Final Brackets
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Fighting Illini wrestling team completed the Big Ten Championships on Sunday (March 8) from the Bryce Jordan Center. No. 3 seed at 157 pounds Kannon Webster walked away the bronze medalist when he defeated No. 7 seed (nationally ranked No. 1 by InterMat) Brandon Cannon (OSU) in the third-place match via 9-2 decision.
"The guys wrestled tough," said head coach Jeremy Hunter. "They won a lot of tough matches throughout the tournament. There's a lot of things that we can look back to improve upon and make the changes for the next weekend. That's what everybody's looking forward to is the NCAA Championships."
Prior to the bronze medal match he won via injury default in 1:09 over Indiana's [11] Bryce Lowery in the consolation semifinals. He's now medaled in two-straight Big Ten Championships as he took silver last year at 149 pounds.
[3] Spencer Moore qualified to the NCAA Championships at 125 pounds when he won the ninth-place bracket to take the final auto bid in the weight class. He first knocked off [10] Dedrick Navarro (NU) in a 9-1 decision before he beat Wisconsin's [7] Nicolar Rivera in a 16-5 major decision to earn ninth. It's his second-consecutive season qualifying to the NCAA Championships.
Illinois' total number of national qualifiers is eight for the second-consecutive season. It's the first time since 2014-15 that they've sent eight or more qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in back-to-back seasons.
[2] Lucas Byrd opened the morning with a loss to [5] Drake Ayala (IOWA) in the consolation semifinals in sudden victory, 4-1. However, he bounced back by avenging his quarterfinals loss to Purdue's [10] Blake Boarman in a 5-2 decision to take fifth place. Byrd's now finished top-5 in all five of his career Big Ten Championship appearances.
[9] Freshman Colin Kelly placed seventh at 174 pounds in his first Big Ten Championships when he beat Purdue's [8] Brody Baumann for the second time this weekend this time in a 11-5 decision.
[5] Chris Moore earned fourth place after he advanced via medical forfeit of [3] Silas Alred (NEB) in the consolation semifinals and fell to Michigan's [4] Brock Mantanona in sudden victory, 4-1. [9] Michael Gioffre earned sixth place as he fell to [4] Lachlan McNeil (MICH) in the consolation semifinals, 8-3, and to [3] Joseph Zargo (WIS), 9-3, in the fifth-place match.
[6] Braeden Scoles placed eighth at 165 pounds after he medically forfeited the seventh-place match to [8] Paddy Gallagher of Ohio State. [6] Luke Luffman was defeated in his seventh-place match by Minnesota's [7] Koy Hopke in a 4-2 decision to place eighth. As a team the Illini took sixth scoring 78 points.
TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State – 184.0
2. Ohio State – 148.5
3. Nebraska – 116.5
4. Iowa – 87.0
5. Michigan – 86.5
6. Illinois – 78.0
7. Minnesota – 76.5
8. Rutgers – 63.5
9. Wisconsin – 55.0
10. Indiana – 40.0
11. Maryland – 35.5
12. Purdue – 29.5
13. Northwestern – 14.5
14. Michigan State – 10.5
UP NEXT
The eight Illinois national qualifiers are off next week before the NCAA Championships close out the season on March 19-21 in Cleveland at Rocket Arena.
ILLINOIS RESULTS
125: Spencer Moore – 3 seed
Round 1: [3] Spencer Moore (ILL) major dec. [14] Abram Cline (MD), 9-0
Quarterfinals: [6] Jore Volk (MINN) dec. [3] Spencer Moore (ILL), SV-1 4-1
Cons. Round 2: [5] Ayden Smith (RUT) dec. [3] Spencer Moore (ILL), 3-2
Ninth-place bracket: [3] Spencer Moore (ILL) dec. [10] Dedrick Navarro (NU), 9-1
Ninth-place bracket: [3] Spencer Moore (ILL) major dec. [7] Nicolar Rivera (WIS), 16-5
S. Moore placed ninth
133: Lucas Byrd – 2 seed
Received Round 1 bye
