Full Results
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Illinois wrestling squad completed the Big Ten Championships on Sunday (March 10) from the XFINITY Center. Redshirt junior [4] Edmond Ruth became a Big Ten champion at 174 pounds for the first time in his career. His final opponent, [2] Shane Griffith (MICH), medically forfeited, which crowned Ruth as Illinois' first Big Ten champion since now-assistant coach Isaiah Martinez won at 165 pounds in 2018.
"I'm extremely proud of national qualifiers Edmond Ruth, Danny Pucino and Chris Moore," said head coach Mike Poeta. "Those guys and everyone on the team this weekend all wrestled their hearts out. Ruth is really starting to cement himself as a national title threat. Him becoming the first Big Ten champion for us since Isaiah Martinez is truly incredible. He's earned it with the amount of work he's put in before, during and after every single practice.'
'He kind of stole the show out there on the Big Ten Network with his dance moves, which was hilarious to see. It's awesome, though. As talented and focused he is, he can still have fun. We get to see that side of him every day, and it's amazing that it made its way to TV."
Ruth went 4-0 at the Big Ten Championships to improve to 22-2 on the season and raise his win streak to 10 in a row. He defeated [13] DJ Shannon (MSU) in the first round, 7-1; [5] Rocco Welsh (OSU) in the quarterfinals, SV-1 4-1 and [9] Andrew Sparks (MINN), SV-1 4-1, en route to the finals. He now sets his sights on a national title, as he has qualified for the NCAA Championships in back-to-back seasons.
True freshman [11] Chris Moore placed sixth at 165 pounds in his first Big Ten Championships. He wrestled in the fifth-place match against [5] Antrell Taylor (NEB), who he faced earlier this season in the Nebraska dual meet. Moore escaped early in the third period, but he could not get the tying takedown to force overtime and lost, 4-1.
Redshirt sophomore [6] Danny Pucino stood on the Big Ten podium for the first time in his career. He wrestled in the seventh-place match against Minnesota's [10] Vance Vombaur but fell in the overtime period by a score of 4-1 to take eighth place. Pucino still punched his ticket to Kansas City, where he will be a first-time national qualifier.
"Overall, as a team, it's a huge weekend here at the Big Ten Tournament, but at the end of the day, it's primarily a qualifier to the NCAA Tournament," Poeta said. "Other guys on the team saw that their dreams did not get fulfilled, and that is hard to be part of. There are two sides of it. It's a roller coaster, everyone worked hard but some are at the opposite end of the deal. Edmond wins and all those guys who didn't have the outcomes they wanted still supported him, hugged him, gave him high fives and congratulations because it's truly a family here.'
'I'm very proud of Justin Cardani's career:Â a 3x national qualifier and fabulous kid. We're proud that he put on the Orange and Blue singlet for us for five years. Having Tony Madrigal this year was great, too. This tournament didn't go the way he wanted, but I'm incredibly happy that he chose us for his last year. He worked extremely hard and was a great leader. I'm glad we got him for senior year."
TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State – 170.5
2. Michigan – 123.5
3. Nebraska – 118.0
4. Iowa – 110.5
5. Ohio State – 89.0
6. Rutgers – 87.5
7. Minnesota – 74.0
8. Wisconsin – 46.5
9. Purdue – 41.5
10. Maryland – 39.0
11. Illinois – 34.0
12. Indiana – 33.0
13. Michigan State – 23.5
14. Northwestern – 14.5
UP NEXT
Moore, Pucino and Ruth return to action in a couple weeks for the NCAA Championships on March 21-23 in Kansas City, Mo.
ILLINOIS RESULTS
125: Justin Cardani – 11 seed
Round 1: [6] Braeden Davis (PSU) over [11] Justin Cardani (ILL), MD 11-1.
Cons. Round 1: [14] Blaine Frazier (IND) over [11] Justin Cardani (ILL), Dec. 6-0.
9th-Place Bracket: [14] Blaine Frazier (IND) over [11] Justin Cardani (ILL), Dec. 5-0.
Cardani eliminated.
133: Tony Madrigal – 6 seed
Round 1: [11] Dustin Norris (PUR) over [6] Tony Madrigal (ILL), Dec. 10-5.
Cons. Round 1: [3] Nic Bouzakis (OSU) over [6] Tony Madrigal (ILL), Dec. 8-6.
Madrigal eliminated.
