Press Conference // Final Brackets
PHILADELPHIA – Lucas Byrd won his first national title at 133 pounds on Saturday (March 22) at the NCAA Championships in the Wells Fargo Center. He became the 21st Fighting Illini wrestler to win a national championship and earned the program's 25th individual national title. He's also the program's first NCAA Champion since now assistant coach Isaiah Martinez in 2016 and the first ever in the weight class of 133 pounds.
"I couldn't be happier for Lucas Byrd," said head coach Mike Poeta. "If anybody deserved to be the NCAA Champion this year, it's him. The amount of work and sacrifice he put into this was amazing. This was not easy; it was a long journey for him, but he wrestled fantastic this weekend. He wanted to be the national champion and he went and got it, he took it. I couldn't be prouder of him. It was pretty cool seeing him after he won in the tunnel. He had his face in his hands thinking 'I can't believe I'm the NCAA Champion' because it's that big of a deal and it hits you differently. He did an amazing job and we're excited to add him to the storied list of national champions that we have at Illinois."
"I'll say the same thing I did after I won the semifinals I just have to stay where my toes are at," said Lucas Byrd. "Me and coach Jeremy Hunter have been striking on a different level; we can speak telepathically almost and anything he tells me I have to trust. In overtime they threw the brick, I looked at Jeremy and he said we're good we have to go neutral. I step on the line, choose neutral and I look over and see my brother yelling 'go down, go down'. I shook my head no because I trust my coaches and they put me in the right position.'
'It has been one hell of a journey. It has been the most exciting journeys that I've ever been on. Winning that match, hugging Jeremy, giving all the coaching staff a hug because I have been a pain in the ass over these six years. They are my people, they're my home.'
'My bond with Jeremy is unmatched, I could call him at 2 a.m. and ask him to workout with me and he would. He full heartedly has my trust in everything. My freshman year I was the young guy, I was a pain, I was always that kid I want to learn and I want to get so good at wrestling they always helped me. To sit here now I haven't even processed what has happened yet. I want to celebrate with my teammates, I want to celebrate with my coaches, I want to celebrate with my girlfriend and my family. My dad doesn't cry and he cried, that's a big deal. It's a feeling I will never forget."
His matchup in the finals was a familiar foe in Drake Ayala of Iowa as this was their third meeting this season. Ayala won the first match in a 4-2 decision in their dual at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 17. Their next matchup was on March 9 in the Big Ten Championships finals where Byrd evened the series at one with a pin in 3:16.
The stage was set for the grand finale in Philadelphia as they were destined to meet again in the NCAA Championships finals as the top-two seeds. The finals began with some hand fighting and shot fakes which resulted in no score after the first period. Byrd started the second period on and escaped quickly to get on the board first. He applied pressure the rest of the period which forced Ayala into a stall warning with 22 seconds left in period two. Which ultimately would be the winning moment later.
Period three began with Byrd on top and Ayala matched his quick escape with one of his own to tie the bout, 1-1. There was some action and close calls on takedowns in the third where Illinois threw the challenge brick to try to get one overturned, but it was unsuccessful and the match was headed to sudden victory
The sudden victory period was also not enough as neither wrestler could break the ice and score a takedown even after an Iowa challenge near the end to try to get awarded the takedown, but it was unsuccessful and the bout was heading for tiebreakers. Â
Byrd was on top first and rode Ayala for six seconds before he got away. A few seconds later Byrd's pressure was too much and forced Ayala into taking his second stall call which awarded him a pivotal point. Byrd chose to go neutral for his tiebreaker and evaded Ayala for all 30 seconds as his six seconds of riding time were more than enough to give him the advantage and the win, TB-2 3-2.
Byrd finishes his career at Illinois with a 96-16 overall record being 23-1 this season. His win percentage of 85.7% sits him right in seventh on Illinois' all-time career win percentage leaderboard. Illinois as a team finished in 10th place out of 60 teams which is their highest finish in nine years since the 2015-16 season where they also took 10th.
TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State – 177.0
2. Nebraska – 117.0
3. Oklahoma State – 102.5
4. Iowa – 81.0
5. Minnesota – 51.5
5. Ohio State – 51.5
7. Cornell – 50.0
8. NC State – 46.5
9. Northern Iowa – 45.5
10. Illinois – 44.5
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.
Quarterfinals: [1] Lucas Byrd (ILL) major dec. [8] Braeden Davis (PSU), 12-1.
Semifinals: [1] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [4] Zeth Romney (CALPOLY), 2-0.
Finals: [1] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [2] Drake Ayala (IOWA), TB-2 3-2.
Byrd placed first.
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.
Cons. Round 2: [28] Danny Pucino (ILL) over [11] Dylan Cedeno (UVA), fall (4:15).
Cons. Round 3: [14] Sergio Lemley (MICH) dec. [28] Danny Pucino (ILL), SV-1 4-1.
Pucino eliminated.
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.
Quarterfinals: [2] Ridge Lovett (NEB) major dec. [7] Kannon Webster (ILL), 12-0.
Cons. Round 4: [22] Gavin Drexler (NDSU) dec. [7] Kannon Webster (ILL), 4-0.
Webster eliminated.
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.
Cons. Round 2: [11] Braeden Scoles (ILL) major dec. [28] Mac Church (VT), 10-1.
Cons. Round 3: [11] Braeden Scoles (ILL) over [19] Jack Thomsen (UNI), fall (2:01).
Cons. Round 4: [8] Cameron Amine (OKST) dec. [11] Braeden Scoles (ILL), SV-1 8-1.
Scoles eliminated.
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.
Cons. Round 2: [14] Matthew Singleton (NCST) major dec. [20] Danny Braunagel (ILL), 14-6.
D. Braunagel eliminated.
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.
Quarterfinals: [2] Parker Keckeisen (UNI) major dec. [10] Edmond Ruth (ILL), 13-5.
Cons. Round 4: [22] Donnell Washington (IND) dec. [10] Edmond Ruth (ILL), 8-4.
Ruth eliminated.
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.
Cons. Round 2: [9] Zac Braunagel (ILL) major dec. [26] Brock Zurawski (RIDER), 10-2.
Cons. Round 3: [15] Joseph Novak (WYO) over [9] Zac Braunagel (ILL), fall (5:30).
Z. Braunagel eliminated.
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.
Cons. Round 2: [8] Luke Luffman (ILL) dec. [26] Peter Ming (STAN), 7-6.
Cons. Round 3: [8] Luke Luffman (ILL) dec. [16] Yaraslau Slavikouski (RUT), SV-1 4-1.
Cons. Round 4: [6] Joshua Heindselman (MICH) dec. [8] Luke Luffman (ILL), TB-1 2-1.
Luffman eliminated.