Quarterfinals: [10] Blake Boarman (PUR) dec. [2] Lucas Byrd (ILL), 7-3
Cons. Round 2: [2] Lucas Byrd (ILL) major dec. [8] Braxton Brown (MD), 8-0
Cons. Round 3: [2] Lucas Byrd (ILL) over [6] Jacob Van Dee (NEB), injury default (5:09)
Cons. Semifinals: [5] Drake Ayala (IOWA) dec. [2] Lucas Byrd (ILL), SV-1 4-1
Fifth-place match: [2] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [10] Blake Boarman (PUR), 5-2
Byrd placed fifth
141: Danny Pucino – 12 seed
Round 1: [5] Dylan Ragusin (MICH) dec. [12] Danny Pucino (ILL), 7-5
Cons. Round 1: [12] Danny Pucino (ILL) dec. [13] Carson Exferd (WIS), 10-7
Cons. Round 2: [6] Braeden Davis (PSU) over [12] Danny Pucino (ILL), fall (0:36)
Pucino eliminated
149: Michael Gioffre – 9 seed
Round 1: [8] Ryder Block (IOWA) dec. [9] Michael Gioffre (ILL), 4-1
Received Cons. Round 1 bye
Cons. Round 2: [9] Michael Gioffre (ILL) major dec. [10] Drew Roberts (MINN), 12-3
Cons. Round 3: [9] Michael Gioffre (ILL) over [13] Clayton Jones (MSU), fall (3:34)
Cons. Semifinals: [4] Lachlan McNeil (MICH) dec. [9] Michael Gioffre (ILL), 8-3
Fifth-place match: [3] Joseph Zargo (WIS) dec. [9] Michael Gioffre (ILL), 9-3
Gioffre placed sixth
157: Kannon Webster – 3 seed
Round 1: [3] Kannon Webster (ILL) over [14] Ty Wilson (NU), fall (4:28)
Quarterfinals: [3] Kannon Webster (ILL) major dec. [6] Charlie Millard (MINN), 14-2
Semifinals: [2] PJ Duke (PSU) dec. [3] Kannon Webster (ILL), 4-2
Cons. Semifinals: [3] Kannon Webster (ILL) over [11] Bryce Lowery (IND), injury default (1:09)
Third-place match: [3] Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. [7] Brandon Cannon (OSU), 9-2
Webster placed third
165: Braeden Scoles – 6 seed
Round 1: [6] Braeden Scoles (ILL) tech. fall [11] Jacob Bostelman (NU), 20-4 (4:32)
Quarterfinals: [3] Mikey Caliendo (IOWA) major dec. [6] Braeden Scoles (ILL), 14-5
Cons. Round 2: [6] Braeden Scoles (ILL) tech. fall [13] AJ Rodrigues (MD), 18-2 (4:22)
Cons. Round 3: [2] Joey Blaze (PUR) dec. [6] Braeden Scoles (ILL), 5-0
Seventh-place match: [8] Paddy Gallagher (OSU) over [6] Braeden Scoles (ILL), medical forfeit
Scoles placed eighth
174: Colin Kelly – 9 seed
Round 1: [9] Colin Kelly (ILL) major dec. [8] Brody Baumann (PUR), 11-2
Quarterfinals: [1] Levi Haines (PSU) tech. fall [9] Colin Kelly (ILL), 17-2 (6:02)
Cons. Round 2: [9] Colin Kelly (ILL) dec. [10] Eddie Enright (NU), 4-1
Cons. Round 3: [5] Beau Mantanona (MICH) dec. [9] Colin Kelly (ILL), 5-2
Seventh-place match: [9] Colin Kelly (ILL) dec. [8] Brody Baumann (PUR), 11-5
Kelly placed seventh
184: Chris Moore – 5 seed
Round 1: [5] Chris Moore (ILL) dec. [12] Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (MD), 8-2
Quarterfinals: [4] Brock Mantanona (MICH) dec. [5] Chris Moore (ILL), 4-1
Cons. Round 2: [5] Chris Moore (ILL) tech. fall [11] J.D. Perez (NU), 19-3 (6:20)
Cons. Round 3: [5] Chris Moore (ILL) over [8] Angelo Ferrari (IOWA), medical forfeit
Cons. Semifinals: [5] Chris Moore (ILL) over [3] Silas Alred (NEB), medical forfeit
Third-place match: [4] Brock Mantanona (MICH) dec. [5] Chris Moore (ILL), SV-1 4-1
C. Moore placed fourth
197: Dylan Connell – 12 seed
Round 1: [5] Luke Geog (OSU) major dec. [12] Dylan Connell (ILL), 9-1
Cons. Round 1: [13] Gabe Arnold (IOWA) dec. [12] Dylan Connell (ILL), 5-1
11th-place bracket: [13] Gabe Arnold (IOWA) dec. [12] Dylan Connell (ILL), SV-1 4-1
Connell eliminated
285: Luke Luffman – 6 seed
Round 1: [6] Luke Luffman (ILL) dec. [11] Hayden Filipovich (PUR), 5-1
Quarterfinals: [3] Nick Feldman (OSU) dec. [6] Luke Luffman (ILL) 5-2
Cons. Round 2: [6] Luke Luffman (ILL) major dec. [13] Gabe Christenson (NU), 14-2
Cons. Round 3: [10] Ben Kueter (IOWA) dec. [6] Luke Luffman (ILL), 4-1
Seventh-place match: [7] Koy Hopke (MINN) dec. [6] Luke Luffman (ILL), 4-2
Luffman placed eighth
