ROSEMONT, Ill. – No. 4 at 133 pounds redshirt senior Lucas Byrd was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week the conference announced on Thursday (Jan. 30). He's the first Illinois wrestler to earn this honor since Zac Braunagel was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 11, 2023.Â
Byrd had a big bounce back weekend after suffering his first loss of the season at Iowa, he went 2-0 in this past weekend's duals picking up ranked wins against Maryland and Rutgers. First, he defeated No. 11 Braxton Brown of Maryland in a 7-3 decision to put Illinois up 6-0 in their eventual 33-7 win; then two days later he beat No. 9 Dylan Shawver of Rutgers by a 6-5 decision. With his wins this weekend Byrd moves up to No. 7 on the Illinois career win percentage leaderboard, 87-16 (.845).Â
