CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The No. 10 Fighting Illini wrestling team travels down to Nashville, Tenn., to take part in the Journeymen Collegiate Wrestling Duals on Sunday (Dec. 21). Illinois will be wrestling twice on Sunday first with a dual against No. 18 Cornell at 12 p.m. and follow with a rematch of No. 20 Lehigh at 2 p.m. CT.
With nine total colleges coming to this meet, seven of them are ranked inside the top 25. No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 3 Iowa State round out the top three, with No. 18 Cornell, No. 20 Lehigh, and No. 23 Stanford rounding out the back half. Not to mention North Dakota State and Little Rock, who are looking for upsets themselves.
In their previous outing, Illinois had two wrestler's top podiums at the Cougar Clash, with Spencer Moore (125 pounds) and Kannon Webster (157 pounds) taking the top spots. Illinois as a team place third with 157 points, only behind No. 15 Northern Iowa (190) and No. 5 Oklahoma State (187). Not to mention two second place finishes and a third place to round out the weekend.
SCOUTING CORNELL
This will be only the second meeting between the Illini and Big Red with the first coming on Dec. 1, 2013, where the Big Red edged out a win, 18-15. Cornell as a team is 0-2 so far this season suffering defeats to No. 5 Oklahoma State (22-12) and No. 13 Northern Iowa (26-8) both at the Nationals Duals Invitational back on Nov. 15-16.
SCOUTING LEHIGH
This will be the second meeting this season Illinois has faced Lehigh with the Orange and Blue controlling the all-time series 4-1. The most recent win came at the National Duals Invitational on Nov. 15, 21-13. Lehigh comes into the weekend with a 3-4 record with their losses coming Nebraska (7-35), No. 12 Illinois (13-21), No. 20 Pitt (15-21) and No. 1 Penn State (6-36). Lucas Byrd (133 pounds) stayed perfect on the season and earned his 100th career win with a tech. fall over Mason Ziegler.
NOTES
- Lucas Byrd leads the team with 28 dual points scored on a perfect 7-0 record.
- Earned his 100th-career win on Nov. 15 against Lehigh's Mason Ziegler.
- Fifth highest win percentage in program history (103-16, .866).
- 1. Isaiah Martinez 157/165 2013-17 116-3 .975
- 2. Matt Lackey 165 2000-03 120-14 .896
- 3. Mike Poeta 157 2006-09 105-14 .882
- 4. Alex Tirapelle 157 2003-06 128-18 .877
- 5. Lucas Byrd 133 2020-pres. 103-16 .866
- Is three wins away from his 50th win in dual action (47-3 dual record).
- His 103 wins are tied for 24th most in program history, two wins away from moving up to a tie for 21st most.
- Has four top-20 wins on the season.
- Has not lost since Jan. 17, 2025, (Drake Ayala [IOWA], 4-2 decision).
- Owns the fastest fall on the team in 1:13.
- Kannon Webster is a perfect 11-0 to start his redshirt sophomore campaign.
- Second most dual points on the team with 25.
- Team leading most tech. falls with four.
- Colin Kelly is 9-2 overall in his redshirt freshman debut.
- Third most dual points on the team (23).
- Second most major decisions on the team (two).
- Braeden Scoles is 6-4 overall with the fourth most dual points on the team (20).
- Tied for second on the team in tech. falls with two.
- Luke Luffman is 8-2 overall with the fifth most dual points on the team (19).
- Has the most major decisions on the team with three.
