EVANSTON, Ill. – The No. 11 Illinois wrestling team (12-5, 5-3 Big Ten) won its final dual meet of the season over Northwestern (3-9, 1-7 Big Ten), 44-3, on Saturday afternoon in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Those 44 points scored are the second most in a Big Ten dual in school history behind only the program record 74 scored against Wisconsin in 1935. The last time the Illini scored 44 points in any dual was on Nov. 30, 2013, when they defeated George Mason, 44-0.
Northwestern forfeited the 125- and 165-pound bouts as they didn't weigh anyone in at those weights which gave Illinois 12 free points. The first bout of the night at 133 saw No. 1 Lucas Byrd defeat Luis Bazan via tech. fall, 20-4 (6:08). He improved to 17-0 on the season and extended his active win streak to 29. Northwestern got on the board at 141 pounds with a decision win to earn their only points of the night.
No. 30 at 149 pounds Michael Gioffre bounced back with a 7-2 decision over August Hilber while No. 9 at 157 pounds Kannon Webster pinned Ty Wilson in 2:40 to put Illinois in front 20-3.
No. 25 Colin Kelly made it back-to-back falls for the Illini and his was a quick one when he turned Andre Rocker to his back in less than 90 seconds (1:26). No. 18 at 184 pounds Chris Moore won via tech. fall over JD Perez, 17-2 (3:50), to extend the Illini lead to 37-3.
Cade Lautt scored the final bonus points of the night for the Orange and Blue with his 11-1 major decision over Alex Smith which pushed Illinois past the 40-point threshold for the first time this season. No. 13 at heavyweight Luke Luffman closed the dual out with a 5-0 decision over Gabe Christenson to make the final 44-3 in favor of the Illini.
RESULTS
#11 Illinois 44, Northwestern 3
Feb. 15, 2026 I Evanston, Ill. I Welsh-Ryan Arena
125: #16 Spencer Moore (ILL) over Northwestern, forfeit // ILL 6, NU 0
133: #1 Lucas Byrd (ILL) tech fall. Luis Bazan (NU), 20-4 (6:08) // ILL 11, NU 0
141: Giosue Hickman (NU) dec. Will Baysingar (ILL), 3-1 // ILL 11, NU 3
149: #30 Michael Gioffre (ILL) dec. August Hibler (NU), 7-2 // ILL 14, NU 3
157: #9 Kannon Webster (ILL) over Ty Wilson (NU), fall (2:40) // ILL 20, NU 3
165: #8 Braeden Scoles (ILL) over Northwestern, forfeit ILL 26, NU 3
174: #25 Colin Kelly (ILL) over Andre Rocker (NU), fall (1:26) // ILL 32, NU 3
184: #18 Chris Moore (ILL) tech. fall JD Perez (NU), 17-2 (3:50) // ILL 37, NU 3
197: Cade Lautt (ILL) major dec. Alex Smith (NU), 11-1 // ILL 41, NU 3
285: #13 Luke Luffman (ILL) dec. Gabe Christenson (NU), 5-0 // ILL 44, NU 3
UP NEXT
The Illini matmen are off for a couple of weeks before they return to action on March 7-8 for the Big Ten Championships hosted by Penn State in University Park, Pa.
