All rankings according to InterMat
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 17 Illinois wrestling team picked up another Big Ten victory over No. 23 Maryland, 29-11, at the State Farm Center on Sunday, Jan. 22. Sixth year No. 20 Mike Carr and redshirt sophomore No. 10 Lucas Byrd both picked up Technical Falls to launch the Illini in front.

"Total team performance, I'm proud of the guys top to bottom," said head coach Mike Poeta. "They put on a good show for the fans. They're really trying to build leads and dominate matches, that builds a lot of confidence. It shows a lot to the opponents when they're looking at our results and they see these big wins, they're starting to fear us a little bit more. I love seeing Mikey Carr out there again and we should be seeing him a lot moving forward."

No. 10 Byrd put the Illini on top early 5-3 with his technical fall over Conner Quinn (22-7 6:06). Redshirt freshman No.14 Danny Pucino won his 13th match of the year with his 5-2 decision over Kal Miller.

The match was 8-8 heading into the 157-pound bout, that is as close as Maryland would get the rest of the way. No. 20 Carr returned to the State Farm Center for the first time since Jan. 21, 2023. He wasted no time and immediately spring boarded Illinois back out in front, 13-8, with his technical fall victory over Kevin Schork (22-7 6:26).

Redshirt junior No. 11 Danny Braunagel went to work and defeated John Martin Best via decision 13-6. Redshirt sophomore No. 10 Edmond Ruth won his 20th straight match with his 2-0 decision over Dominic Solis.

Redshirt freshman No. 26 Dylan Connell scored some bonus points for the team. He major decisioned Chase Mielnik 11-2 after narrowly pinning him multiple times.

UP NEXT
Illini wrestling is back on the Big Ten Network Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. CT as they travel out to Minnesota.

Full Results