Pucino’s Pin Lifts Illinois over Northwestern in Season-Finale Dual, 21-20

Rankings courtesy of InterMat

EVANSTON, Ill. – The Illinois wrestling team won their season-finale dual against Northwestern, 21-20, on Sunday (Feb. 18). Redshirt sophomore No. 25 (141 lbs.) Danny Pucino pinned Kolby McClain (NU) in 2:25 which led to Illinois winning the dual in tiebreakers.

The dual was tied 20-20 after all ten matches and was destined for tie-breaking criteria. The first criteria is match wins which was also even at five each team. The second criteria is pins which made Pucino's an important one since it was the only one of the night and granted Illinois the tie-breaking point.

"I thought this was a good weekend of team wrestling for the guys," said head coach Mike Poeta. "They fought hard for each other and showed a lot of heart. A big weekend for Danny Pucino getting two massive pins for us, especially today since it broke the tie. That wouldn't have mattered though if it wasn't for Peter Marinopoulos. You're never happy about a loss, but that's the best loss you can take if it wins the dual for the team. He did everything we asked, showed tremendous guts and wrestled like a gangster through that last match. Edmond Ruth looked good showed a lot more offense which is exciting. Congrats to Chris Moore with the big win knocking off a good, ranked opponent. Tony Madrigal and Justin Cardani did a great job of setting the tone early in this dual."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Redshirt senior (125 lbs.) Justin Cardani started off the dual with a comfortable 8-4 decision win over Massey Odiotti (NU). This put the Illini up 3-0. Graduate student No. 24 (133 lbs.) Tony Madrigal earned his sixth straight dual victory with his 8-0 major decision Dedrick Navarro (NU). The Illini lead 7-0 after this point.

Pucino got his second pin in a row after not having any all season prior to this weekend. He turned Kolby McClain (NU) to his back in 2 minutes and 25 seconds to put Illinois up 13-0. This was the second fastest pin of the season from an Illini wrestler in dual action and he now leads the team with two falls.

Freshman (165 lbs.) Chris Moore resumed the scoring for Illinois after the intermission. He upset No. 20 Maxx Mayfield (NU) in a 5-4 decision to extend the Fighting Illini lead, 16-9. Redshirt junior No. 8 (174lbs.) Edmond Ruth picked up his 18th win with his team-high eighth major decision of the year over Joseph Martin (NU), 16-6.

It all came down yet again to Marinopoulos as the Wildcats rattled off a few wins after the 174 bout to make it 20-17 heading into the final match. Illinois was set to win on the second tiebreaking criteria of number of pins (1-0) so long as Marinopoulos didn't give up bonus points (major decision, tech. fall or get pinned).

He battled for seven straight minutes and needed to get his ankle taped twice during the match. Through all of that he still gutted out a late takedown in the third period to cut into Jack Jessen's (NU) lead and make it a 13-7 decision instead of giving up the major decision and lose the dual.

UP NEXT

The Fighting Illini matmen return to action for the Big Ten Championships in College Park, Md. on Sat.-Sun. March 9-10.

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