Against Maryland, true freshman Francis Edelen opened the scoring with his first career victory at Illinois. The Oak Forest native claimed a hard-fought victory over Jhared Simmons, coming back from down 6-4 in the 3rd period to earn the 8-6 decision.
Coach Heffernan's top wrestlers again led the way with dominating performances against Maryland. Zane Richards accelerated the Illini's advantage to 9-0 with a pin at 133 pounds (4:20), his second of the season. With the lead at 12-3, No. 1 Isaiah Martinez dominated #16 Louis Mascola with a 24-5 technical fall, before Brunson sealed the victory with his fifth pin in six matches this season.
Maryland closed the gap with a pin at 184, but Andre Lee's first tech fall of the season paired with a 6-1 decision by Brooks Black finalized the 34-9 victory.
In the second dual at Madison Square Garden, the Orange and Blue fell behind 3-0, but quickly regained control as Zane Richards improved to 7-0 on the season with a 15-6 major decision.
The Fighting Illini put some distance between them and the Dragons when Brock Ervin earned a 16-0 tech fall and Martinez pinned Mike Comunale to extend the lead out to 15-6.
Steven Rodrigues continued his dominance today with a major decision at 174 pounds, before an injury-default win for Koepke set the Orange and Blue's victory in stone. Andre Lee and Brooks Black tacked on decisions of their own for a final tally of 31-9.
The Fighting Illini will return to action later today as they take on No. 25 Princeton at 3:30 p.m. CT. Updates will be provided after the conclusion of the dual.
Illinois defeated Maryland 34-9
125 - Francis Edelen (Illinois) over Jhared Simmons (Maryland) Dec 8-6
133 - Zane Richards (Illinois) over Tyler Goodwin (Maryland) Fall 4:20
141 - Brock Ervin (Illinois) over Alfred Bannister (Maryland) Dec 3-2
149 - Wade Hodges (Maryland) over Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois) Dec 3-1
157 - Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) over Louis Mascola (Maryland) TF 24-5
165 - Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) over Brendan Burnham (Maryland) Dec 13-8
174 - Zach Brunson (Illinois) over Josh Snook (Maryland) Fall 3:22
184 - Jaron Smith (Maryland) over Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois) Fall 4:14
197 - Andre Lee (Illinois) over Sean Twigg (Maryland) TF 18-3
285 - Brooks Black (Illinois) over Youssif Hemida (Maryland) Dec 6-1
Illinois defeated Drexel 31-9
125 - Zachary Fuentes (Drexel) over Francis Edelen (Illinois) Dec 6-0
133 - Zane Richards (Illinois) over David Pearce (Drexel) Maj 15-6
141 - Brock Ervin (Illinois) over Anthony Canfora (Drexel) TF 17-0
149 - Matthew Cimato (Drexel) over Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois) Dec 3-2
157 - Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) over Michael Comunale (Drexel) Fall 1:49
165 - Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) over Austin Rose (Drexel) Maj 17-4
174 - Nicholas Elmer (Drexel) over Emory Parker (Illinois) Dec 7-3
184 - Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois) over Stephen Loiseau (Drexel) Inj 4:11
197 - Andre Lee (Illinois) over Nezar Haddad (Drexel) Dec 4-1
285 - Brooks Black (Illinois) over Joseph Goodhart (Drexel) Dec 6-1
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