EVANSTON, Ill. – The Fighting Illini wrestling team completed the first day of the Big Ten Championships on Saturday (March 8) from Welsh-Ryan Arena. No. 2 seed at 133 pounds Lucas Byrd and No. 5 seed at 149 pounds Kannon Webster each advanced to their Big Ten Championships title bouts.
Webster advanced to the Big Ten Championship final after the biggest win of his career to date, upsetting No. 1 seed Shayne Van Ness of Penn State (ranked No. 2 nationally by InterMat) in a 4-2 decision. The redshirt freshman native out of Toulon, Ill. controlled the pace of the entire match with his shot attempts and stellar defense. Entering the third period tied at one the match seemed destined for sudden victory until Webster grabbed the left leg of Van Ness with 10 seconds left and drove him into the mat for the winning takedown. He's the first Illinois redshirt freshman to wrestle in the finals since Mike Carr in 2018.
Prior to his match with Van Ness, Webster started his day off in round one with a 9-3 decision win over No. 12 seed Clayton Jones of Michigan State. In the semifinal bout he upset No. 4 seed Dylan D'Emilio of Ohio State in a 5-1 decision. He avenged two of his losses enroute to his title bout; Van Ness defeated him via major decision 15-4 on Feb. 16 and D'Emilio via decision 2-0 on Jan. 10.
Byrd began his day in the quarterfinals after receiving the first-round bye as the No. 2 seed. His first matchup was against No. 7 seed Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin where he cruised to a 9-2 decision win advancing to the semifinal round. In the semifinals, he faced. No. 3 seed Braxton Brown of Maryland where Byrd controlled the tempo and pace for all seven minutes in a 5-1 decision to advance to his first Big Ten Championship title bout.
Four other Illini wrestlers grappled in the night's semifinals session marking the most program has had since the 2006 team saw seven advance to the B1G semifinals: No. 6 seed at 165 pounds Braeden Scoles, No. 7 seed at 174 pounds Danny Braunagel, No. 6 seed at 184 pounds Edmond Ruth and No. 5 seed at 197 pounds Zac Braunagel.
Scoles began his day in round one with a last second pin in the second round over No. 11 seed Stoney Buell (PUR) at 4:59. He followed it up with an upset win over No. 3 seed Chris Minto of Nebraska in a 4-3 decision before falling to No. 2 seed Mike Caliendo (IOWA) via tech. fall 23-7 (6:46) in the semifinals.
D. Braunagel replicated the start Scoles had with a final second pin in the second period of his first bout over Indiana's No. 10 seed Derek Gilcher (5:00). In the quarterfinals he upset No. 2 seed of Ohio State Carson Kharchla via 10-7 decision with his short time takedown in the third period and two near fall points. He lost a heartbreaker in the semifinals to No. 3 seed Lenny Pinto (NEB) where he appeared to have avoided the last second takedown on the initial call, but after further review it was overturned and he fell in a 9-8 decision.
Ruth started his day off with a round one win over No. 11 seed Jon Halvorsen of Northwestern in sudden victory, 4-1. He tailed this with a quarterfinals upset win over No. 3 seed Silas Allred of Nebraska in a 4-3 decision before dropping the semifinal bout to No. 2 seed Max McEnelly of Minnesota via major decision, 11-3.
Z. Braunagel started his tournament out in shutout fashion over No. 12 seed Chase Mielnik of Maryland via tech. fall, 16-0 (5:24). He followed it up with a commanding 10-4 decision upset win over No. 4 seed Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota in the quarterfinals before dropping his semifinal bout, 4-0, to No. 1 seed Stephen Buchanan (IOWA).
The six aforementioned Illini have already punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia with Luke Luffman (285 pounds) qualifying himself already as well in the consolation ladder. Caelan Riley (125 pounds) and Jason Kraisser (157 pounds) are battling for the final qualifying spot in their respective weight classes ninth-place bracket.
TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State – 145.0
2. Nebraska – 118.5
3. Iowa – 98.0
4. Minnesota – 88.5
5. Illinois – 81.5
6. Ohio State – 76.0
7. Michigan – 56.0
8. Maryland – 47.5
9. Rutgers – 46.0
10. Purdue – 33.5
11. Indiana – 27.0
12. Northwestern – 18.5
13. Wisconsin – 13.5
14. Michigan State – 11.5
UP NEXT
The Illinois grapplers return to action tomorrow (March 9) for the final day of the Big Ten Championships. Session three starts at noon on B1G+ and session four begins at 4:30 p.m. CT on BTN.
