BY SETH SCHWARTZ
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Illinois captured its third consecutive Midlands Wrestling Championship, scoring 115.5 points Friday night at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. Central Michigan was second with 112.5.
Alex Tirapelle (157) and Pete Friedl (184) delivered in title bouts for the Illini. Mike Poeta (165) and Tyrone Byrd (197) had second-place finishes. Troy Tirapelle (149, seventh) and Donny Reynolds (174, fifth) added valuable points.
“This is fantastic,” an elated Friedl said. “To win a tournament as tough as this for the third time with the Big 10 season coming up, you couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Top-rated Tirapelle defeated Iowa’s Joe Johnston 3-0 for his second title in three years. Johnson let Tirapelle go on the edge of the mat, and he went behind Johnson for two.
“I caught him sleeping,” Tirapelle said.
Highland Park native and No. 4 seed Poeta impressed, beating No.1 seed Travis Paulson of Iowa State 5-4 in a semifinal. He hit a single, switched to a double and put Paulson to his back for four points with 22 seconds left in the second period. In the final, Glenbard West grad Nick Baima, the No.3 seed from Northern Iowa, nipped Poeta 6-5 in the third overtime. Poeta got takedowns in the first and second period and appeared to be in control, but Baima got behind him for two with 50 second left to tie the match at five.
No. 3 Friedl beat Purdue’s No. 1 seed, Ben Wissel, 3-1 on a go-behind with seconds left in overtime.
Northwestern’s Jake Herbert (174) won his second consecutive Midlands crown with a 5-4 decision over Iowa’s Mark Perry.
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