HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – The Illinois wrestling team finished the final rounds at the 58th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates on Dec. 30, 2022. Redshirt junior Zac Braunagel (197 lbs.) and redshirt sophomore Edmond Ruth (174 lbs.) earned gold in their respective weight classes.

"Overall I'm proud of the group we brought to the Midlands," shared head coach Mike Poeta. "Edmond Ruth and Zac Braunagel had great tournaments. Winning the Midlands is a big deal and that's something they'll have forever. Can't say enough about the toughness of Lucas Byrd, Danny Braunagel, and Dylan Connell. Some of the things they did and guys they beat was pretty special. Danny Pucino and Trey Sizemore also did a nice job and placed for us. I feel like I keep repeating myself but the group we brought did a lot of good things. This was a tournament we can build off of." 

Five other Illini were place winners today: redshirt sophomore Lucas Byrd (133 lbs.) placed third, redshirt junior Danny Braunagel (165 lbs.) placed third, redshirt freshman Dylan Connell (184 lbs.) placed fifth, sophomore Danny Pucino (141 lbs.) placed seventh and junior Trey Sizemore (174 lbs.) placed eighth.

Ruth extends his win streak to 15 with his semifinals and finals wins today. The top-seeded Illini dispatched the five seed Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) by a 10-4 decision in the semifinals. That set the stage for the one seed Ruth to face the three seed Nick Incontera (Penn) in the finals. It was knotted up at one in the third period and Ruth secured a nice takedown to take the lead 3-1 with riding time already secured. He was victorious 4-1 and claimed the 174-pound crown.

Zac wins his second individual championship of the season and was the number two seed in the 197 bracket. He faced the third seed Luke Stout (Princeton) in the semifinal and won a close fought match by a 4-3 decision. This set him up to take on the top seeded Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) in final match. If the semifinals was close then this finals match was about as close as close can get. Neither wrestler gave a millimeter to each other throughout the whole match. Tied at one going into the second round of tie breakers Zac finally found a crack in Amos and escaped to secure the win 2-1.

ILLINI PLACE WINNERS FULL RESULTS:

Edmond Ruth

• Champ. Round 1 - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) won by decision over Alex Whitworth (Harvard) (Dec 5-2)
• Champ. Round 2 - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) won in sudden victory - 1 over Brody Conley (West Virginia) (SV-1 3-1)
• Quarterfinal - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) won by decision over Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) (Dec 5-3)
• Semifinal - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) won by decision over Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) (Dec 10-4)
• 1st Place Match - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) won by decision over Nick Incontera (Penn) (Dec 4-1)

Zac Braunagel

• Champ. Round 1 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) received a bye (Bye)
• Champ. Round 2 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) won by major decision over Jonathon Fagen (Arizona State) (Maj 11-3)
• Quarterfinal - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) won by decision over Michael Battista (Virginia) (Dec 4-1)
• Semifinal - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) won by decision over Luke Stout (Princeton) (Dec 4-3)
• 1st Place Match - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) won in tie breaker - 2 over Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) (TB-2 2-1)

Lucas Byrd

• Champ. Round 1 - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) won by major decision over Jake Manley (Cleveland State) (Maj 11-1)
• Champ. Round 2 - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) won by major decision over Ian Oswalt (Brown) (Maj 14-5)
• Champ. Round 3 - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) won by major decision over Cole Rhone (Bloomsburg) (Maj 9-1)
• Quarterfinal - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) won by decision over Julian Chlebove (Arizona State) (Dec 4-0)
• Semifinal - Michael Colaiocco (Penn) won by decision over Lucas Byrd (Illinois) (Dec 15-13)
• Cons. Semi - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) won by decision over Joe Heilman (Rutgers) (Dec 8-1)
• 3rd Place Match - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) won by decision over Julian Chlebove (Arizona State) (Dec 3-0)

Danny Braunagel

• Champ. Round 1 - Dan Braunagel (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
• Champ. Round 2 - Dan Braunagel (Illinois) won by major decision over Connor O`Neill (Rutgers) (Maj 14-4)
• Champ. Round 3 - Dan Braunagel (Illinois) won by decision over Max Mayfield (Northwestern) (Dec 8-1)
• Quarterfinal - Dan Braunagel (Illinois) won by decision over Peyton Hall (West Virginia) (Dec 7-6)
• Semifinal - Quincy Monday (Princeton) won by decision over Dan Braunagel (Illinois) (Dec 6-4)
• Cons. Semi - Dan Braunagel (Illinois) won by decision over Justin McCoy (Virginia) (Dec 10-4)
• 3rd Place Match - Dan Braunagel (Illinois) won by medical forfeit over Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) (MFF)

Dylan Connell

• Champ. Round 1 - Dylan Connell (Illinois) won by major decision over Luke Rada (Harvard) (Maj 10-2)
• Champ. Round 2 - Dylan Connell (Illinois) won by decision over Jon Halvorsen (Northwestern) (Dec 3-2)
• Champ. Round 3 - Dylan Connell (Illinois) won by decision over Rylan Rogers (Michigan) (Dec 3-1)
• Quarterfinal - Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) won in sudden victory - 1 over Dylan Connell (Illinois) (SV-1 2-0)
• Cons. Round 6 - Dylan Connell (Illinois) won by tech fall over Leo Tarantino (Harvard) (TF 15-0)
• Cons. Round 7 - Dylan Connell (Illinois) won by decision over Dylan Fishback (NC State) (Dec 6-2)
• Cons. Semi - Brian Soldano (Rutgers) won by decision over Dylan Connell (Illinois) (Dec 5-2)
• 5th Place Match - Dylan Connell (Illinois) won by fall over Anthony Carman (West Virginia) (Fall 0:30)

Danny Pucino

• Champ. Round 1 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) received a bye (Bye)
• Champ. Round 2 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) won by decision over Trey Crawford (Missouri) (Dec 10-5)
• Champ. Round 3 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) won by decision over Michael Leveille (Purdue) (Dec 8-3)
• Quarterfinal - Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) won by major decision over Danny Pucino (Illinois) (Maj 12-2)
• Cons. Round 6 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) won by decision over Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) (Dec 4-1)
• Cons. Round 7 - Brian Courtney (Unattached ) won by fall over Danny Pucino (Illinois) (Fall 6:42)
• 7th Place Match - Danny Pucino (Illinois) won by major decision over Josh Mason (Bloomsburg) (Maj 14-4)

Trey Sizemore

• Champ. Round 1 - Trey Sizemore (Illinois) won by decision over Justin Phillips (Virginia) (Dec 9-2)
• Champ. Round 2 - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) won by decision over Trey Sizemore (Illinois) (Dec 7-2)
• Cons. Round 2 - Trey Sizemore (Illinois) won by major decision over Jr Reed (Cleveland State) (Maj 14-0)
• Cons. Round 3 - Trey Sizemore (Illinois) won by decision over Hayden Pummel (Northern Illinois) (Dec 6-2)
• Cons. Round 4 - Trey Sizemore (Illinois) won by medical forfeit over Troy Fisher (Northwestern) (MFF)
• Cons. Round 5 - Brody Conley (West Virginia) won by decision over Trey Sizemore (Illinois) (Dec 4-2)
• 7th Place Match - Kole Mulhauser (Princeton) won by major decision over Trey Sizemore (Illinois) (Maj 12-2)

UP NEXT

The Illinois wrestling team opens up Big Ten competition in a big way a week from today's conclusion of the Midlands Championships. The Illini will travel out to Iowa City on Jan. 6 to face Iowa at 7 p.m. CT.