No. 2 Illini Wrestlers Dominate No. 9 Iowa
Fighting Illini Win Second Dual over Hawkeyes in 43 Years
The second-ranked University of Illinois wrestling team, in front of a packed house of 3,573 fans at Huff Hall, gave much to cheer about as it dominated the defending Big Ten Champions and ninth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, 25-7. The squad allowed only two individual wins by the Hawkeyes in the routing. It was only the second dual win over Iowa in the last 43 years. Illinois improves to 11-1 on the season and 2-0 in conference action.
The beginning match set the tone for the entire dual. At 149 pounds, fifth-ranked Ty Eustice of Iowa was heavily favored over Illinois’ 16th-ranked Anton Dietzen (Sr., Elmhurst, Ill.), but Dietzen wasn’t informed of that as he got out to a 2-0 lead with the match’s only takedown. Each wrestler added an escape point and Eustice was awarded a point for stalling in the 3-2 Dietzen win. The 157-pound match featured another pair of ranked opponents in Illinois’ second-ranked Alex Tirapelle (Jr., Clovis, Calif.) and Iowa’s seventh-ranked Joe Johnston. The last time these two wrestlers met was in 2003, when Johnston upset Tirapelle in Iowa City. Tirapelle reciprocated the loss with a win of his own by a 7-5 decision to put the Illini ahead 6-0.
The first of two Illinois losses came at the 165-pound weight class, where fourth-ranked Mark Perry defeated Cal Ferry (Jr., Machesney, Ill.) by a major decision, 12-2. Ferry wrestled up two weight classes as a last-minute replacement for 15th-ranked Donny Reynolds (So., Frankfort, Ill.), who sat out this match with an injury. The Illini then won their next three bouts beginning with a high-scoring 12-5 decision by fifth-ranked Pete Friedl (Jr., Orland Park, Ill.) over unranked Luke Lofthouse. Friedl racked up five takedowns in the win.
In what was touted to be the highlight match of the dual, Illini 184-pounder and third-ranked Brian Glynn (Sr., Orland Park, Ill.) won a close decision over fifth-ranked Paul Bradley, which was decided by a stalling point, 2-1. It took until the third period, but No. 13 Tyrone Byrd (Jr., Clinton, Ill.) scored the only takedown of the match to shut out Adam Fellers, 3-0, at 197. The second loss of the day came at heavyweight as seventh-ranked Matt Fields won by decision over No. 14 Mike Behnke (So., Villa Park, Ill.), 6-3.
After a run of decisions by the Illini, 125-pound second-ranked Kyle Ott (Jr., Huber Heights, Ohio) gave Illinois its only bonus of the evening with his major decision over Charlie Falck. He scored at will with seven takedowns, leading to the 14-6 win. Although favored at 133 pounds, Illinois’ fourth-ranked Mark Jayne (Sr., Elyria, Ohio) had tough competition in No. 14 Mario Galanakis. He scored the first takedown to end the first period, but near fall points to start the second by Galanakis evened the match at 2-2. It wasn’t until Jayne scored a pair of takedowns in the third, that the match was sealed with a 7-5 win.
Just as fitting as it was to win the upset to start the match, the ending had the same magic. A huge underdog at 141 pounds, Illinois’ Cassio Pero (So., Chicago Heights, Ill.) used 2:17 of riding time to defeat No. 11 Alex Tsirtsis. In an exciting first minute of the match, Tsirtsis scored the first takedown at 2:17, only to have Pero get the reversal 12 seconds later. Iowa scored its third point with an escape at the end of the first period. Pero tied the match with an escape in the second. So with the match notched at three apiece, Tsirtsis chose the down position in order to gain the winning escape point. Pero rode Tsirtsis for the entire period to give himself the win with riding time.
The Illini will be back in action next weekend with a pair of road conference duals at Purdue on Feb. 4 and at No. 7 Michigan on Feb. 6.
University of Illinois vs. University of Iowa
Friday, January 28, 2005
Attendance: 3,573 (school record)
149: #16 Anton Dietzen dec. #5 Ty Eustice (Iowa), 3-2 3-0
157: #2 Alex Tirapelle dec. #7 Joe Johnston (Iowa), 7-5 6-0
165: #4 Mark Perry (Iowa) maj. dec. Cal Ferry (ILL), 12-2 6-4
174: #5 Pete Friedl (ILL) dec. Luke Lofthouse (Iowa), 12-5 9-4
184: #3 Brian Glynn (ILL) dec. #5 Paul Bradley (Iowa), 2-1 12-4
197: #13 Tyrone Byrd (ILL) dec. Adam Fellers (Iowa), 3-0 15-4
Hwt: #7 Matt Fields (Iowa) dec. #14 Mike Behnke (ILL), 6-3 15-7
125: #2 Kyle Ott (ILL) maj. dec. Charlie Falck (Iowa), 14-6 19-7
133: #4 Mark Jayne (ILL) dec. #14 Mario Galanakis (Iowa), 7-5 22-7
141: Cassio Pero (ILL) dec. #11 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa), 4-3 25-7
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