University of Illinois
NCAA Championships
Three Illini Grapplers Head to Kansas City for NCAA Championships
March 19, 2024 | Wrestling
Preview
| Tournament: | NCAA Championships |
|---|---|
| When: | Thursday-Saturday, March 21-23 |
| Where: | T-Mobile Center // Kansas City, Mo. |
| Watch: | Broadcast Schedule: ESPNU // ESPN // ESPN+ |
| Team Info: | Notes |
| Championships Info: | Brackets // Live Stats // Championships Central |
| Rankings: | InterMat |
| Social Media: | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The 2023-24 wrestling season is set to conclude this weekend on March 21-23 with the NCAA Championships at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. . Three Illinois wrestlers will represent the Orange and Blue: redshirt junior Edmond Ruth at 174 pounds, redshirt sophomore Danny Pucino at 141 pounds and true freshman Chris Moore at 165 pounds.
[3] EDMOND RUTH (174 POUNDS)
Ruth has punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships in back-to-back seasons on the heels of becoming a Big Ten champion at 174 pounds. He is the first Illini to top the podium at the Big Ten Championships since assistant coach Isaiah Martinez did it in 2018.
Ruth was the team leader all season, leading the Orange and Blue in almost every statistical category. He went 4-0 at the Big Ten Championships to raise his win total to 22, a team-high and the second season in a row surpassing the 20-win mark. His two losses are also a team-best*, which gives him a team-leading* win percentage of 91.7%.
He has never lost a match that has gone to overtime this season (4-0), with two of those coming in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Big Ten Championships. He owns a team-high mark in major decisions (8), and he has not given up a bonus point this season. He is currently on a 10-match winning streak.
His only two losses came against guys who are also NCAA qualifiers. His first was against Keegan O'Toole (MIZ), who is the top seed in the 165 bracket and Patrick Kennedy (IOWA), who is the No. 12 seed in the 174 bracket.
[25] DANNY PUCINO (141 POUNDS)
Pucino has qualified for his first NCAA Championships after taking eighth place in the Big Ten Championships at 141 pounds. After missing the auto-bid spot by one last season, Pucino made sure there were no doubts to qualify this season.
He leads the team* in tech-falls (3), and he has not been defeated this season by a tech. fall. He is the only qualifier to record a fall this year; he has two, and his fastest fall was 2:26. His 15 wins this season are a new single-season career-high total.
[28] CHRIS MOORE (165 POUNDS)
Moore qualified for his first NCAA Championships after taking sixth place in the Big Ten Championships at 165 pounds in his very first season. He is the first true freshman to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Travis Piotrowski in 2017.
He is 2-1 in matches that required an extra period, which is the second-most wins on the team in overtime, behind Ruth. He beat No. 4 seed Caleb Fish (MSU) at the Big Ten Championships to get him over the hump to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Fish is a top-15 wrestler in the weight class, according to InterMat, and is the No. 21 seed at NCAAs.
* Not counting wrestlers using their redshirt season or wrestling unattached.
