After dropping his first two matches in Big Ten, Brooks Black responded with a commanding performance at heavyweight this afternoon. Black opened up the first period against Arthur Bunce with a takedown and two, two-point near falls. He increased his lead into the third period, where it stood 9-0, when he pinned Bunce with just under a minute remaining, giving the Illini an early 6-0 lead.
At 125 pounds, Francis Edelen and Alijiah Jeffery battled hard for five straight minutes, but remained deadlocked at 2-2 entering the final period. After a reversal by Jeffery in the third period, Edelen responded with a reversal of his own at the end of the period. However, Jeffery's riding time exceeded the one-minute mark, giving him a 5-4 decision.
At 133 pounds, Zane Richards won by forfeit after Austin Eicher of Northern Illinois was not available due to having the flu. With two of the first three matches resulting in six points for Heffernan's squad, the Illini led 12-3.
The match of the day occurred at 141 pounds where Brock Ervin faced off against Northern Illinois' best, #12 Steve Bleise. The two grapplers went back-and-forth for seven, hard minutes with neither of them giving way to the other. Ervin led 4-3 after the first period when he grabbed both a reversal and a two-point near fall. Similar action took place in the second period with Ervin and Bleise exchanging takedowns and reversals that resulted in an 8-8 tie after two periods. In the final period, Bleise opened an early 11-8 lead, but once again Ervin refused to be denied. Ervin used an escape and two takedowns to retake the lead in the match's final seconds, while adding a point for riding time to ice the match. The 14-12 victory was Ervin's first career victory over a ranked opponent.
At 149, Kyle Langenderfer and Gabe Morse spent most of the match in a stalemate with only an escape netting a point for the two. However, a takedown by Morse in period three was the difference in the a 3-1 victory for Northern Illinois.
After intermission, Isaiah Martinez quickly dispatched of Huskies' grappler Austin Culton 22-4, needing only two periods to earn the technical fall. The technical fall was Martinez's 12th of the season, surpassing his NCAA-leading 11 from last season. The win also stretched his consecutive win streak to 59 straight matches.
Northern Illinois' Shaun'Que McMurtry gave #6 Steven Rodrigues everything he could handle, pushing him hard for three periods. However, Rodrigues used an early takedown to gain a 2-0 lead and never relinquished his advantage. Rodrigues executed two more takedowns as he entered the final period up 6-3, where the redshirt-senior used an escape, a take down, and a point for riding time in period three to finalize his 10-6 decision. The win increased the Illini lead to 23-6, the largest of the day.
Once again wrestling four weight classes above normal, Isaac Reinemann struggled to contain Trace Engelkes, who entered the dual 12-8 on the season. Reinemann hung with the Huskies' junior, only trailing 4-1 through one period and 10-4 through two, but Engelkes put Reinemann away in period three to earn a 24-7 technical fall. The five-point victory brought the Huskies deficit down to 23-11.
Illinois' final victory of the day came at 184 pounds, where #16 Jeff Koepke earned a major decision over Quinton Rosser. Koepke struck early, and often, in period one, notching three takedowns and a two-point near fall to lead 8-2. The senior from Prospect Heights, Illinois continued to add on, during periods two and three, in route to an 18-6 major decision that pushed the Illini lead to 27-11.
In the final bout of the day, Coach Heffernan elected to use redshirt-sophomore Danny Hicks at 197 pounds against Northern Illinois' Shawn Scott. Like multiple other matches on the day, the two wrestlers remained tight throughout After Scott claimed a 3-2 edge in period one, Hicks got an escape to tie the score 3-3 entering the final period. In the period three, Scott put Hicks away with an escape and a takedown to hold on for a 7-5 victory.
The 27-14 victory over the in-state rival put the Orange and Blue back in the win column as they reenter Big Ten play next weekend. On Friday, the Fighting Illini will travel to Michigan 6 p.m. dual before completing the road trip in East Lansing with a noon central time match against Michigan State on Sunday.
Results:
HWT: Brooks Black (ILL) fall Arthur Bunce (NIU); 6:04 | 6-0
125: Alijah Jeffery (NIU) dec. Francis Edelen (ILL) 5-4 | 6-3
133: #3 Zane Richards (ILL) forfeit Austin Eicher (NIU) | 12-3
141: Brock Ervin (ILL) dec. #12 Steve Bleise (NIU), 14-12 | 15-3
149: Gabe Morse (NIU) dec. Kyle Langenderfer (ILL), 3-1 | 15-6
157:#1 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) tech fall Austin Culton (NIU), 22-4 (3:34) | 20-6
165: #6 Steven Rodrigues (ILL) dec. Shaun'Que McMurtry (NIU), 10-6 | 23-6
174: Trace Engelkes (NIU) tech fall Isaac Reinemann (ILL), 24-7 | 23-11
184: #16 Jeff Koepke (ILL) major dec. Quinton Rosser (NIU), 18-6 | 27-11
197: Shawn Scott (NIU) dec. Danny Hicks (ILL), 7-5 | 27-14
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