ILLINOIS RESULTS
125: Caelan Riley – 13 seed
Round 1: [4] Luke Lilledahl (PSU) over [13] Caelan Riley (ILL), fall (4:09).
Cons. Round 1: [13] Caelan Riley (ILL) dec. [12] Christian Tanefeu (MICH), 5-1.
Cons. Round 2: [6] Jacob Moran (IND) tech. fall [13] Caelan Riley (ILL), 23-6 (5:49).
Ninth-place bracket: [13] Caelan Riley (ILL) over [12] Christian Tanefeu (MICH), fall (4:28).
133: Lucas Byrd – 2 seed
Received Round 1 bye.
Quarterfinal: [2] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [7] Zan Fugitt (WIS), 9-2.
Semifinal: [2] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [3] Braxton Brown (MD), 5-1.
141: Danny Pucino – 7 seed
Round 1: [7] Danny Pucino (ILL) dec. [10] Chris Cannon (NU), 7-1.
Quarterfinal: [2] Jesse Mendez (OSU) tech. fall [7] Danny Pucino (ILL), 19-4 (5:13).
Cons. Round 2: [8] Henry Porter (IND) major dec. [7] Danny Pucino (ILL), 20-9.
Pucino eliminated.
149: Kannon Webster – 5 seed
Round 1: [5] Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. [12] Clayton Jones (MSU), 9-3.
Quarterfinal: [5] Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. [4] Dylan D`Emilio (OSU), 5-1.
Semifinal: [5] Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. [1] Shayne Van Ness (PSU), 4-2.
157: Jason Kraisser – 11 seed
Round 1: [6] Joey Blaze (PUR) major dec. [11] Jason Kraisser (ILL), 13-0.
Cons. Round 1: [11] Jason Kraisser (ILL) major dec. Braden Stauffenberg (MSU), 10-0.
Cons. Round 2: [4] Jacori Teemer (IOWA) major dec. [11] Jason Kraisser (ILL), 20-9.
165: Braeden Scoles – 6 seed
Round 1: [6] Braeden Scoles (ILL) over[11] Stoney Buell (PUR), fall (4:59).
Quarterfinal: 165 Quarterfinal: [6] Braeden Scoles (ILL) dec. [3] Chris Minto (NEB), 4-3.
Semifinal: [2] Mike Caliendo (IOWA) tech. fall [6] Braeden Scoles (ILL), 23-7 (6:46).
174: Danny Braunagel – 7 seed
Round 1: [7] Danny Braunagel (ILL) over [10] Derek Gilcher (IND), fall (5:00).
Quarterfinal: [7] Danny Braunagel (ILL) dec. [2] Carson Kharchla (OSU), 10-7.
Semifinal: [3] Lenny Pinto (NEB) dec. [7] Danny Braunagel (ILL), 9-8.
184: Edmond Ruth – 6 seed
Round 1: [6] Edmond Ruth (ILL) dec. [11] Jon Halvorsen (NU), SV-1 4-1.
Quarterfinal: [6] Edmond Ruth (ILL) dec. [3] Silas Allred (NEB), 4-3.
Semifinal: [2] Max McEnelly (MINN) major dec. [6] Edmond Ruth (ILL), 11-3.
197: Zac Braunagel – 5 seed
Round 1: [5] Zac Braunagel (ILL) tech. fall [12] Chase Mielnik (MD), 16-0 (5:24).
Quarterfinal: [5] Zac Braunagel (ILL) dec. [4] Isaiah Salazar (MINN), 10-4.
Semifinal: [1] Stephen Buchanan (IOWA) dec. [5] Zac Braunagel (ILL), 4-0.
285: Luke Luffman – 5 seed
Round 1: [5] Luke Luffman (ILL) major dec. [12] Max Vanadia (MSU), 15-1.
Quarterfinal: [4] Nick Feldman (OSU) dec. [5] Luke Luffman (ILL), 4-3.
Cons. Round 2: [5] Luke Luffman (ILL) over [11] Harley Andrews (NEB), fall (6:04).
Cons. Round 3: [5] Luke Luffman (ILL) dec. [9] Seth Nevills (MD), 3-2.