141: Danny Pucino – 6 seed
Round 1: [6] Danny Pucino (ILL) over [11] Kal Miller (MD), Dec. 8-3.
Quarterfinal: [3] Real Woods (IOWA) over [6] Danny Pucino (ILL), Dec. 13-9.
Cons. Round 2: [6] Danny Pucino over [12] Greyson Clark (PUR), Dec. 7-5.
Cons. Round 3: [7] Mitch Moore (RUT) over [6] Danny Pucino (ILL), fall (0:33).
7th-Place Match: [10] Vance Vombaur (MINN) over [6] Danny Pucino (ILL), SV-1 4-1.
Pucino placed 8th.
149: Jake Harrier – 14 seed
Round 1: [3] Caleb Rathjen (IOWA) over [14] Jake Harrier, Dec. 12-6.
Cons. Round 1: [11] Marcos Polanco (PUR) over [14] Jake Harrier (ILL), MD 11-3.
9th-Place Bracket: [14] Jake Harrier over [11] Marcos Polanco (PUR), MFFL.
9th-Place Bracket: [9] Drew Roberts (MINN) over [14] Jake Harrier (ILL), Dec. 12-6.
Harrier eliminated.
157: Logan Swaw – 14 seed
Round 1: [3] Brayton Lee (IND) over [14] Logan Swaw (ILL), TF 21-5 (4:21).
Cons. Round 1: [11] Al Desantis (RUT) over [14] Logan Swaw (ILL), MD 14-4.
9th-Place Bracket: [13] Luke Mechler (WIS) over [14] Logan Swaw (ILL), TF 15-0 (3:53).
Swaw eliminated.
165: Chris Moore – 11 seed
Round 1: [6] Cameron Amine (MICH) over [11] Chris Moore (ILL), SV-1 4-1.
Cons. Round 1: [11] Chris Moore (ILL) over [14] AJ Rodrigues (MD), SV-1 4-1.
Cons. Round 2: [11] Chris Moore (ILL) over [4] Caleb Fish (MSU), Dec. 11-10.
Cons. Round 3: [11] Chris Moore (ILL) over [7] Stoney Buell (PUR), Dec. 7-5.
Cons. Semifinals: [3] Mike Caliendo (IOWA) over [11] Chris Moore (ILL), MD 18-5.
5th-Place Match: [5] Antrell Taylor (NEB) over [11] Chris Moore (ILL), Dec. 4-1.
Moore placed 6th.
174: Edmond Ruth – 4 seed
Round 1: [4] Edmond Ruth (ILL) over [13] DJ Shannon (MSU), Dec. 7-1.
Quarterfinal: [4] Edmond Ruth (ILL) over [5] Rocco Welsh (OSU), SV-1 4-1.
Semifinal: [4] Edmond Ruth (ILL) over [9] Andrew Sparks (MINN), SV-1 4-1.
Final: [4] Edmond Ruth (ILL) over [2] Shane Griffith (MICH), MFFL.
Ruth placed 1st.
184: Dylan Connell – 11 seed
Round 1: [6] Layne Malczewski (MSU) over [11] Dylan Connell (ILL), Dec. 4-0.
Cons. Round 1: [11] Dylan Connell (ILL) over [14] Chase Mielnik (MD), Dec. 8-2.
Cons. Round 2: [4] Ryder Rogotzke (OSU) over [11] Dylan Connell (ILL), Dec. 5-2.
9th-Place Bracket: [14] Chase Mielnik (MD) over [11] Dylan Connell (ILL), fall (6:43).
Connell eliminated.
197: Isiah Pettigrew – 12 seed
Round 1: [5] Garrett Joles (MINN) over [12] Isiah Pettigrew (ILL), MD 11-0.
Cons. Round 1: [12] Isiah Pettigrew (ILL) over [13] Bobby Striggow (MICH), Dec. 11-4.
Cons. Round 2: [6] Luke Geog (OSU) over [12] Isiah Pettigrew (ILL), TF 18-2 (5:31).
Pettigrew eliminated.
285: Peter Marinopoulos – 13 seed
Round 1: [4] Yaraslau Slavikouski (RUT) over [13] Peter Marinopoulos (ILL), MD 13-1.
Cons. Round 1: [12] Gannon Rosenfeld (WIS) over [13] Peter Marinopoulos (ILL), Dec. 9-3.
Marinopoulos eliminated.
