Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
No. 16 Illinois Outduels Eighth-Ranked Wildcats in Big Ten Opener, 21-13
1/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 19, 2007
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Junior Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) took the first match of the night, but the eighth-ranked Wildcats fell to the 16th-ranked Illini Friday night in their Big Ten opener, 21-13. The loss makes Northwestern 10-4 in duals this season with No. 5 Iowa up next for the 'Cats, Sunday at Rolling Meadows High School. The Wildcats wrestled their sixth meet without injured top-ranked Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward).
Heavyweights lead the evening off. The fourth-ranked Fox registered a takedown of Illinois' John Wise with a minute left in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. After a Wise escape, Fox dropped the Illini to the ground with under 30 seconds to go in the first period. Wise escaped one more time before the end of the first and Fox lead 4-2 heading into the second.
Fox surrendered an early escape to start the second after starting up to make the score 4-3, but after grabbing his opponent's and leg and swinging him to the ground, Fox scored two more points to extend his lead to 6-3. Wise escaped again to cut the deficit to two, but once again, Fox scored another take down to surge ahead 8-4 and went into the third up by four points.
The junior notched an escape to start the third and with yet another takedown, Fox pulled ahead 11-4. Fox gave up another escape, but with the riding time advantage, Fox took the 12-5 decision. The 'Cats led 3-0 heading back down to 125 lbs.
True freshman Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) surrendered a takedown in the opening minute to Illinois' 10th-ranked Gabe Flores. Precin closed to 2-1 with an escape with just over one minute remaining in the first and the score stayed that way heading into the second.
Precin started up in the second period and refused to surrender an escape to the 10th-ranked junior, but Flores found away to reverse the Wildcat to pick up two more points for a 4-1 lead. The freshman started down to begin the third, but Flores picked up a two-point near-fall before Precin could escape to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Flores gave up two escape points, but scored another near-fall to take a 9-3 decision. However, Illinois was penalized one point for poor sportsmanship and the 'Cats led 3-2 heading into the 133-pound match.
Eric Metzler (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) and true freshman Jimmy Kennedy, ranked ninth, ended their first period with no score. Metzler started down to begin the second period, but he could not get free from Kennedy's grasp and the second period ended scoreless. Illinois' freshman scored an escape in the first 15 seconds of the third period to take a 1-0 lead and managed to keep the advantage and take the time advantage for a 2-0 decision and give Illinois a 5-3 lead.
James Kohlberg (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) stepped onto the mat for the injured Lang at 141 lbs. against 12th-ranked Cassio Pero. Pero scored a takedown in the opening minute to pull ahead 2-0. Kohlberg registered points for escapes, but Pero took him down twice more before the end of the first to take a 6-2 lead into the second.
The sophomore escaped early, but Pero notched two more takedowns to extend his lead to 10-4. An escape pulled Kohlberg to 10-5 in the last minute of the second, but Pero took down the Wildcat for the sixth time to take a 12-5 lead into the third. Pero gave Illinois a 9-3 lead with a 15-5 major decision.
Marty Gould (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) took to the mat against 12th-ranked Troy Tirapelle at 149 lbs. Gould surrendered a late takedown in the first to trail 2-0 heading into the second period. The sophomore escaped in the first 20 seconds to close to 2-1. The Illini notched an escape and takedown early in the third to surge ahead 5-1.
Tirapelle put Gould down for a three-point near-fall in the third and took an 11-3 major decision. The Illini led 13-3 heading into the 157-pound match.
Illinois' top-ranked Mike Poeta extended Illinois' lead to 18-3 with a 19-4 technical fall over Dominic Marella (Roselle, Ill./Conant) at 157 lbs.
At 165 lbs., junior Greg Hagel (Linwood, N.J./Blair Academy) took on 14th-ranked Roger Smith-Bergsrud and the pair battled to a scoreless first period. Hagel started in the up position to start the second and managed to keep the Illini under wraps for the entire two-minute period. The match stayed scoreless heading into the third.
Hagel scored an early escape to the start the third, but the 14th-ranked Illini came right back with a two-point takedown to take a 2-1 lead. Hagel escaped again to tie the score, 2-2. Smith-Bergsrud took the junior down again to pull ahead 4-2 with just over one minute remaining in the match. Hagel escaped again at the one-minute mark to close to 4-3. After the Wildcat scored a swift two-point takedown, the Illini came back with an escape, takedown, and near-fall to pull ahead 11-5 in the closing minute. With the three points for the decision, Illinois lead 21-3.
At 174, Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) battled Matt Winterhalter. After a scoreless first period, the wrestlers started neutral for the second. Neither grappler could gain advantage in the second and the battle went into the third period still scoreless. Action picked up in the third period with Hayes scoring an early escape and putting the Illini to the mat to take a 3-0 lead. A late escape by Illinois gave Hayes the victory, 3-1, and made the overall score 21-6.
Big Ten Wrestler of the Week and top-ranked Jake Herbert took to the mat at 184 lbs. against 15th-ranked John Dergo. Herbert scored early with a takedown to take a 2-0 lead and stayed on top of Dergo for the majority of the opening frame.
The Illini escaped Herbert's grasp twice, but the junior registered two more takedowns early in the second period to lead 6-2. Herbert gave up another escape to try to set up the Illini for another shot at a takedown or fall, but the second period ended with a 6-3 score. The junior notched more than three minutes of riding time, and with a stalling point, the top-ranked Herbert took an 11-3 major decision to make the score 21-10.
Second-ranked Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) closed out the dual with a 3-2 decision over Illinois' Patrick Bond at 197 lbs.
Northwestern returns to action at 2 p.m. Sunday against Iowa at Rolling Meadows High School.
Illinois 21, NU 13
285: Fox (NU) dec. Wise 12-5 (3-0)
125: Flroes dec. Precin (NU) 8-3 (3-2)
133: Kennedy dec. Metzler (NU) 2-0 (3-5)
141: Pero maj dec. Kohlberg (NU) 15-5 (3-9)
149: Tirapelle maj dec. Gould (NU) 11-3 (3-13)
157: Poeta tech fall Marella (NU) 18-3 (3-18)
165: Smith-Bergsrud dec. Hagel (NU) 11-5 (3-21)
174: Hayes (NU) dec. Winterhalter 4-1 (6-21)
184: Herbert (NU) maj dec. Dergo 11-3 (10-21)
197: Tamillow (NU) dec. Bond 3-2 (13-21)
Players Mentioned
