dec 3-2)
Luke Baughman (Indiana) over Johnny Mologousis (ILL) (D 3-2)
(#2) Danny Braunagel (2-2)
Peyton Robb (Nebraska) over Danny Braunagel (ILL) (Dec 9-5)
Jake Tucker (Michigan State) fall Danny Braunagel (ILL) 6:35
Danny Braunagel (ILL) over Brett Donner (Rutgers) (Dec 6-1)
Danny Braunagel (ILL) over Nick South (Indiana) (Dec 6-3)
(#11) DJ Shannon (1-3)
Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) over DJ Shannon (ILL) (Dec 4-1)
DJ Shannon (ILL) over Phillip Spadafora (Maryland) (Dec 3-2)
Donnell Washington (Indiana) over DJ Shannon (ILL) (Dec 2-1)
Phillip Spadafora (Maryland) over DJ Shannon (ILL) (Dec 2-0)
(#8) Zac Braunagel (2-2)
Nelson Brands (Iowa) over Zac Braunagel (ILL) (Dec 7-6)
Max Lyon (Purdue) over Zac Braunagel (ILL) (SV-1 7-5)
Zac Braunagel (ILL) over Jon Halvorsen (Northwestern) (MD 10-1)
Zac Braunagel (ILL) over Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) (D 5-4)
(#8) Matt Wroblewski (0-2)
Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) over Matt Wroblewski (ILL) (SV-1 3-1)
Michael Beard (Penn State) over Matt Wroblewski (ILL) (Dec 6-2)
(#4) Luke Luffman (2-3)
Luke Luffman (ILL) fall Rudy Streck (Indiana) 5:28
Christian Lance (Nebraska) over Luke Luffman (ILL) (SV-1 3-1)
Luke Luffman (ILL) over Christian Colucci (Rutgers) (Dec 5-2)
Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) over Luke Luffman (ILL) (SV-1 3-1)
Trent Hillger (Ohio State) fall Luke Luffman (ILL) 1:08
UP NEXT
The Illini travel to St. Louis, Mo. in two weeks for the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which take place March 18-20. Select qualifiers for the tournament will be announced later this week.
