MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The No. 9 Fighting Illini jumped out to a quick start, winning three of their first four matches over No. 13 Minnesota, but ultimately fell to the Gophers in Minneapolis, 25-13. Lucas Byrd, Dylan Duncan, Mike Carr, and Matt Wroblewski each picked up wins for Illinois, who fall to 4-2 on the season following Friday night's dual.
Justin Cardani was in control for most of the the 125-pound bout to start the evening, but Patrick McKee earned four points late in the third period to win by decision and put the Gophers out in front.
The Illini would go on to win three straight, starting with the 133-pound bout. Lucas Byrd took a 2-0 lead into the second period after getting the takedown midway through the first period, and a quick reversal to start the second period gave him another two points over Minnesota's Boo Dryden. Byrd would end up picking up bonus points for the Illini with a huge major decision win with extra points late in the third period. Byrd won 11-3 and pushed the Illini in front of the Gophers after the first two matches.
Dylan Duncan and Marcos Polanco had an exciting match at 141-pounds, and Duncan ultimately picked up a decision for the Illini, winning 5-2 and giving the team their second match win of the night. Duncan is now 3-1 on the season after picking up another win on Friday.
Mike Carr came out of the gates quickly, picking up two early takedowns and four points in the first minute and a half of the first period. The senior earned an escape in the third period to extend his lead to 5-3, which would hold until the end of the match. Carr gave the Illini their third match win in a row, and extended the team lead to 10-3 following the fourth bout of the night.
Johnny Mologousis battled with highly-ranked Brayton Lee, but would ultimately lose by tech fall. Illini would lead 10-8 following the fifth match. Luke Odom wrestled for the third straight week at 165-pounds, taking on Minnesota's Andrew Sparks. The true freshman would lose by tech fall, giving the Gophers a 13-10 lead after the 165-pound bout.
DJ Shannon lost by decision in a close 6-3 bout with Jake Allar, extending Minnesota's lead to 6 with three more matches on the night. Zac Braunagel lost a close match with the Gophers' Owen Webster, which ended in a 3-2 decision.
Matt Wroblewski and Garrett Joles had an extremely close bout at 197-pounds, which would go to overtime after being tied at 4 through the first three periods. Wroblewski earned a quick takedown to start the first overtime period, securing the sudden victory decision and giving the Illini another three team points. The dual would end with Gable Steveson picking up a fall in the first period over Luke Luffman to give the Gophers a 25-13 edge.
FULL RESULTS
125: Patrick Mckee (MINN) over Justin Cardani (ILL) (Dec 4-2)
133: Lucas Byrd (ILL) over Boo Dryden (MINN) (MD 11-3)
141: Dylan Duncan (ILL) over Marcos Polanco (MINN) (Dec 5-2)
149: Michael Carr (ILL) over Michael Blockhus (MINN) (Dec 5-3)
157: Brayton Lee (MINN) over Johnny Mologousis (ILL) (TF 25-8 6:02)
165: Andrew Sparks (MINN) over Luke Odom (ILL) (TF 22-7 7:00)
174: Jake Allar (MINN) over DJ Shannon (ILL) (Dec 8-3)
184: Owen Webster (MINN) over Zach Braunagel (ILL) (Dec 3-2)
197: Matt Wroblewski (ILL) over Garrett Joles (MINN) (SV-1 6-4)
HWT: Gable Steveson (MINN) over Luke Luffman (ILL) (Fall 0:35)
EXTRA MATCHES
Jake Gilva (MINN) over We Rachal (ILL) (Dec 6-2)
Danny Pucino (ILL) over Brent Jones (MINN) (Fall 6:01)
Jakob Bergeland (MINN) over Christian Kanzler (ILL) (Dec 2-1)
Bailee O'Reilly (MINN) over Trey Sizemore (ILL) (Dec 11-4)
UP NEXT FOR THE ILLINI
No. 9 Illinois will travel to Northwestern for another road Big Ten dual on Sunday afternoon. The Illini and Wildcats will square off at 12 p.m. CT, and the action will be streamed on BTN+.
