CLEVELAND – The Illinois wrestling team finished the second day of the NCAA Championships on Friday (March 20) from Rocket Arena. Lucas Byrd (133 pounds) and Kannon Webster (157 pounds) both claimed All-America honors in their respective weight classes tonight.
"I'm proud of Byrd and Webster becoming All-American's tonight," said head coach Jeremy Hunter. "This is one of the toughest tournaments in all of sports to get on the podium for and they both earned it. They weren't happy with how they wrestled in the quarterfinals, but bounced back in a big way in the blood round. Kannon's ready for a rematch in the consolation semifinals tomorrow with top seed PJ Duke and Lucas will leave it all out there in his final college match tomorrow."
[7] Byrd collected his fourth All-America honor today at 133 pounds after his win in the blood round over Northern Iowa's [20] Julian Farber, 5-4. He started his day with a loss in the quarterfinals to Ohio State's Big Ten Champion [2] Ben Davino in a 14-5 major decision. He would later fall in the consolation quarterfinals to Iowa's [6] Drake Ayala in a 10-4 decision. Byrd will wrestle for seventh place tomorrow against [13] Jacob Van Dee of Nebraska.
[7] Webster earned the first All-America honors of his career at 157 pounds when he shutout Columbia's [19] Kai Owen in an 8-0 major decision. He narrowly dropped his quarterfinals match to Nebraska's reigning national champion [2] Antrell Taylor 5-2. After he defeated Owen he knocked off the No. 3 seed Meyer Shapiro of Cornell in the consolation quarterfinals, 8-1. He's set to face Penn State's [1] PJ Duke in the consolation semifinals.
Freshman Colin Kelly fell short of becoming an All-American at 174 pounds as the No. 18 seed after he dropped his blood round match to [11] MJ Gaitan of Iowa State, 4-1. He wrestled back tough as he won both of his consolation bouts in the morning session. First, he knocked off [16] Nick Fine of Columbia in a 7-1 decision before upsetting [8] Alex Facundo (OKST) in tiebreakers, 3-2.
STANDINGS
1. Penn State – 153
2. Oklahoma State – 111.5
3. Nebraska – 90.5
4. Iowa – 81
5. Ohio State – 77.5
6. Stanford – 58
7. Iowa State – 52
8. Michigan – 48
9. Minnesota – 39.5
10. NC State – 37
11. Virginia Tech – 35
12. Wyoming – 31.5
13. Arizona State – 30
14. Missouri – 26.5
15. Illinois - 25
UP NEXT
The Orange and Blue matmen return to action tomorrow (March 21) for the final day of the NCAA Championships. Session five begins at 10 a.m. CT and the finals will begin at 5:30 p.m. CT.
ILLINI RESULTS
125: Spencer Moore – 18 seed
Champ Round 1: [18] Spencer Moore (ILL) dec. [15] Koda Holeman (CALPOLY), SV-1 4-1
Champ. Round 2: [2] Eddie Ventresca (VT) dec. [18] Spencer Moore (ILL), 5-2
Cons. Round 2: [16] Ezekiel Witt (NDSU) major dec. [18] Spencer Moore (ILL)
Moore eliminated.
133: Lucas Byrd – 7 seed
Champ. Round 1: [7] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [26] Dylan Shawver (RUT), 11-7
Champ. Round 2: [7] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [23] Braxton Brown (MD), 5-1
Quarterfinals: [2] Ben Davino (OSU) major dec. [7] Lucas Byrd (ILL), 14-5
Blood Round: [7] Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. [20] Julian Farber (UNI), 5-4
Cons. Quarterfinals: [6] Drake Ayala (IOWA) dec. [7] Lucas Byrd (ILL), 10-4
149: Michael Gioffre – 25 seed
Champ. Round 1: [8] Casey Swiderski (OKST) dec. [25] Michael Gioffre (ILL), 7-2
Cons. Round 1: [25] Michael Gioffre (ILL) tech. fall [24] Andrew Clark (RUT), 18-1 (6:17)
Cons. Round 2: [25] Michael Gioffre (ILL) dec. [7] Ethan Stiles (OSU), TB-1 3-1
Cons. Round 3: [15] Ryder Block (IOWA) major dec. [25] Michael Gioffre (ILL), 18-5
Gioffre eliminated.
157: Kannon Webster – 7 seed
Champ. Round 1: [7] Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. [26] Jonathan Ley (NAVY), 6-2
Champ. round 2: [7] Kannon Webster (ILL) major dec. [10] Logan Rozynski (LEH), 10-1
Quarterfinals: [2] Antrell Taylor (NEB) dec. [7] Kannon Webster (ILL), 5-2
Blood Round: [7] Kannon Webster (ILL) major dec. [19] Kai Owen (COL), 8-0
Cons. Quarterfinals: [7] Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. [3] Meyer Shapiro (CORN), 8-1
165: Braeden Scoles – 17 seed
Champ. Round 1: [16] Paddy Gallagher (OSU) major dec. [17] Braeden Scoles (ILL), 13-4
Cons. Round 1: [32] Cody Walsh (DREX) major dec. [17] Braeden Scoles (ILL), 14-4
Scoles eliminated.
174: Colin Kelly – 18 seed
Champ. Round 1: [15] Danny Wask (NAVY) dec. [18] Colin Kelly (ILL), 7-3
Cons. Round 1: [18] Colin Kelly (ILL) major dec. [31] Cael Valencia (ASU), 22-10
Cons. Round 2: [18] Colin Kelly (ILL) dec. [16] Nick Fine (COL), 7-1
Cons. Round 3: [18] Colin Kelly (ILL) dec. [8] Alex Facundo (OKST), TB-1 3-2
Blood Round: [11] MJ Gaitan (ISU) dec. [18] Colin Kelly (ILL), 4-1
Kelly eliminated.
184: Chris Moore – 9 seed
Champ. Round 1: [9] Chris Moore (ILL) major dec. [24] Joe Curtis (COL), 11-2
Champ. Round 2: [8] Silas Allred (NEB) major dec. [9] Chris Moore (ILL), 15-5
Cons. Round 2: [9] Chris Moore (ILL) dec. [26] Chase Kranitz (PITT), SV-1 4-1
Cons. Round 3: [16] Rylan Rogers (LEH) dec. [9] Chris Moore (ILL), 4-1
Moore eliminated.
285: Luke Luffman – 26 seed
Champ. Round 1: [7] Konner Doucet (OKST) dec. [26] Luke Luffman (ILL), 2-1
Cons. Round 1: [23] Stephan Monchery (APP) dec. [26] Luke Luffman (ILL), 4-1
Luffman eliminated.
