CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 13 Illinois wrestling team (9-3, 4-3 B1G) won their dual over No. 27 Purdue (8-4, 1-3 B1G) on Saturday (Feb. 1) by a score of 35-8. The Illini won eight out of the ten bouts this afternoon with a pin, three tech. falls, two major decisions and two decisions.
"There's a lot to take away from this dual, our guys wrestled hard," said head coach Mike Poeta. "I was proud of the way they wrestled, they were getting to their offense and getting a lot of shots in. They're listening to a lot of the things that we've been talking about and they're being coachable. I feel that we really executed picking up our offense and having really good finishes. These are some good performances to build off heading into our final dual against Penn State."
HOW IT HAPPENED
No. 4 at 133 pounds Lucas Byrd earned his first tech. fall of the season over Jacob Macatangay (PUR), 25-8 (6:17), to improve to team-leading 14-1 on the season. This knotted the dual up at five after Purdue jumped out to an early 5-0 lead with a tech. fall of their own at 125 pounds.
No. 15 at 141 pounds Danny Pucino also earned his first tech. fall of the season with his 20-4 (6:18) win over Christian White (PUR) to push the Illini in front 10-5. They never trailed again from this point forward.
No. 13 at 149 pounds Kannon Webster made it three-straight tech. falls for the Orange and Blue with his third of the season, 19-4 (5:23), over Isaac Ruble (PUR) to extend the Illini lead, 15-5. Purdue went on to win the 157 pound-bout in a decision to cut into the lead, 15-8, but this is as close as it would be for the remainder of the afternoon.
No. 13 at 165 pounds Braeden Scoles had the highlight of the afternoon with his pin of Stoney Buell (PUR) in 3:44 to catapult Illinois ahead 21-8. It's his fourth fall of the season which leads the team.
No. 23 at 174 pounds Danny Braunagel battled to a 15-8 decision over 26 Brody Baumann (PUR) to extend the lead, 24-8. No. 12 at 184 pounds Edmond Ruth earned his team-high third overtime win of the season when he beat Orlando Cruz (PUR), SV-1 5-2. Illinois led 27-8 at this point.
No. 16 at 197 pounds Zac Braunagel pushed Illinois past the 30+ point dual threshold for the  seventh time this season, 31-8, with his major decision over No. 27 Ben Vanadia (PUR), 17-3. No. 10 at 285 pounds Luke Luffman closed out the dual with a major decision over Hayden Filipovich (PUR), 9-1, to make the final score 35-8 for the Fighting Illini.
Today's attendance was 616.Â
UP NEXT
The Illinois grapplers are off next week before they resume action on Sunday (Feb. 16) with senior night against No. 1 Penn State at 1 p.m. CT.
FULL RESULTS
| Weight |
Matchup |
Score |
| 125: |
#1 Matt Ramos (PUR) tech. fall Caelan Riley (ILL), 19-1 (2:32) |
ILL 0 I PUR 5 |
| 133: |
#4 Lucas Byrd (ILL)Â tech. fall Jacob Macatangay (PUR), 25-8 (6:17) |
ILL 5 I PUR 5 |
| 141: |
#15 Danny Pucino (ILL)Â tech. fall Christian White (PUR), 20-4 (6:18) |
ILL 10 I PUR 5 |
| 149: |
#13 Kannon Webster (ILL) tech. fall Isaac Ruble (PUR), 19-4 (5:23) |
ILL 15 I PUR 5 |
| 157: |
#7 Joey Blaze (PUR) dec. #31 Jason Kraisser (ILL), 8-1 |
ILL 15 I PUR 8 |
| 165: |
#13 Braeden Scoles (ILL) over Stoney Buell (PUR), fall (3:44) |
ILL 21 I PUR 8 |
| 174: |
#23 Danny Braunagel (ILL)Â dec. #26 Brody Baumann (PUR), 15-8 |
ILL 24 I PUR 8 |
| 184: |
#12 Edmond Ruth (ILL) dec. Orlando Cruz (PUR), SV-1 5-2 |
ILL 27 I PUR 8 |
| 197: |
#16 Zac Braunagel (ILL)Â major dec. #27 Ben Vanadia (PUR), 17-3 |
ILL 31 I PUR 8 |
| 285: |
#10 Luke Luffman major dec. Hayden Filipovich (PUR), 9-1 |
ILL 35 I PUR 8 |
