TULSA, Okla. – No. 12 Fighting Illini wrestling defeated No. 25 Little Rock, 22-13, in the first round of the National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom at the BOK Center.
The Illini won six out of ten bouts scoring bonus points in two of their six wins which came early in dual as No. 23 (125 pounds) Spencer Moore opened the contest with a 14-1 major decision over Tyler Harper. No. 1 (133 pounds) Lucas Byrd added in more bonus points with his dominant tech. fall win over Dillon Cooper, 20-3 (4:35). The Orange and Blue led 9-0 at this point.
The Trojans battled back in the next two bouts earning decision wins at both 141 and 149 pounds to bring the score within three, 9-6. No. 10 at 157 pounds Kannon Webster got the Illini back on track with his 7-3 decision win over No. 31 Jaivon Jones, 12-6 Illinois. In the featured bout of the dual at 165 pounds a top-10 matchup between No. 8 Braeden Scoles and No. 4 Matty Bianchi went in favor of Little Rock in a 4-1 decision to cut the Illini lead back down to three, 12-9. This is the closest the dual would be for the remainder of the morning.
Collin Kelly (174 pounds) and No. 26 Chris Moore (184 pounds) each controlled their matches as Kelly won, 14-2, and Moore, 9-4, to give Illinois its largest lead of the dual, 19-9. Little Rock earned one more win at the 197 pound weight class before No. 8 Luke Luffman came in at heavyweight and closed the dual out with a 5-1 decision over Michael Gasper giving Illinois its second win of the season, 22-13. Illinois also won the first team takedown bonus of $10,000 with an average first takedown time of 1:53.
UP NEXT
Illinois is right back in action later today for round two at 5 p.m. CT to take on the No. 4 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. Fans can watch on FloWrestling.
RESULTS
#12 Illinois 22, #25 Little Rock 13
Nov. 15, 2025 I Tulsa, Okla. I BOK Center
125: #23 Spencer Moore (ILL) major dec. Tyler Harper (LR), 15-1 // ILL 4, LR 0
133: #1 Lucas Byrd (ILL) tech. fall Dillon Cooper (LR), 20-3 (4:35) // ILL 9, LR 0
141: Brennan Van Hoecke (LR) dec. Kole Brower (ILL), 8-4 // ILL 9, LR 3
149: #16 Brock Herman (LR) dec. Will Baysingar (ILL), 13-6 // ILL 9, LR 6
157: #10 Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. #31 Jaivon Jones (LR), 7-3 // ILL 12, LR 6
165: #4 Matty Bianchi (LR) dec. #8 Braeden Scoles (ILL), 4-1 // ILL 12, LR 9
174: Colin Kelly (ILL) major dec. Gunner Holland (LR), 14-2 // ILL 16, LR 9
184: #26 Chris Moore (ILL) dec. #29 Brock DelSingore (LR), 9-4 // ILL 19, LR 9
197: #3 Stephen Little (LR) major dec. Dylan Connell (ILL), 13-4 // ILL 19, LR 13
285: #8 Luke Luffman (ILL) dec. Michael Gasper (LR), 5-1 // ILL 22, LR 13
