PHILADELPHIA – Eight Illinois wrestlers finished the first day of the NCAA Championships on Thursday (March 20) from the Wells Fargo Center. Lucas Byrd (133 pounds), Kannon Webster (149 pounds) and Edmond Ruth (184 pounds) each advanced to the quarterfinals round in their respective brackets.
No. 1 seed Byrd started his day off in a close match with No. 32 seed Hunter Leake of Cal Baptist with a 3-2 decision win with riding time being the tie breaking point. His next match was not as close as he shut out No. 16 seed Ryan Miller (PENN) in a 9-0 major decision. He faces Penn State's No. 8 seed Braeden Davis tomorrow morning whom he beat earlier in the season via 7-1 decision.
No. 7 seed Webster controlled both of his matches today starting off with a shut out of Maryland's No. 26 seed Kal Miller in an 8-0 major decision. He followed that up with an 8-3 decision over No. 10 seed Colin Realbuto of Northern Iowa. He's set for a rematch against No. 2 seed Ridge Lovett of Nebraska who he lost to two weeks ago in the Big Ten Championships finals, 1-0.
No. 10 seed Ruth dominated his first matchup of the day against No. 23 seed Aidan Brenot (NDSU) in a 10-2 major decision. In the next round however, he battled Rider's No. 7 seed Isaac Dean all the way to the second round of tiebreakers. Ruth escaped quickly in three seconds and he rode Dean out for 10 seconds to secure the win, TB-2 3-2 (RT). He will face No. 2 seed Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa.
The other five Illini: Danny Pucino (141 pounds), Braeden Scoles (165 pounds), Danny Braunagel (174 pounds), Zac Braunagel (197 pounds) and Luke Luffman (285 pounds) are all still alive after day one in their consolation brackets.
No. 28 seed Pucino had a thrilling comeback upset win in the first round of consolation matches over No. 12 seed Sam Latona of Virginia Tech. He trailed 3-0 after the first period and exploded in the third period with two early takedowns and then got the winning takedown at the five second mark with near fall points to win 12-8.
No. 20 seed D. Braunagel got turned to his back early in his consolation match against No. 29 seed Jackson Turley (RUT) and trailed 7-0 30 seconds in. It didn't phase him though as he battled back getting back points of his own to lead 11-8 after the first period. He controlled the rest of the match to win via 18-9 major decision.
No. 9 seed Z. Braunagel had a high seed matchup in his first consolation bout as he matched up against No. 8 seed Luke Surber (OKST). He dominated him from the very first whistle cruising to a 14-3 major decision win.
Both No. 11 seed Scoles and No. 8 seed Luffman won their first-round matchups. Scoles pinned No. 22 seed Enrique Munguia (RIDER) in 4:27 and Luffman decisioned No. 25 seed Luke Rasmussen (SDSU), 8-2. They each dropped their round two bouts and head to the consolation ladder.
TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State – 39.5
2. Nebraska – 28.0
3. Oklahoma State – 27.0
4. Iowa – 18
4. Minnesota – 18
4. Ohio State – 18
7. Northern Iowa – 17.5
8. Cornell – 17
9. Illinois – 16.5
9. Michigan – 16.5
UP NEXT
The eight grapplers return to action tomorrow (March 21) for day two action with session three starting at 11 a.m. and session four at 7 p.m. CT.
ILLINOIS RESULTS
133: Lucas Byrd – 1 seed
Champ. Round 1: [1] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [32] Hunter Leake (CBU), 3-2.
Champ. Round 2: [1] Lucas Byrd (ILL) major dec. [16] Ryan Miller (PENN), 9-0.
141: Danny Pucino – 28 seed
Champ. Round 1: [5] Cael Happel (UNI) over [28] Danny Pucino (ILL), fall (5:51).
Cons. Round 1: [28] Danny Pucino (ILL) dec. [12] Sam Latona (VT), 12-8.
149: Kannon Webster – 7 seed
Champ. Round 1: [7] Kannon Webster (ILL) major dec. [26] Kal Miller (MD), 8-0.
Champ. Round 2: [7] Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. [10] Colin Realbuto (UNI), 8-3.
165: Braeden Scoles – 11 seed
Champ. Round 1: [11] Braeden Scoles (ILL) over [22] Enrique Munguia (RIDER), fall (4:27).
Champ. Round 2: [6] Beau Mantanona (MICH) dec. [11] Braeden Scoles (ILL), 8-5.
174: Danny Braunagel – 20 seed
Champ. Round 1: [13] Cade DeVos (SDSU) dec. [20] Danny Braunagel (ILL), 5-4.
Cons. Round 1: [20] Danny Braunagel (ILL) major dec. [29] Jackson Turley (RUT), 18-9.
184: Edmond Ruth – 10 seed
Champ. Round 1: [10] Edmond Ruth (ILL) major dec. [23] Aidan Brenot (NDSU), 10-2.
Champ. Round 2: [10] Edmond Ruth (ILL) dec. [7] Isaac Dean (RIDER), TB-2 (RT) 3-2.
197: Zac Braunagel – 9 seed
Champ. Round 1: [24] Gabe Sollars (IND) dec. [9] Zac Braunagel (ILL), 6-5.
Cons. Round 1: [9] Zac Braunagel (ILL) major dec. [8] Luke Surber (OKST), 14-3.
285: Luke Luffman – 8 seed
Champ. Round 1: [8] Luke Luffman (ILL) dec. [25] Luke Rasmussen (SDSU), 8-2.
Champ. Round 2: [9] Cohlton Schultz (ASU) dec. [8] Luke Luffman (ILL), 7-0.
